Chapter 42
CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO
Emmett
HE LEANED back against Wilder’s motorcycle, looking up at the clubhouse and smiling when his gaze caught on the Kings’ colors he’d painted on one of the walls. He hadn’t known that it would lead to this being his home. That it would lead to the best thing in his life.
The past few weeks had been full of healing for both of them.
For the boys, too. They were all doing well now, even if Wilder was determined to track down and kill the assholes who’d bruised him up.
Considering it was the same guys who wanted Kian for whatever reason, he didn’t have a problem with Wilder doing just that.
He nodded at a few bikers walking past him to head inside, his gaze following them to the front door. They walked through it, the last person holding the door open for someone to step out.
He straightened when he caught sight of wide shoulders and dark, wavy hair. It looked messy. As if Wilder had run his hands through it. He didn’t mind the wild look on him. Not one bit.
Wilder jogged down the patio steps toward him, an apologetic smile on his lips as he said, “Sorry, I got a phone call I had to take.”
“I hope it was important enough for us to be late.”
“Oh, it was,” Wilder said and pressed a quick kiss to Emmett’s lips.
He arched a brow at Wilder, who smiled and reached for his helmet. He shook his head and grabbed his own helmet, ignoring the slight tremble in his hands. How he managed to pull the helmet over his head and tie the strap, he wasn’t sure.
Wilder mounted the bike, and he put his hands on Wilder’s shoulders and his left foot on the footpeg, swinging his other leg across the bike to settle into the seat behind Wilder.
He might throw up. He tried to enjoy the ride to York, enjoy being pressed against Wilder’s back, but his damned insecurities were trying to choke him.
Despite knowing just how much Wilder loved him, that Wilder wanted to spend his life with him, that his parents would most likely love him and not think he was wrong for their son, there was still a part of him that feared the worst. Miles telling him it would be weird if he didn’t feel like that had not helped.
He knew it meant that he cared. Probably too much.
He just didn’t want to mess it up. He’d finally found someone who made him feel whole.
Someone who made him feel brave. He could do anything with Wilder at his side because the man had an unyielding belief in him, and if he ever faltered, he knew Wilder would catch him.
Wilder slowed and turned down a long driveway.
He looked around Wilder to see a red brick building come into sight.
There were a few motorcycles parked out front, but it was the two men waiting for them that caught his attention.
The shorter of the two had dark curly hair, bronze skin, and a mischievous smile on his face, while his husband, with his short graying hair, was watching them with intense blue eyes Emmett knew seemed like they were looking straight into your soul.
Steel raised his hand in a wave while Kai looked like he was about to explode with energy, rubbing his hands together and rocking back on his heels repeatedly.
Wilder pulled up a few feet from them, and the vibrations from the engine disappeared. Emmett blew out a quiet breath.
He dismounted and tried to open the strap on his helmet with shaky fingers. Wilder was quick to get his helmet off and turned to Emmett with a knowing smile, hands raised in question.
He let go of the strap and dropped his hands with a sigh.
Of course, he couldn’t even do that himself. At least he got to look at Wilder’s gorgeous face while embarrassing himself.
“There you go,” Wilder said, releasing the straps to pull Emmett’s helmet off. He put it on the seat of his bike, then turned back to Emmett with a wry smile, reaching up to smooth down his hair. Right. Helmet hair. Nothing was going his way today.
“Incoming,” Wilder said, laughter in his voice as he took a step away from Emmett.
Two kids came barreling into Wilder, the three of them laughing as the twins nearly knocked him off his feet. Wilder ruffled their dark hair, their wide smiles matching Wilder’s.
Kai stepped forward, catching Emmett off guard when he wrapped his arms around him and brought him into a warm embrace. A shaky laugh escaped him as he relaxed into the hug, his heart finally settling down a bit.
“Welcome,” Kai signed with a smile. “We’re happy you’re here.”
“Thank you.”
“You can sign?” Wilder asked, one kid under his arm while he pushed the other back with a hand across his face, making both of them laugh.
“You know we’re friends with Hawk and Elijah,” Kai said while signing. He used the sign for bird when talking about Hawk, and it made a laugh bubble up in Emmett. It was something his father had called Hawk when they first met, and the nickname had stuck. Even with Kai, it seemed.
“Behave yourselves,” Wilder said to the twins as he dragged them toward Emmett, laughter in his voice. “This is Emmett. He’s my old man.”
The girl narrowed her brown eyes at Emmett as she looked him over. She crossed her arms and huffed, then said, “You don’t look old.”
He sent Wilder a confused look before turning back to her. “Uh. Thanks?”
“Seems someone explained that badly,” Steel muttered, throwing Kai a knowing look.
Kai shrugged. “Whoops?”
“It doesn’t mean that he is old, Aria,” Wilder said, leaning down to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “That’s just what partners are called in the club.”
Aria pursed her lips. “Who wants to willingly be called old?”
“Some of us like our men old,” Kai chirped, wagging his brows at Steel, who looked like he was fighting an eyeroll.
Aria’s twin, Jesse, stepped forward and waved at Emmett, a slight blush in his cheeks.
“My name is J-e-s-s-e,” he signed slowly.
Emmett felt his lips stretch into a smile.
“Don’t be fooled,” Kai said. “That’s all we’ve taught them.”
“So far,” Steel added.
“Thank you. You did good,” Emmett said to Jesse while signing, the boy’s proud smile making him chuckle.
“Hey, I can do it, too,” Aria exclaimed, bumping her twin out of the way to sign her name to Emmett, her hands moving fast and making the signs sloppier.
Kai put his hands on Aria’s shoulders and said, “Alright. I think that’s enough of that.”
“Come on inside,” Steel said, his smile warm as he motioned toward the house.
Wilder’s hand found the small of Emmett’s back, and he was smiling to himself as they walked inside.
Steel and Kai showed him around, and the one thing he kept noticing was the countless framed images covering every wall. There were kids in all of them, some with Steel and Kai, too, as well as some of the other Disciples who worked at the shelter.
He stopped in front of one hanging just outside the kitchen the others disappeared into. He easily recognized Wilder, Kaz, Solo, and Jane. Kaz and Solo stood shoulder to shoulder while Jane had jumped on Wilder’s back, all four of them with goofy grins on their faces.
“I know,” Wilder said, a smile in his voice. “I was hot even then.”
Emmett snorted. “And oh so humble.”
Wilder’s arms wrapped around him, and he smiled as he felt Wilder’s lips against the side of his neck.
His gaze returned to the picture. To the smiles on their young faces. To the comfort they seemed to have with each other.
“You think you guys will get back to that?”
Wilder brushed his lips against Emmett’s temple, then looked up at the picture, chin resting on the top of Emmett’s head.
“Yeah. I do. I didn’t understand how they could do that to me. How they could lie.”
Emmett turned to meet Wilder’s gaze, glad to find no pain in those eyes he loved so much.
“Now, I understand.” Wilder flashed him a toothy grin. “I’d damned well shoot them if they tried to keep me away from you.”
Emmett rolled his eyes and pushed Wilder back with a shake of his head.
“Don’t even―”
Wilder cut him off with a kiss, hands cupping Emmett’s face as he pressed him back against the wall, the corner of a picture frame digging into his shoulder.
He didn’t care. Not when he had Wilder’s mouth on his, the light stubble on his cheeks scratching so good, that devilish tongue coaxing his own out to play.
He pushed Wilder back before they got too carried away, gasping in a breath as he met those enchanting eyes, Wilder’s smile making his heart jump.
“You are trouble,” he said, shaking his head.
“You love me anyway.”
Wilder brushed his thumbs across Emmett’s face, looking at him with so much love and devotion it brought tears to his eyes.
“Yes. Yes, I do.”
“Let’s see if you still love me after you get grilled by my parents,” Widler said, a twinkle in his eye as he grabbed Emmett’s hand and tugged him down the hallway. “The kids aren’t gonna go easy on you, either.”
“I’ll be just fine.”
He knew he would because all they really wanted for Wilder was someone who loved him, and he loved that man with his whole being. There wasn’t a single part of him, his heart, his soul, that didn’t love Wilder.
Wilder pulled him through the doorway to the kitchen, stopping just inside to wrap an arm around Emmett.
He leaned his head against Wilder’s shoulder as they watched his fathers and the kids joking around as they set the dinner table.
He wanted that with Wilder. He already knew Wilder would make an amazing father, but to have him be the father of their kids?
That was a whole different story. They’d already taken in Alvis and Dash, and he couldn’t ever imagine letting those two back out onto the street.
They were keeping the boys with them for as long as they wanted to stay.
Wilder took his hand, tugging him toward his family, his heart swelling when all four of them looked at him with big smiles on their faces.
Hours later, his heart was full of joy, and he’d made countless promises to return soon, which he was looking forward to. He wasn’t surprised by that. He was elated. Having Wilder’s family like him and accept him, even accommodating him, was an incredible experience.
He was smiling widely as they walked toward Wilder’s motorcycle, the man’s hand in his.
“Come on,” Wilder said, tugging him along. “I want to get there before dark.”
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere special.”
“Oh?”
Emmett felt a grin spread on his face.
This time, when he got behind Wilder on his motorcycle, he felt at peace. A few things had settled inside him. Things he hadn’t known were making him nervous to explore, but now? He was more ready for a future with Wilder than he’d ever been.
He wasn’t surprised that by the time they pulled to a stop, they were surrounded by trees.
He took Wilder’s hand and let him lead them down the path to the lake. There were a few birds chirping while a slight breeze rustled the leaves on the trees, but other than that, it was a quiet paradise, the last rays of the sun reflecting in the water and bathing everything in a soft lilac glow.
“I bought it.”
He glanced up at Wilder with a frown. “Bought what?”
Wilder met Emmett’s gaze, his lips pulling up at the corners as he spread his arms wide.
“The lake?” Emmett spluttered. “You bought the lake?”
“And the surrounding area.”
His heart was pounding, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to form words.
“I figure we could build a little house right there,” Wilder said, pointing at a small hill with a view of the lake. “Maybe make enough bedrooms for the boys to stay over.”
Tears pricked at Emmett’s eyes.
“I think I’m supposed to tell you that we should’ve made this decision together?”
Wilder’s low huff of laughter burrowed its way straight into his heart, and his knees wobbled when Wilder’s arms wrapped around him, pulling him up against his body. He tilted his head back, meeting those green-flecked brown eyes and seeing the same love he felt reflected back at him.
“I didn’t have time to ask you before making the decision. Otherwise, I would have.” A cheeky smile spread on Wilder’s face. “Let’s be real, though. You would’ve said yes. This is for you. This is for us.”
His heart felt so full he was afraid it might burst. Yes, this was for them. This was the start of forever. Their forever.
“You really bought us a plot of land before you gave me a property cut?”
“Oh, it’s coming,” Wilder said, grabbing Emmett by the hips, fingers digging in just right. “We won’t be anywhere near the others when I put that on you the first time.”
A groan pushed past Emmett’s lips. “I’ll end up sore, won’t I?”
“Yes. You’ll feel me for days,” Wilder said, voice a low hum as he brushed his nose against Emmett’s, breath fanning across his lips.
“Good.”
He pushed up on his toes to catch Wilder’s lips in a soft kiss, pouring all the love and appreciation he felt for him into that press of lips.
He pulled back, smiling up at Wilder before turning in his arms. Wilder held onto him, lips brushing across his cheek before they stood there looking out over the lake that was now theirs.
That would always be theirs. This was exactly how he wanted to spend the rest of his life: Sharing the silence with the man he loved.