When someone knocked on the front door about an hour later, Emmie exchanged a confused look with Snowball from their blanket burrito and scrambled to grab the remote to pausehis movie. As he rose from the couch, he twisted his lips at the clothes he was wearing. After work, he’d simply put on his comfies—like he usually did, especially if he wanted some little time. Or at least partial little time. Completely letting go when he was alone was really hard, not like how he thought it would be with a daddy.
It was late for a package to be delivered, but he assumed that’s who it had to be at the door as they knocked again. A little louder. Emmie forgot about being worried someone would see him in his Spider-Man pajamas. The only thing he could figure was that whoever it was needed a signature. Though he wasn’t sure what Roni could have ordered that would need that.
He gasped, socked feet slipping on the fake wood floors as he hurried a little faster. Maybe it was his Christmas present! Excitement filling him, he threw open the door.
“Hey, Emmett.”
He stared with wide eyes at Gray, barely feeling the cold air as it swirled around them and seeped into his thin cotton comfies. The quiet street Roni and he lived on was still and dark, only a few houses adorned with colorful lights so far.
Emmie bit his lip as he ran his eyes from Gray’s black boots, up his jean-clad legs, and all the way to his torso covered by a hoodie and his club vest. Swallowing, Emmie went the rest of the way up and met the man’s laughing eyes, and Emmie startled, realizing he was just standing there and staring.
Stepping back quickly, he let Gray in and then closed the door with a shiver, his headspace clearing up from the worry-free space of being Emmie. Gray brushed past him, long hair and shoulders spotted with snowflakes.
The silence in the tiny foyer made Emmett feel awkward and self-conscious. Like not only could Gray see what he was wearing, but that he could somehow see into the living room and spot the paused cartoon and Snowball. “Um, hi. Roni isn’t here.”
Gray smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling. “I know. I came to see you.” When he raised one of his arms, Emmett realized he was holding a tied plastic bag with Styrofoam containers inside. “Are you hungry?”
“You brought me dinner?”
“I did.” He cocked his head, running his eyes over Emmett from his head all the way down to his fuzzy socks. A blatant reversal of what Emmett had just done—only Emmett’s had been an accident! Honest. “I was going to ask you out on a date when you finally texted me, but after hearing the tail end of your conversation with Viper, I realized I needed to be more… forward.”
“Oh, gracious.” Emmett groaned and covered his blushing face. “How much did you hear?”
Gray chuckled, and Emmett heard the crinkle of plastic as he set the food down. Then big, chilled fingers were lightly gripping his wrists and guiding his hands down. Gray didn’t let go once his face was uncovered, his thumbs brushing against the sensitive skin on the inside of Emmett’s wrists. “Just the end where she told you to give me a chance. It made me realize that maybe we should talk though. Clear the air?”
It was said as a suggestion, like Gray would back off in a second if Emmett told him he didn’t want to or asked him to leave. But that was the last thing Emmett wanted.
Shivering again, he shuffled a step closer. “Okay. About… something in particular?”
Gray was studying him closely once more, and then he dropped his hold on Emmett and shrugged out of his leather vest. “You’re not dressed warm enough. Here.” Emmett thought he was going to hand over his cut for a second, but he just slipped it onto one of the hooks opposite the door and gripped the hem of his black hoodie, peeling it off and holding it out. It took Emmett a second to hear what he was saying since he was trying so hard not to stare at the strip of furry belly that got exposed before his T-shirt fell back down. “Put that on.”
It was ridiculously adorable. Emmett had plenty of clothes upstairs he could go and get, or he could just grab his blanket from off the couch and wrap it around himself again. But as soon as he caught a whiff of Gray’s scent on the fabric being held out to him—some utterly captivating combination of leather and lemons andman—his decision was made. Ridiculous or not, nothing was stopping him from wearing something of Gray’s.
Grabbing the sweatshirt, he bit his lip at how warm it was from Gray’s body. Tugging it over his head and slipping his arms inside was… comforting in a way he’d never experienced before. Gray was so tall and wide that even with the extra padding on Emmett’s tummy and hips and butt, the thing hung on him, making him feel small.
He fisted the ends of the sleeves over his hands and wrapped his arms around himself, closing his eyes as a combination of Gray’s deodorant and cologne filled his nose. Feeling warm and safe, he had to fight not to slip back into Emmie.
“What do you say, Emmett?” Gray asked, voice a little deeper and huskier.
Eyes popping open, he stared at Gray, tightening his arms. “Thank you,” he whispered, biting back the name he wanted to call Gray. The way Gray smiled though—a little indulgent and a lot sexy—made him think he already knew.
“You’re welcome, sweet boy.” Gray bent over and untied his boots, revealing white gym socks with gray toes. He snagged the plastic bag and gestured farther into the house. “Let’s go share some food and talk about a few things.”
Emmett only hesitated for a second before nodding. Despite what he’d said to Roni about it having only been two days, he’d thought about texting Gray a hundred times since frosting cookies, but he’d gotten cold feet every time. Until they talked, he could live in that enticing space between knowing and not knowing. He could imagine all the ways in which Gray was the perfect daddy for him and the things they could do together while Emmett was little.
But once Gray found out about the kind of daddy Emmett needed, there would be no going back to him not knowing. They’d either get the chance to spend more time together to see if the flirty, warm feelings between them could go further than an afternoon of cookie decorating, or they’d just have to awkwardly avoid each other’s eyes anytime Gray ran into him at his parents’ or Emmett visited CJ and Ollie at the clubhouse.
Crossing his fingers behind his back, Emmett led the way back to the living room, heart thumping in his chest and palms a little damp.Moanawas paused on the TV still, and his Avengers blanket was crumpled on the end of the couch with Snowball half sticking out, one wing raised in the air like he was waving a dang hello to Gray.
But the biggest giveaway of the kind of submissive Emmett was sat on the coffee table. The bright green sippy cup still half-full of apple juice.
Gray hummed, heading for the couch. “I’ve heard this movie is good, but I haven’t actually seen the whole thing.”
Emmett lingered on the other side of the coffee table, nibbling on his lower lip. Had Gray not seen the cup or his stuffie? Or could he… Could he actually be okay with what they meant?
Or could he not know what they meant?
Or… maybe he was trying to figure out how to let Emmett down easy as he made himself comfortable on the couch and started pulling the food containers out of the bag.
