Free Michael's Mate by Lynn Tyler

Chapter 1
    Sweat trickled down Michael’s temple, his heart raced and his lungs struggled for oxygen. The cool bottle of water sat just out of his reach and he could almost feel the blessed liquid wetting his mouth and running down his throat.
    “Easy, man,” Gray said from behind him. “Don’t make me perform CPR on you or anything crazy like that. I’m off the clock.”
    Michael grunted but slowed his pace. The treadmill’s display showed that he’d been running all out for five kilometers.
    “Nice to know you care so much about me,” he panted.
    Gray snorted. “You know I’d do anything for you.”
    Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Michael hopped off the treadmill and turned to face his best friend. Gray sat on the weight bench, munching on a cookie.
    “Hey,” he protested. “I thought you said Shannon made those for me.”
    “Sharing is caring,” Gray replied with a cheeky grin.
    They both froze as sniffling sounded from the baby monitor on the ledge. “Didn’t Faith just go down for a nap?”
    Gray let out a long sigh when the baby settled. “Yes. She’s been teething, though, and hasn’t been sleeping well. Thanks for letting me set her up in your spare room. Shannon really didn’t want to take her shopping.”
    “No worries. How is Honor doing in kindergarten?”
    They chatted about Gray’s three nieces while he moved to the weight bench, nudging Gray out of the way. “I still can’t believe you’re sitting there eating cookies, my cookies by the way, while I’m working myself to the bone. How do you stay so fit?”
    “Never underestimate how much of a workout it is to wrestle a drunk or high patient back into a gurney in the emergency room. Besides, Dr. Peckerhead seems to think the ER nurses are his personal assistants. He likes to send us on errands. And no one complains because we’re so happy to get away from him.”
    Michael grimaced. “He’s a dick.”
    “Yup.”
    Michael felt his best friend’s eyes boring into his back as he reset the weight on the bar. He wasn’t out to kill himself, just give his muscles a nice stretch.
    He’d completed exactly twenty reps when Gray asked the question he’d been waiting for, “You ready for the big day?”
    “Sure. It’s not like it’s a big deal. Justin and I have been living together for months now. I can’t get much more committed than I already am.”
    He kept his eyes closed. Gray had a way of getting into his personal space, of making him look into his eyes and spill the truth.
    “It’s not a big deal?” his friend echoed. “I guess. But it’s not every day a guy gets mated.”
    Mated. There was that word Michael had hoped Gray wouldn’t say.
    Something in him snapped and he dropped the bar onto the supports with a clang.
    Gray was at his side in less than a second, cookie abandoned. “Mikey? You okay?”
    “Yeah, I’m fine.” He hauled his tired body upright. “Actually, I’m not fine.”
    Nerves knotted his stomach. The pressure behind his eyes threatened to blow up his skull yet, weirdly enough, his head didn’t actually hurt.
    A careful hand settled on his shoulder. “Want to talk about it?”
    His spine curved until his head hung low and his elbows braced against his knees, keeping him from sliding to the floor. “I’m scared.”
    “Scared?”
    He brought his hands up to cover his face. His eyes were hot, prickling. He remembered his father screaming at him, telling him men didn’t cry, that he’d been given was worthless piece of shit for a son.
    He fought the memory. He’d lived in shame over his sexuality, over his father’s disappointment and final betrayal, until Justin had flown in.
    The thought of his lover brought a smile to his face. Before Justin, he’d simply gone about living life, closed off from everyone except Gray, who’d refused to let him build a wall between them.
    Justin, though…Justin was a breath of fresh air. He’d been enamored with the lawyer for months. Justin knew the