With Abandon: With or Without, Book 4

fun while I was here before I go home and have to get
    married.” Jordan’s tone was on the cynical side in Matt’s opinion.
    Matt jerked his attention from the darkening clouds to Jordan. “You’re getting married? You have a
    mate back home?” Matt hadn’t thought he did, but if Jordan were getting married…
    “No.” Jordan blinked. “I haven’t actually picked out a wife or anything, I just know I’m going to
    when I get home. I’ve got to have kids and a family. It’s what’s expected…ya know?” Jordan paused for a second. “Besides, my mate is dead.” He gasped and shook his head, like he’d surprised himself. He flushed and rubbed his arms. “Wow, it’s getting cooler.” He rushed on like he hadn’t seconds before revealed such a heartrending personal thing.
    Oh God, how horrible. Matt was chilled too, but not because of the weather. “I’m so sorry.” He wanted to ask how Jordan’s mate had died, but he obviously didn’t want to talk about it. What must that be 58
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    With Abandon
    like? Matt had just found his mate, but already he knew he wouldn’t want to be without him…not like that at least. He wanted to call Aubrey, to talk to him and make certain he was okay.
    “Er, thanks. I can’t believe I blurted that out. You’re so easy to talk to,” he grumbled. Shrugging, he lightened his tone. “I try to look on the bright side. At least now I get to pick my mate.” Stuffing his hands in his front pockets, Jordan continued out to the parking lot, keeping pace with Matt.
    Once, he’d have thought getting to pick was the better deal too, but now he wasn’t so sure. He
    touched Jordan’s arm, slowing their forward progress. “If you need someone to talk to…”
    Stopping, Jordan furrowed his brow and stared right at Matt.
    A whiff of uneasiness tickled Matt’s nose and disappeared. Oh no, he hadn’t meant to make Jordan
    more uncomfortable.
    Jordan stayed there for several seconds, then the corner of his mouth inched up, so slight it was almost unnoticeable. “Thank you,” he whispered. Shaking his head again, he started walking. “Having a guy for a mate was a headache I didn’t need. No one would have understood.” Jordan hitched his backpack farther up on his shoulder. “What about you?”
    “My dad is the coolest guy on earth. He’d rather cut off his arm than force me to be something I’m
    not.” He couldn’t imagine not being himself. His chest burned with empathy. Poor Jordan. He’d lost his mate and he had to hide his true nature.
    “You’re lucky. What about your friends and pack? What about the guy you’re living with? Does he
    know you’re gay?”
    “Aubrey? Yeah, he knows. I think my pack knows too and—” Matt bit his bottom lip, embarrassed to
    admit that he didn’t really have any friends. Tara was sort of his friend, but she was Aubrey’s friend first, so did that count?
    “And?”
    “And I don’t have any friends who aren’t family or pack.” Matt’s cheeks heated.
    “If I find a gay bar, you wanna go with me?” Jordan asked with a hint of amusement.
    Maybe Matt did have a friend. “No way. You’re on your own, dude.”
    Jordan chuckled. “You’re really cute when you blush.”
    Matt groaned just as the chime indicating he had a text went off. Saved by the bell. He retrieved his
    phone.
    There was a message from Tara. Get home, it’s about to come a gully washer.
    Matt blinked and read it again. “What the heck is a gully washer?”
    Jordan grinned. “A rainstorm, and it’s pronounced gully worsher, not washer.”

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    59
    J.L. Langley
    As Matt stepped into the apartment, thunder rattled the glass and lightning crackled across the sky.
    “Good God.” It sounded awfully loud this high up. He tossed the motorcycle keys on the table in the foyer and dropped his backpack on the couch. Talk about timing.
    He crept closer to the wall of windows. Something about the ominous clouds lent an otherworldly feel
    to the room. The way the apartment was dark except for the dim light of outside was mysterious, maybe
    even a little spooky. It grew darker by the second. Black thunderheads dominated what was left of the clear afternoon, and he had a perfect view of the quickly approaching rain.
    The phone rang as Matt started to sit on the floor. “Ack.” Matt slapped a hand to his chest. “Geez.”
    Backtracking, he snagged the phone and a pillow off the couch. The caller ID read: