Free NecessaryDecision by A.D. Christopher

happen. He just wished Kylar
would come home so they could touch him again.
    But it would be at least an hour or so before that happened.
There was no way Kylar could be done with his family so quickly, was there?
    Suddenly, the sound of heavy breathing and feet on the tidy
gravel drive outside the house drew their attention. Varek rose to his feet
with Gable close behind him. It couldn’t be Kylar, could it? Varek looked at
Gable and saw the same question in his eyes. They started toward the door just
as it opened and Kylar walked in. They froze.
    Kylar looked awful. His hair was a mess, his dress shirt
dripping with sweat and his face pink from exertion.
    But all of that was nothing compared to the wrecked look on
his face, the mixture of pain, shock and anger mixing in his eyes. “Is it
true?”
    Gable took a step forward but stopped when Kylar lifted a
shaking hand. “Kylar, what happened? Do you want me to get you some water or—”
    “Is it true?”
    Varek looked at Gable, but Gable looked just as confused as
he felt. “Is—”
    “Don’t do that! Don’t look at each other like that, trying
to get your damn stories straight! Just tell me if it’s true or not. Just tell
me.” Kylar’s voice was so raw, so thick with pain that it made Varek’s eyes
sting. His meeting with his father must have been even worse than Varek had
feared.
    “Come sit down,” Gable said again, reaching out to take
Kylar’s hand. “We’ve been worried about you—”
    “Worried about me? Or worried that I would find out you were
using me to gain your freedom? That you plotted to seduce me so you could be
together and free?”
    Oh. Fuck . The blood seemed to drain from Varek’s
body. He was suddenly icy cold, his eyes blurry, his legs weak. How had Kylar
found out about that? How? When they’d never said a word to anyone but each
other? Had Gable…
    Varek glanced at the shorter man but knew immediately that
Gable had said nothing. Gable wanted this so much, even more than Varek had. At
first. He never would have said anything to put their future—or Kylar’s
heart—at risk. Gable loved Kylar, and so did Varek. But how to convince him of
that now?
    The silence stretched on forever, so cold and scary Varek
had to wrap his arms across his chest to keep from shaking. Kylar’s gaze went
from Varek to Gable and back again, but no one said a word. Varek knew he was
waiting for them to deny what he’d just said. But he also knew they couldn’t
give him that denial. If nothing else, the man they both loved deserved the
truth.
    After a few seconds that felt like hours, Gable spoke.
“Kylar, it’s not like that. We love you, we really—”
    “You didn’t deny it.”
    “We love you,” Gable repeated.
    “ You didn’t deny it .”
    Varek took a step forward. He wanted to take Kylar’s hand but
somehow knew that if he tried Kylar would probably punch him in the face. So
instead he just raised his own hands quietly into the air. “Come sit down,
Kylar. Let us explain. Please.”
    Kylar shook his head and took a step back. “You used me. You
were using me.”
    “No!” Gable’s voice echoed Varek’s. They spoke at almost the
exact same time, then turned to look at each other in silent debate. Before
they could decide who should go first Kylar’s voice cut in again.
    “See? Look at what you’re doing! You talk at the same time,
you finish each other’s sentences! You love each other. You’re a couple. And
you’ll never care about anyone the way you care about each other. It’s not
possible. I wish I—”
    “What about Caleb, Kerrick and Mercy?” Varek asked.
“Remember how happy they are, and how hopeful that made you? Triple matings—”
    “Caleb, Kerrick and Mercy are different,” Kylar spat. “Two
men and a woman. At least there’s a relationship that has a biological point.”
The words made Varek wince. He knew Kylar didn’t mean them. That was the sort
of thing Kylar’s father would say. Kylar’s