Free With Caution by J. L. Langley Page A

here.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Yeah. What’s up?”
    What wasn’t? “Why did you pick Keaton as a mate?”
    Turning his body toward Remi, Chay furrowed his brow.
    Remi held up his hand, stalling Chay. “Don’t blow a gasket. I like Keaton and I want you to be happy. But you have to admit, it’s pretty damn weird. You never liked men before.”
    Chay jerked his head toward the back door. “Come on, let’s get a beer.” After opening the door for Remi, Chay followed him in. When they reached the kitchen, Chay got them both a beer and hopped onto the counter.
    Spinning one of the kitchen chairs around, Remi sat too and took a swig from his can. He tried to think of a way to rephrase his question. He wanted to know about mates, yet at the same time he didn’t. Fuck , his hands were shaking. “Why Keaton? Why not a woman?”
    Chay cocked his head. “You wanna tell me what happened? Why you’re this unnerved?”
    “Not really, no.”
    Chay frowned. “I think you need to anyway.”
    Setting his beer on the table, Remi clutched his hands together, stuffed them between his knees and squeezed. As he stared up at the ceiling, his stomach cramped and sweat trickled down his temple.
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    With Caution
    The back door opened and Keaton came in, sniffed and darted a glance at Remi, then Chay. His eyebrows shot up. “Umm, okay. Uh, how about I take Sterling and go get some pizza?”
    Sterling came in behind Keaton, grinning from ear to ear, and shut the door behind him. “Can I have a dog?”
    “No.” Remi flinched. That hadn’t come out right. He’d sort of snapped. “We’ll see.
    Not right now, though.”
    Wrinkling his nose, Sterling looked like he was going to argue but he shrugged instead. “Okay.”
    Keaton stepped up to Chay, rested his hand on Chay’s chest and raised up on his toes. He kissed Chay’s cheek and whispered something in his ear. Catching the words
    “okay” and “Remi”, Remi realized Keaton was asking about him.
    Chay nodded and kissed Keaton back. “There’s money in my wallet. Make certain Sterling stays in the car and not visible. If his father finds out he was with you, there will be hell to pay.”
    Remi groaned. How fucked up was it that Remi hadn’t even considered Sterling being seen?
    Sterling ducked his head, a blush staining his cheeks. “Y’all know it has nothing to do with what Remi and I think, right?”
    “Of course we do.” Keaton slung his arm over Sterling’s shoulder, escorting him out of the kitchen. “Come on, let’s go get pizza.”
    The front door opened and closed.
    Chay walked over and sat in the chair next to Remi. “Now tell me what happened.
    Why the unease and the sudden interest in mates?”
    “I don’t know where to start.” The queasy feeling crawled up his chest and his pulse pounded in his ears. He debated telling Chay what had happened for several minutes before finally deciding he was probably the only person who would understand. If anyone could help Remi figure things out, it was Chay.

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    J.L. Langley
    Remi told Chay everything—the kiss, the blowjob, Jake’s confirmation that they were mates—and waited, half expecting Chay to laugh at him. It would have been no less than he deserved, considering the amount of shit he’d given Chay over Keaton, but Chay didn’t laugh.
    “You don’t pick your mate. Everything about them calls to you.”
    So it was an instinctual response? Like he had to Jake? “You mean you lose control over your eyes and your teeth.”
    Taking another taste of his beer, Chay nodded. “Arousal, and all that… Exactly. But there’s more to it. Your mate is your other half. Take Keaton and myself for example. He knows what I’m thinking before I do. He gets all my jokes. We have opposite strengths and weaknesses. Sounds corny I know, but it’s like he’s part of me. Sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. And I always know what he’s feeling