Hero’s mom is here too, and she’s just one big smile, beaming up at her son. She took the three guys and me thing in stride, but then she’s already used to the guys doing everything together.
“Do you, Emily Hawthorne, swear to support and abide by your man—men—to be there for them and support them and to ride with them and with no other?” he asks me. Not exactly how I'd envisioned my vows either, but as they say, I didn't choose the old lady life—the old lady life chose me.
“I do.”
“And you, Hero, King and Wild Child, do you swear to protect your old lady, to keep her safe and provided for and to make sure that she's always walking bowlegged without reason to look anywhere else for attention?”
Yeah, biker weddings aren't like other weddings.
“Fuck yeah,” says Wild Child, just as Hero says, “I do,” and King nods solemnly. And as weird as the vows sound, they're not any less meaningful. These guys walked through fire to save me, supported me to free myself of my old chains, and then took me in as theirs. I'm never ever going to let them forget how grateful I am for that.
“Then the club recognizes Emily as your old lady, and anyone who fucks with her, fucks with the whole club.”
All the Screaming Eagles are here, a bunch of the sluts and even the prospects were allowed inside today, and the crowded room explodes into a raucous cheer and the clinking of bottles. Hero lifts me up to put me at kissing height and then I'm passed around between the guys until I'm breathless.
Eagle-eye makes a dismissive gesture. “Now go—”
“Wait.” Wild Child holds up both hands for attention with the biggest shit-eating grin I've ever seen on his face.
“What are you doing,” I stage whisper at him. This wasn't part of the plan. That I know of, at least.
“I made you a fucking promise, and I never kept it.”
“What?”
“I promised you a guitar the first time I—”
“Not in front of mom!” I interrupt him, waving my hands in protest.
For a moment he looks like he's going to say it anyway, but instead he smirks and reaches behind a table, where a guitar case has been kept out of sight. “Things moved kind of fast,” he says while opening it. “You said some nice things about… about what we have in common, and since you've read my words, I wanted to hear your tunes. So here you go.”
He pulls out a gorgeous acoustic, and holy shit. It's a Taylor and it's beautiful. Rosewood, mahogany and ebony. Even back home I never had a guitar that nice.
“For me?”
He hands it over, and I pluck a couple of notes. So rich in tone. I don't know what to say. “Thank you.”
Eagle-eye clears his throat. “As I was saying, go celebrate. Chef's firing up the grill out on the front lot, and—”
Whatever else he says is swallowed up by the eagerness for the guys to drag me off to one of their rooms and show me what the real celebration is. I guess my guitar playing will have to wait. The last thing I see before they sweep me down the hall is Mom covering her eyes and shaking her head.
There's about to be a lot of eating, but none of it has anything to do with Chef's grill.
46
EMILY
Well, I guess it had to happen. When you're fucking three guys on the regular and you start getting a bit sloppy with protection—and sloppy in a lot of other ways too—it doesn't take long before there's a missed period. A bit of peeing on a stick later, and the plus is brighter than Times Square at New Years, and I apparently have a little biker in the oven.
I should probably be surprised it's taken as long as it has, and I'm not surprised, not really. And to be honest, I've been wanting it. It's just that now that it's happened, it's weird and I'm a little worried what the guys' reactions will be.
“Emily?” King calls my name to see if I'm in his room, but with me in the bathroom, he can't see me.
I quickly toss the stick in the garbage, then come out. I smile up at him, and love how his gaze darkens. If he didn't come in here to fuck me silly, he's at least thinking about it now.
“Easy, tiger.” I hold up a hand. “Gather the guys. You owe me something, and I need you all here.”
He raises a quizzical eyebrow, but nods. A few minutes later they're all in the room, waiting for me curiously.
“Okay, I've got something to announce, but first I need to know you guys will come through for me.”
“What the fuck does that mean?' asks Wild Child. From his smirk, it's obvious he knows I'm playing around with something, but he hasn't figured out exactly what yet.