With Caution

guy was a piece of work. What kind of man didn’t want his own kids calling him dad?
    “Well, that was my experience when I lived there, but I’ve always kept him from hurting Sterling. He pretty much ignores Sterling as long as Sterling stays out of his hair and I continue to live my life by his rules.” Shaking his head, Remi snorted. “I’ve done that. I don’t even hang around my fag best friend anymore.” The venom in Remi’s voice said the word fag wasn’t his, but his father’s. “Well, not where he would find out about it anyway. I still go to Chay and Keaton’s, I just hide my bike. Pretty fucking pathetic, huh?” He took a long swig of beer, finishing it in one shot. He set it on the table and rested both his hands on his knees. He appeared far away, lost. “Simon and Bobby came with me to pick up Sterling one day and he kicked them out of the house. He told them to never come back because they’re still friends with Chay. So I pretty much steer clear of them too.”
    Jake had the urge to pull Remi into his lap and assure him it’d be okay, but instead he sat and listened. His heart ached for Remi. Given what he’d learned throughout the day, it shouldn’t come as such a shock the amount of control Remi’s father had over his life, but it did. And it pissed Jake off to no end. The idea of someone threatening his mate didn’t sit well with him.
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    With Caution
    Remi’s eyes were watery, the scent of tears heavy in the air, but he didn’t cry. He laughed, almost evilly. “The son of a bitch even told me what I was going to do for a living. One night over dinner he said, ‘You need to fill out this application to the fire department, I already told the fire chief to be looking for it.’ He threw the application at me and asked Sterling, ‘What do you think about Remi being a fireman?’ I don’t know if it was a threat or not, but I didn’t even argue. Besides, Sterling seemed to think it was cool. Of course, most six-year-olds do, huh? They all want to be firemen, policemen or astronauts…or a sports star. At that age, I wanted to be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys.”
    “Ah, that explains your jersey number in high school. Roger Staubach, huh?”
    Remi grinned. “Yeah.”
    “You were damn good. You probably could have been the Cowboy’s quarterback, well a NFL quarterback at least. Tell me truthfully, how many colleges offered you football scholarships?”
    “Only two. The scouts were watching other players, not me.”
    Jake didn’t ask why Remi didn’t take them up on it or seek out a scholarship to a school of his choice, when it meant he could’ve escaped his father. He didn’t need to.
    Jake came to the sudden realization that Remi’s sexual orientation and getting him to accept being Jake’s mate, were not the only obstacles in the way. He needed to help Remi find a way to protect and care for Sterling while getting the threat of Remi’s abusive father out of their lives.
    Setting his beer on the table, Jake moved a bit closer to Remi. “What about your mother? Is she still around?”
    “Since I moved out, it seems like he beats Mom more. Sterling says it’s because she makes sure Dirk doesn’t go after him.” The tears Remi had been holding back dripped down his cheek. Turning his head toward the TV, which was now a blue screen, he rested his cheek on his knee. “She’s a lost cause. I’ve tried. I’ve tried so damn hard. She won’t leave. Says she loves him and he needs her. At first I thought she was scared, but now…”
    He dashed the tears away with his hand. “Now, I think he means more to her than we do.

    www.samhainpublishing.com 33
    J.L. Langley
    Sterling and I have always depended on each other. That’s how it’s been since he was born. If it weren’t for Sterling…” Remi raised his head, tears no longer on his cheeks, but his eyes were brimming with them. “I’d have never gotten out of there alive if not for Sterling. Now, I need to get him out too before something terrible happens.”
    Jake swallowed the lump in his throat at what Remi implied. The thought of Remi not being around twisted Jake’s insides in knots. Already, he saw a man he admired, even if Remi weren’t his mate. The fact that he was made him that much more special.
    Remi shook his head, and the tears ran down his cheeks. “I don’t know why she didn’t love us enough to leave. How could she choose him over her own kids?