With Caution: With or Without, Book 2 (3 page)

“Sure we do. We just don’t usually shoot anything.” Which was the absolute truth. They ran it down and chomped its neck. Remi grinned at Jake.

Jake grinned back.

“I can go with y’all next time, honest?” Sterling asked.

“Sure.” Jake arched a brow at Remi. “But you have to be vewy, vewy quiet.”

Remi couldn’t help himself, he laughed. He’d figure out how he was going to answer Sterling’s endless questions about hunting later. Oh
wow, he liked Jake. Well, when he wasn’t lusting after the man. Come to think of it, on the full moon was one of the few times he ever had fun anymore. In wolf form they seemed to have a comfortable silence with one another. It shouldn’t be any surprise to him that he and Jake would get along good in human form also. He’d just never been around Jake when he wasn’t trying to control his wolf nature. He decided he liked it. “Yeah, ’cause wabbits are vewy timid wittle cweatures.”

Jake smiled. A full-on, happy smile. It lit up his face and made his dark brown eyes dance.

And it went straight to Remi’s cock. His eyes went unfocused and his gums began to sting.
Fuck.

Remi extracted Jake’s sunglasses off his head and put them on.

* * *

Laughing, Sterling shoved Remi in the back and bounded past him out the diner door. “What are we gonna do now?” He ran across the parking lot toward Remi’s motorcycle. When he turned back toward Jake and Remi, Sterling had a huge grin on his face. “Can I drive?”

Jake chuckled. Sterling was everything a little brother should be, like a playful puppy, animated and full of energy. Not only was he smart and cute as he could be, but he was personable. Jake suspected the kid had never met anyone he couldn’t charm.

Handing Jake his sunglasses, Remi groaned and shook his head. “Not in the city.” Remi walked slightly behind Jake until they reached his bike. Putting the key in the ignition, he squinted at Jake. The sunlight caught his eyes just right, showing off the unusual green color. “Maybe we can go grab a beer tomorrow sometime to discuss what we were talking about earlier?”

Damn, his eyes were fucking gorgeous. The first time Jake had seen them, he’d thought they were contacts. They weren’t. Even in wolf form, Remi’s eyes were a clear peridot. He had to quit thinking like that. He put on his shades. If he got all keyed up, his arousal would trigger Remi’s. And Remi wasn’t near as good at hiding it as he was. Jake dragged his mind away from the piercing green long enough to answer. “Sure. You have my number?”

“Yeah, you gave it to me when you were watching after Keaton.” Reaching for the helmet hanging on the handlebars, Remi threw his leg over and sat. Once Sterling was settled on the bike, Remi handed the helmet back to him.

Sterling took the helmet as his head whipped around to Jake. “You were watching Keaton? Like a bodyguard or something? That’s so cool. Why did Keaton need a bodyguard? Was there trouble at the college? Did he fail a student or something? Oh.” Sterling’s eyes widened. “Was it because he’s gay?”

Frowning, Remi pinched Sterling’s leg.

“Oww.” The kid yelped and scowled at his brother. “What?”

“Shh…that’s rude.” Remi looked back at Jake. “Sorry, Jake, just igno—”

“Why’s that rude? I’m only curious. Maybe I wanna be a private detective one day. I need to know these things, in case,” Sterling shot back.

Jake watched them, fascinated.

Rolling his eyes at Sterling, Remi groaned and scowled over his shoulder. When he twisted, his baseball jersey fell open and the tight black T-shirt stretched taut across his toned muscles. “You’re being nosy and Jake has better things to do than answer your endless questions. Besides, I thought you were going to be a fireman.”

Jake chuckled, only half listening to the friendly banter between the siblings. He was having a hard time dragging his gaze away from Remi’s chest. Even knowing what was underneath the clothes from seeing Remi shift, there was something very enticing about how those square pecs showed through the fabric. It made Jake’s fingers itch to touch. He’d love to pinch those nipples and watch Remi squirm and beg for him. Remi’s chest would ripple and glisten with sweat and— Jake shook himself. Remi was straight. He might never truly be Jake’s mate, much less submit to Jake’s more dominant tendencies.

Sterling shrugged, drawing Jake’s attention. “Okay, fine, I’m nosy.” Sterling put the helmet on. “I want to know because I like Keaton. I don’t care what Dirk sa—”

Remi revved the engine.

Interesting.
Jake wondered what that was about.

“I’ll give you a call later.” Tilting the bike, Remi raised the kickstand with his foot. He wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Sterling looped his arms around Remi’s waist. “Bye, Jake.”

“Wait.” Jake gripped Remi’s arm. There was no way in hell he was going to let his mate go without a helmet. Werewolf or not a head injury could kill anyone. Wolves may heal faster than humans, but dead was dead.

Fuck.
Remi’s scent changed as soon as Jake touched him. It grew heavier—aroused—and it went straight to Jake’s cock.

Remi’s dark eyebrows pulled together. The green bled out into the whites of his eyes and his warm arm flexed under Jake’s hand. “What’s up?”

Clearing his throat, Jake released Remi’s arm. “Where’s your helmet?” Jake handed Remi his shades and glanced at Sterling from the corner of his eyes.

Swallowing so hard his Adam’s apple bobbed, Remi blinked and put the glasses on. He hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “I was in a hurry and forgot his helmet. So he’s wearing mine.”

Jake had to proceed with caution. Demanding that Remi be safe would likely piss the man off. “Why don’t you let me take Sterling and follow you to your place? That way you don’t have to ride without a helmet.”

Remi shook his head. “I—”

“Come on, Sterling. I’ll tell you more about the PI business on the way.” Jake offered the kid a hand. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Predictably, Sterling grinned and unbuckled his helmet. “Cool. You wanna hang out with us today? Hey, Remi, can we go toss a ball around?”

Remi turned his head. “Sterling…”

Throwing his leg over the bike, Sterling hopped off and handed his helmet to Remi.

Sighing, Remi took it. “Jake, are you sure this is no trouble? I mean, if you have work to do or something—”

“No trouble at all.” Jake smiled. It was probably a little underhanded, but he’d just figured out the key to his mate, and he was sure as shit going to use it. He gazed at Sterling, who was bouncing up and down on his toes impatiently. If including Sterling meant getting closer to Remi…so be it. Thankfully, Jake liked the kid, therefore it wasn’t as much using him as it was looking after him too. From what little Jake had heard of Remi and Sterling’s conversation before he dragged Remi outside earlier, the kid needed all the protection and support he could get.

Clasping his hand on Sterling’s shoulder, Jake led him toward his Chevy. “Toss a ball around?”

“Yeah, football. I want to try out for the junior varsity team next year.”

Remi pulled up beside them, wearing his helmet, and pointed a finger at Sterling. “Behave.” He waved at Jake. “See you at my apartment.”

Oh yes, this was going to work well. Jake nodded and punched the button on his key ring to unlock his black Tahoe.

Sterling climbed in and buckled his seat belt.

When Jake opened his own door and slid in, Sterling watched him, cocking his head. He remained quiet as Jake started the engine and backed out of the parking space. That probably wasn’t a good sign, considering how much the kid talked. “What’s up? You’re awfully quiet all of a sudden. I thought you were curious about my work?”

“Who were you protecting Keaton from?”

A deranged werewolf.
“You’ll have to ask Keaton that. Client confidentiality and all.”

“I don’t see Keaton very often. Remi doesn’t take me to Chay’s with him very much anymore.”

“Why not?”

Sterling blinked. “Dirk, uh, I mean our dad—” He turned away.

Jake wanted to ask why Sterling called his dad Dirk, but he was anxious to hear more about Remi’s father, and why the man didn’t like Keaton. “Your dad what?”

“Are you gay?”

“Excuse me?” Jake hit the brakes a little harder than normal, making the SUV jerk forward.

“Are you gay?”

Okay, he hadn’t expected that question. Furthermore, he didn’t know how to answer it. Shifting into drive, Jake headed out of the parking lot and toward Remi’s apartment. He didn’t want to lie to Sterling, but he wasn’t sure it was in his best interest to tell the kid either, considering how close Sterling was to Remi. According to Chay, Remi was a bit on the homophobic side. Letting Remi find out Jake was gay probably wasn’t the best way to get close to him. And how seriously fucked up was it that he might never claim his mate because his mate was straight?

“You don’t have to tell me.” Sterling shrugged. “I’m just being nosy. I see the way you look at Remi though.”

Wonderful. Chatty and observant.
“And this is your way of telling me to back off?”

Sterling chuckled and shook his head. “No, if I wanted you to back off, I’d tell you. Remi is more of a dad to me than a big brother and I love him very much. I want him happy, and right now, he worries me. He needs friends.”

“And what does me being gay or not have to do with me being friends with your brother?” If there were still problems between Remi and Chay, Jake hadn’t noticed. “As far as I know Remi is straight.”

“Remi treats you different.”

Did the kid know something, or was he playing with Jake? Jake glanced over, trying to get a feel for him.

Sterling stared out the front window. He seemed composed. “He hasn’t been on a date in ages.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question, kid. Are you saying he’s still freaked out over Chay hooking up with Keaton?”

“Nah, he only freaked in the first place because he was worried about Dirk finding out. Chay is his best buddy and he didn’t want Dirk to force him to stop seeing Chay. Remi even likes Keaton, even though he pretends not to at times.”

Sterling was quiet for a few seconds.

Jake could sense the scrutiny. He turned, catching Sterling’s gaze.

Finally, Sterling took a deep breath and nodded. “Well, all I know is you guys get along really well. He acts like himself when you’re around. He lets down his guard with you. He doesn’t do that with anyone but me.”

Jake had thought the change had been due to Sterling’s presence. Was it because no one else was around
except
Sterling, rather than
because
of Sterling? Remi
was
different this morning. Usually, he tended to be more guarded. He normally had a cocky air about him. Jake had always suspected it to be a pretense.

“Well, Remi is a grown man so I have no idea why his father’s—Dirk’s opinion matters when Chay is his best friend.” But it was one hell of a revelation and it gave Jake hope. “And why in the hell do you call your father Dirk? He’s yours and Remi’s real father, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why do you call him Dirk?”

Sterling shrugged. “He doesn’t let us call him Dad.”

Chapter Three

Jake shut the door to his Tahoe and went to the back to get the small cooler he’d brought with him. After closing the back door, he headed around the school building toward the playground and playing fields. He’d dropped Sterling off at Remi’s, telling Sterling he’d meet them at the schoolyard, then Jake had gone home to change. Now, he had to find them.

They were easy to spot. There was a lady jogging around the field and an old guy sitting under a tree by the swings drinking out of a brown paper bag, but other than that Remi and Sterling were the only ones there.

As Jake walked closer, Remi threw the football in a perfect spiral, right to Sterling.

Jake let out a low whistle. It was an impressive pass. The kid didn’t even need to break stride. The ball fell right into his hands.

Sprinting back toward Remi, Sterling tossed the ball to his brother and took a stance beside him.

Remi motioned with his empty hand for Sterling to run. Taking a few steps back, Remi threw the ball. Once again it was a tight spiral, right to Sterling.

The kid was pretty good. He appeared to have excellent hands, but Jake wasn’t sure how much real practice he was going to get with someone who threw as well as Remi. Maybe Jake would call his friends and see about putting together a team for the kid to practice with next weekend. It would do him good to have to get through a defense.

Setting the cooler about ten feet from Remi, Jake turned to watch Sterling jog back toward them. “I’m impressed. That was a hell of a pass.”

Remi flinched, apparently caught off guard, his sunglasses slipping down his nose a little. “Yeah, guess I still have it.”

Jake grinned. He was going to have to work with the man on using his senses. “I brought us some water.” The shades on Remi’s face were the Oakleys he normally wore, not mirrored Ray-Bans. Jake’s glasses hung from the collar of Remi’s tank top. He took them and put them on. “What do you mean, still?”