Free With Caution by J. L. Langley Page B

and thinking.
    I can tell you how he’s going to react to any given situation.” He grew quiet for a moment, sipping his drink. “And then there’s the physical response. If you ask Keaton he’ll tell you it’s our screwed up pheromones.”
    “You like how they smell.”
    Chay nodded. “Yeah. Which is exactly what Keaton means by pheromones.”
    Damn, damn, damn. “But didn’t it bother you that he’s a guy?”
    “It wasn’t what I expected. But I’ve wanted to find my mate for so long, I wasn’t about to give Keaton up when I found him. So I dealt with it. Which wasn’t easy given Bit’s sparkling personality.” Chay snorted. “The smallest hint that I was uncomfortable would set him off on a tangent about how we should forget we were mates.”
    Wow. Keaton had been opposed to the relationship? Remi had thought Keaton latched onto Chay immediately without question. Did that mean the attraction could be ignored? Remi wished he knew how to ignore what Jake made him feel. “Why didn’t you?”
    Chay cocked his head to the side. He looked pensive. “Because he’s the only mate I’ll ever have. Some wolves never find their mate.” He got a faraway look on his face 60
    www.samhainpublishing.com

    With Caution
    then he shook it off and took a sip of his beer. “Besides, the connection is too strong. It’s not very easy to ignore.”
    Staring at the ceramic tile, Remi put the pieces together. This couldn’t be happening.
    He was in real trouble. Not only was his body responding to Jake, but his mind was too.
    What the fuck was he going to do?
    Something wet fell on his wrist. He glanced down and noticed his hands shaking so much the beer was sloshing out. He tried to put his beer on the table, but Chay grabbed his wrist.
    Chay gave him a sad smile. “How do you feel about it?”
    “I don’t know… And if Dirk finds out—”
    “I didn’t ask what Dirk thinks about it or what society in general thinks. You need to decide what you think. How you feel.”
    That was just it, Remi didn’t know how he felt. He liked Jake…a lot. Tugging his hand away from Chay, Remi set his can down. He couldn’t imagine not ever seeing Jake again. His breath hitched. The thought of never seeing Jake again made his chest hurt.
    He dropped his head to his hands. “I didn’t even think about the fact that he was a guy at the time. It felt like the most natural thing in the world to do. Like I was in a trance or something, where nothing mattered but the two of us. All I could think about was needing him and—” pleasing him . “Fuck!” Groaning, Remi sat up, pulling at his hair.
    “What the hell am I going to do?”
    “What can you do?” Chay shrugged. “You have to ask yourself what’s important. If you don’t have a problem with it, you can deal with the rest. Trust me, it’s not impossible, I know.”
    Remi felt raw, open, like a bug under a microscope. His shoulders slumped. Instead of feeling better about the situation, it seemed even more hopeless. “What happens if you do ignore it?”
    Chay closed his eyes for a minute and let out a breath. When he opened them, his eyes were haunted. “You mean if you can? Then you learn to live with only half your soul.”

    www.samhainpublishing.com 61
    J.L. Langley

    * * *

    Jake motioned for the bartender to pour him another one. How could he have screwed up so badly? He should have stopped Remi from blowing him.
    “You look like shit.” Rhys sat on the barstool next to him and waved down the bartender.
    “Thanks.” Jake groaned. So much for drinking alone to clear his mind. “What are you doing here?”
    The bartender came back, poured Jake another scotch and wiped down the bar in front of Rhys. “What’ll it be?”
    “Bud Light.” Rhys turned to Jake. “I’m meeting Dago and Gadget for a couple games of pool and some beer. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be with Remi.”
    Snorting, Jake took a sip of his scotch. “Fucked up.”
    Rhys