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 heisold, 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.
