Chuckling and shaking his head, Rooster turned and headed toward the living room. “Who says she does? Maybe she’s just meeting friends or something.”
Not dressed like that, she wasn’t. He’d only ever seen her look like that a few times since he’d moved in, and it was when she was meeting a woman for dinner or drinks.
He shuffled into the living room, sighing. “I thought she’d be watching the movie with us. I wonder why she didn’t say anything about having plans.”
Smiling, Rooster tugged him down onto the couch next to him as soon as he was close and wrapped him in a hug. “Little boy, you need to let it go. I’m sure she’ll tell you when she’s ready. You two are family, right?”
He smiled at the reminder, even as his stomach twisted at the word. Unfortunately, she wasn’t his only family. “Yeah. You’re right.”
“Of course I am,” he said, pecking a kiss to Emmett’s lips, then releasing him and turning toward the food he’d brought. “I like your sweater, by the way.”
Emmett looked down at himself, grinning at the compliment. His gray knit sweater had a cat on it wearing a Christmas sweater of his own and a Santa hat. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“You’re welcome. Will you go grab some plates and utensils, please?”
He nodded, hurrying from the room to retrieve them. Once they got settled with their food, he asked Rooster about his shift and then told him about his own day. It was nice, the way they could just sit quietly and share things with one another. It was one of his favorite things about being with Rooster.
As they neared the end of their meal and he still hadn’t brought up what he wanted to talk to Rooster about though, his enjoyment began to wane, and his anxiety ticked up. He needed to just spit it out and get it over with so they could have a nice night together.
“What’s wrong, baby?”
Surprised, he looked over to find Rooster staring at Emmett’s lap… where he was tearing his napkin into tiny pieces. Oh, snickerdoodle. So much for his poker face.
“Um.” He gathered up the little bits of napkin and dumped them onto his empty plate. “I wanted to ask you something…”
Rooster wiped his mouth, brow furrowed, then turned toward him on the couch and grabbed his nervous fingers. “Did something happen?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s just…” Taking a deep breath, he gripped Rooster’s hands tighter and reminded himself that Rooster cared about him and wanted to take care of him. “Would you come with me to my family’s Christmas?”
They always celebrated on Christmas Eve, now that his siblings had kids of their own and wanted to do the whole Christmas morning thing at home. But after what had happened at Thanksgiving, Emmett just wasn’t sure he had it in him to go by himself. He knew it was only two days away, but asking Rooster had felt so… momentous. What if he wasn’t ready to tell Erik that they were together? What if he had plans with his own family? What if?—
“Of course. Was that it? You seemed really agitated.” A smile creased Rooster’s handsome face, and he didn’t loosen his hold on Emmett’s hands.
Of course he’d noticed that.
Emmett took a moment to take another slow breath. “I guess I was just worried about asking you.”
“You were worried I’d say no?” Rooster raised his brows.
He shook his head. “Not… Not exactly.”
“Then what, baby?”
“I guess I just… wasn’t sure if we were there yet.” Emmett glanced away from Rooster’s knowing, sympathetic eyes. “I’ve never brought anyone home before, and with you being friends with Erik… I wasn’t sure if I evenshouldask.”
He saw Rooster nod slowly out of the corner of his eye. “I’m glad you did. Can you look at me?” As soon as he tilted his chin up, Rooster cupped his face. “You are more important to me than what Erik or anyone else thinks. Understood?”
“Yes, Daddy,” he said, voice low and full of emotion. Some days, it was still hard for him to accept that someone—especially someone as sweet and amazing as Rooster—cared so much about him. Actually thinking about him and putting his needs first. It was… overwhelming, but in the best possible way. When he thought too hard about it, his stomach would swoop, and he’d have the urge to tell Rooster three little words that he knew it was too soon for.
“As for if we’re at the part of our relationship where we meet each other’s families… Little boy, the club is my family, so as far as I’m concerned, they’ve already met and love you.”
Emmett could feel his cheeks getting a little warm, but he just smiled, thinking about how miffed Roni was that his daddy had gotten him to do things like hang out with other club members when she hadn’t been able to.
“It’s not too soon to spend Christmas Eve with my family?” he whispered, unable to help himself.
“Too soon for who? Us? Fuck no.” Rooster leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on the nose, making him laugh. “The kind of relationship we have, the trust we put in each other, means we move faster than vanilla schmucks. We follow our own timeline. So if you want me there, then I want to be there. End of story.”
Why did “end of story” sound so sexy when he growled it at Emmett? “Okay, Daddy.”
