He laughed as Kai gave him a cross look before yelling back, “They’re outside.” He lowered his voice. “Probably wreaking havoc, the way their big brother taught them to.”
A smile stretched across Wilder’s face. Coming home had been the right choice. He needed the grounding it gave him, the comfort his parents offered without even trying. There was a time when he hadn’t had this. When he hadn’t had anything or anyone. Losing this, losing his family, was what scared himthe most. He knew he wouldn’t survive being alone again. He wouldn’t want to.
Kai turned and walked down the hall into the kitchen, Wilder following a step behind, his smile only growing when he caught a glimpse of salt-and-pepper hair and stark blue eyes. Steel walked toward him with open arms, and he stepped right into his warm embrace, a pent-up breath leaving him.
He dropped his forehead to Steel’s shoulder, the smaller man barely holding his weight, but he knew once those arms were around him, Steel would never be the first to let go.
“I’m glad you’re home, kiddo,” Steel said, hand rubbing up and down Wilder’s back like he’d done so many times over the years. It was still as soothing as it had been when he was a kid.
He pulled back with a sigh and met Steel’s gaze with a smile.
“How is everyone? Kaz? Jane and Sebastian?”
He opened his mouth to correct him on Solo’s name as he always did, but then it all came flashing back, the bitter taste of betrayal hitting his tongue.
“What’s wrong?”
“They’re… together. Solo and Jane.”
The words were nearly impossible to get out, and he felt like his throat was closing up, making his chest feel tight as well.
“Haven’t they always been?”
Wilder and Steel turned their heads toward Kai, and he wasn’t sure which of them looked the most outraged.
“What?” Steel exclaimed.
Kai stood with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders moving in a quick shrug. “They’ve always had a thing for each other. You guys never noticed?”
“No, we didn’t fucking notice,” Wilder hissed, jaw clenching and unclenching as he fought the urge to scream. “They were raised like siblings. He’s supposed to protect her, not fuck her.”
Kai shook his head. “He’s always been protective of her, but he’s never seen her as a sister. No matter how hard I know he’s tried.”
“Why the hell didn’t he tell me?” Wilder asked, his voice lowering with each word until he was whispering.
“Ah, so that’s what it boils down to? You’re not mad that they’re together. You’re mad they hid it from you.”
“Obviously,” he mumbled.
“Have you told them as much?”
“What do you think?” Wilder drawled, resisting the urge to roll his eyes because he knew it would only earn him a slap to the back of his head.
Kai’s lips twitched even as Steel aimed a glare his way. Steel crossed his arms and leaned back against the breakfast table, his gaze running across Wilder’s face.
“Have you said it without yelling or arguing with them?”
He snapped his mouth shut, swallowing the tirade of words trying to spring free. He felt the burn of them even as he forced out, “That’s not why I’m here.”
He didn’t know where to look except anywhere but at the two men watching him with rapt attention. His heart was pattering in his chest, his breathing getting shallower. Why was this so hard? Why was it harder than arguing about Solo and Jane?
Steel sighed and pulled out a chair, waving Wilder closer as he said, “Sit down.”
He obeyed because he didn’t know what else to do, and as he watched his fathers take a seat across from him, the tightness in his chest lightened just a little bit. They both looked at him, not as if he could do no wrong, but as if they were ready to take on the whole fucking world with him if he needed to right a wrong.
“There’s… a guy.”
Not the most eloquent way of putting it, but at least he got the words out despite how fucking scratchy his throat felt as he spoke them.
