Page 8 of Kaz (Salvation Kings MC: New Freedom Chapter #2)

Kaz

FIGHTING WITH Jane over Miles was not what he wanted to be doing.

He knew he’d lose that fucking fight because Jane was in the right.

Miles did deserve to know the truth. He just couldn’t tell him.

Not if he wanted… He needed to earn back Miles’s trust for real and not because he told him he never cheated.

That wouldn’t earn him the real trust he fucking craved from Miles. It would feel cheap somehow.

He knew he was being a conceited asshole about it, but he needed this. Needed it because otherwise, he wasn’t sure he would ever believe anything between them was real.

Jane gave him a look that had him dropping his gaze to the ground. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when she turned and walked away.

Someone had gotten a fire going in the fire pit, and the others were finding seats all around it. They’d gotten a few pieces of furniture with the house, but they definitely needed to buy more because a lot of the lawn chairs looked to be literally on their last leg.

He walked across the patio and down the steps to the backyard, eyes scanning the people around him. There wasn’t a single second when he wasn’t fully aware of where Miles was. He was spending a lot of time reminding himself to look away and kept failing miserably.

He noticed a few empty camping chairs and decided it was a safer option than the rickety lawn chairs.

He dropped into one with a heavy sigh, knowing he should be elated, but finding himself anything but.

Miles wasn’t supposed to see any of this.

He’d wanted Miles to see a man put together and in charge of his own life.

The leaking roof and rotten siding didn’t exactly paint a great picture.

A bump to his shoulder had him glancing up, a beer right in his face. He took it and grunted out, “Thanks,” before taking a gulp. Wilder took the seat next to him, and while he tried to ignore his friend, he could feel his gaze on him.

“What?” he grumbled, glancing over at Wilder to find the man watching him with his head cocked to the side, a contemplative look on his face.

Wilder narrowed his eyes, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“If you’re gonna do something stupid, I would like to be informed of it beforehand,” Wilder said, making Kaz regret putting forth the vote that made Wilder his vice president.

“Fuck off.”

Wilder’s brows jumped, and he looked pointedly across the fire pit at Miles.

He’d regretted telling Solo and Wilder about Miles the second the words left his mouth.

Solo had told him to grow up, resulting in Jane laughing and telling him to take his own advice.

Wilder, though? He’d given him a long look, then said, ‘ I think you hurt yourself before letting others get a chance to.’ Wilder’s words had struck true, and when he’d followed them up with, ‘But it’s not like you to hurt others in the process,’ he’d felt something tug hard at his heart.

Guilt. Shame. He had enough of it that if it had been currency, he’d be a millionaire by now.

“I mean it, Prez,” Wilder said, giving him a stern glare. “Don’t mess it up again.”

“Easier said than done,” he muttered, scowling when Wilder arched a brow at him.

He sighed and took another gulp of beer, grimacing when he found it already lukewarm. The warm weather wasn’t going to do them much good during the renovations. They needed to stock up on water bottles and sunscreen. The last thing he wanted was for someone to get heatstroke.

Laughter drew his attention away, his gaze clashing with golden browns across the fire. His whole body came to life in an instant.

They stared at each other for what could’ve been a split second, but felt like an eternity he never wanted to escape.

He’d always been drawn into those amber eyes like a moth to a flame.

He’d only had a few weeks of Miles looking at him with something other than hate, anger, or annoyance, but he’d still missed that look in his eyes.

He’d missed Miles looking at him with soft creases around his eyes and that wry smile on his lips.

He’d missed their quiet moments the most. The way Miles had seemed to understand him in ways no one else could. The way most never bothered to.

Emma and Miles headed toward the patio, and he found himself standing a second later, his beer shoved into Wilder’s hand.