Free With Caution by J. L. Langley

finally let the tears fall.

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    J.L. Langley

Chapter Six
    “You should get him a dog.”
    Remi considered it for a minute as he watched Sterling roll around in the grass with Pita, his best friend’s golden retriever puppy. “What in the world would I do with a dog while I was at work? You know there’s no way in hell Dirk would let Sterling keep it at home.”
    Chay shrugged and leaned on the railing of his redwood deck. “You’ve never had a pet, have you?”
    “Nope.”
    Keaton, Chay’s mate—there was that word again, whatever the hell it was supposed to mean—came out of the back door with a yellow tennis ball in hand.
    Spotting Keaton, Remi grinned. “You could just give me Pita. You have Keaton now, what do you need with two—?”
    Keaton flipped Remi off on his way down the steps.
    Remi chuckled. After last night it felt good to get back some normalcy. Keaton was so much fun to pick on. Over the past several months he and Keaton had become good friends, but when they’d first met, he was ashamed to admit, the insults had been real.
    Now it was a game they both continued. “It’s not nice to give me the finger in front of my little brother.”
    “Yeah, and it’s not nice to call me a dog either, dipshit.” Smiling, Keaton kept walking toward where Sterling and Pita were playing, obviously not in the least upset by Remi’s teasing.
    Chay groaned, shaking his head, but he too was grinning as he watched Keaton throw the tennis ball.
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    With Caution
    Abandoning Sterling, Pita gave chase. Keaton reached out a hand and helped Sterling up. Within seconds the puppy brought the ball back and dropped it at Sterling’s feet. Sterling tossed it.
    His laughter made Remi rethink getting him a puppy of his own, but Remi had other things to get under control first.
    He’d done a lot of thinking about what Jake had said last night. He wanted to ask Chay about it, but didn’t know how to bring it up. Remi turned his attention back to Chay.
    The look on Chay’s face when he watched his mate—like now—was very tender, loving. It made Remi even more curious about mates. Chay had never looked at any girl like that, as though they were the center of his world. He’d always been a happy-go-lucky kind of guy and the one in the group who picked everyone else’s spirits up. Looking on the bright side of things was a habit of his. But now, it was as if he had this inner peace and he was where he wanted to be. It was really strange, but somehow right.
    The corner of Chay’s lip turned up, his eyes sparkling.
    Remi switched his focus back to the yard.
    Keaton, Sterling and Pita were all digging under a bush next to the fence. Trying to get the ball, Remi assumed. Sterling was on his belly, his cheek pressed to the ground, peering under the shrub. The only visible part of Pita was his wagging tail. Keaton was on his butt with one leg under the bush and a look of total concentration on his face.
    Remi found himself grinning too. “You’d think they’d be smart enough to get a broom or something. Or at the very least get Sterling to try and kick it out. He’s got longer legs.”
    Chay laughed. “Shh… Bit has a Napoleon complex as it is, don’t go pointing out to him that your fourteen-year-old brother is taller.”
    “Well, Sterling is almost fifteen,” Remi teased.
    “Sometimes I’m not sure Bit isn’t.” He turned to Remi and chuckled. “Fifteen, I mean. He’s very playful when you get him around the pups. Guess that’s why he makes a www.samhainpublishing.com 57
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    good teacher. I keep trying to convince him he should teach elementary school rather than college.”
    Chay had always liked kids himself. It had never occurred to Remi until now that by being with Keaton, his friend would likely miss out on kids of his own.
    “Why are you frowning?” Chay bumped Remi’s shoulder. “You’ve looked distracted since you got