He dismounted and hung his helmet from the handlebars. He wasn’t worried about theft with how many Kings were around. Most of the lowlifes around town weren’t stupid enough to get in their way.
He headed inside, making his way down a short hallway that housed the offices and employee kitchen. He continued down the hall and pushed through the door leading into the gym. He propped it open with the dumbbell left next to it for that very purpose.
There were quite a few people around, some helping set up all the new machines while others were finishing up the last few renovations. They were nearly done thanks to Miles and his crew. He and Mika had put their new construction company together in less than a week, including hiring their crew. It had been incredible to see. Not so incredible to experience, though, because it kept Miles away from home for long hours every day, and Kaz was a sullen fucker when he was missing Miles.
He continued toward the front of the gym, where he suspected Kaz and Miles were, nodding as he passed a few of the others on the way. He was nearly at the door to the front room when he heard someone snap, “You’re an idiot.”
Recognizing Talon’s voice, he was already smiling before he stepped through the door and found him standing in front of Maddox, who was leaning back against the wall, a crutch in each hand. That he was still using them meant Emma had likely threatened his balls. Maddox had taken a bullet to the leg a few weeks ago, and it was healing up nicely. When he didn’t go against Doc’s orders and moved around too much.
“At least I didn’t ride my bike here,” Maddox grumbled.
“The only thing you’re gonna do here is get in the way,” Talon said and crossed his arms.
Wilder shook his head, the smile on his lips remaining as he ran his gaze across the room. He caught sight of Kaz, Miles, and Ezra as they crossed the room, heading toward Emma, who was standing with the two civilians she’d brought. Emmett and Travis. He couldn’t find it in himself to give a shit about them. All he knew was that they were both deaf and one was here to paint a mural. Beyond that, he wasn’t interested despite the younger one’s dirty blonde hair and electric blue eyes, that sharp jaw, and pretty mouth. He was cute in a boy-next-door kind of way, but Jane’s words from earlier were stuck in his head. He didn’t fuckeverythingthat moved, but it wasn’t far off. He’d had a few situationships, but never a real relationship. He’d never wanted one. Had never thought he needed it.
Now though?
He was well on his way to ending up alone, what with everyone else being paired up. He didn’t mind being alone, though perhaps that was because he’d never truly felt like he was alone. He’d always had his family, but now… He shook his head, straightening and drawing in a deep breath. Now wasn’t the time to have a midlife crisis.
CHAPTER FOUR
Emmett
EMMA AND Travis left him with Kaz, Miles, and Ezra under the pretense of Emma showing Travis around. He was pretty sure the only thing they were going to see was the inside of a storage room or bathroom. Whichever was closest.
He shook his head and turned his attention back on Kaz, who was telling him about the gym, switching between signing and speaking when there were words he didn’t know how to sign. He’d been a little worried about Kaz and his intentions toward Miles, but after learning the truth, he was happy for them. There was no denying how much Kaz loved Miles. Not with the way he was looking at his man. It almost made him jealous because he was supposed to have had that. Instead, all he got was endless insecurities and nightmares.
“What do you need to get started?” Miles asked him, thankfully stopping his descent into a headspace he didn’t want to be in.
“I need something to go off of,” he said, tapping the screen of his tablet with his pen. He looked up, meeting Kaz’s gaze. “What made you open this place? What’s the vision?”
“They needed a place for whitewashing their money,” Ezra said with a shrug.
Emmett squeezed his eyes closed while saying a silent prayer. Ezra was clearly peak Ezra-ing today. He had a feeling the next few weeks were going to be… interesting.
He opened his eyes and wasn’t surprised to find the others looking like they were trying hard not to throttle Ezra.
Miles breathed out loudly, then grabbed Ezra by the wrist and dragged him toward the front door, Ezra’s voice a steady hum as they crossed the room.
“Ignore him,”Kaz signed, his lips pulling into a wry smile.
“Oh, I fully intend to. Why did you ever let Ez near the club? How is he still breathing?”
“There have been a few close calls. Mostly Em, but Ezra and Talon get into it more often than not.”
He had no idea which of the guys Talon was, and Kaz must’ve realized as much when he glanced around at the men and women surrounding them in the gym.
“Brown hair. Frowning,”Kaz signed, then pointed toward a small group of men standing by the doorway into the part of the gym that housed the workout machines.
There were two men with brown hair, and they were both big, muscular guys. One more so than the other. They also both looked like they were annoyed with life. One had a good scruffy beard and was staring down a man waving a crutch at him.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Kaz muttered. “Maddox is supposed to be resting. Emma’s gonna kick his ass if she sees him here.”
Emmett blinked, trying to rememberanythingabout Maddox.
“This is what I get for not wearing my receivers last time,” he mumbled, looking helplessly at Kaz for an explanation. He’d been hungover, miserable, and a little too focused on Miles and Kaz last time. No one he didn’t already know had bothered speaking to him, though he wasn’t sure he could blame them, considering they probably didn’t know any ASL and most of them had already been drinking for a while by the time they arrived at the clubhouse.
“The one with crutches is Maddox. The one flipping him off is Talon, and the other guy is Wilder. I have no idea how to say all that in sign,” Kaz said, a frown marring his forehead.
