Chapter One #3
Austin and Taylor glanced at each other. Austin wasn’t surprised that Taylor had realized that. He was a good firefighter and an even better captain. “That’s what the owner said,” Austin told him.
“She mentioned it to you?”
Austin had to be careful. He couldn’t give himself and West—or the bookstore owner—away. “She said that she’s heard about other stores burning down recently. She believes it’s connected.”
“What do you think? Is she involved?”
“You think she set her store on fire?” Austin knew she hadn’t, but he understood why Taylor thought she might have. He didn’t have all the information.
“It’s a possibility. Insurance and all that.”
“She seemed genuinely distraught, and she asked me if we were going to investigate. I told her I was sure you’d do the right thing, and she seemed satisfied with that. It didn’t feel like she was afraid of being found out or anything like that.”
“So you don’t believe she had anything to do with it?”
“I really don’t. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.”
Taylor nodded. “Well, I suppose the investigator will be the person to decide that. Why don’t the two of you say goodbye to Jonathan? We need to head out soon.”
Austin wasn’t sure what was going through Taylor’s mind, but he was uncomfortable, so he was quick to join West when he stepped away. “You think he suspects us?” he asked in a whisper.
West frowned. “Suspect us of what?”
“You know.”
“There’s no way he knows we’re shifters. We’ve been careful.”
“But he knows something weird is happening.”
“Yeah, with the shop owner and the fires, not with us. Don’t worry too much, Austin. Taylor and the others aren’t going to find out about us, and if they do, they’ll be fine with it.”
West wasn’t wrong, but Austin couldn’t stop thinking about it, even as they rejoined Caleb and Jonathan. The shop owner, Margaret, looked up when she heard them. She relaxed when she recognized Austin, and Austin felt like shit. He didn’t deserve her to trust him like she did.
“I was just talking to Jonathan and Caleb,” Margaret said. “They understand, and they agree.”
“I never said I disagreed with what you said,” Austin pointed out. “I just said that I’m not an investigator. I won’t be the one in charge of any of this. In fact, my job here is done.” He turned to Caleb and Jonathan. “We’re headed out.”
Jonathan instantly turned his attention to his boyfriend, which left Austin and Caleb staring at each other.
Caleb shuffled his feet, then looked back at Margaret.
“I’m really sorry you had to go through this.
I know how scared you and the rest of the community are.
I’ll do everything I can to find out what’s going on. ”
Austin frowned. “Are you a detective?”
Caleb shook his head, then hesitated. He squared his shoulders as if he expected Austin to have something bad to say about the next words that left his mouth. “I’m a journalist.”
Austin almost groaned. Of course he was. “Well, no comment,” he said.
Caleb rolled his eyes. “I didn’t ask you for any comment. I know you’re just a firefighter and don’t know anything about what happened.”
“Just a firefighter? I’m wounded.”
“No, you’re not. Besides, you know what I mean.”
“I do, and I understand why you’re worried. I promise I’m taking this seriously, but there’s really nothing else I can do right now.”
Caleb stared at him for a moment. “What about later?”
“What about it?”
“There’s nothing you can do about this right now, but what about later? Would you be willing to talk to me?”
“I feel like I should say no.”
“I’m going to look into this whether you like it or not. There have been rumors about someone being unhappy with shifters in this town. Don’t you think it’s suspicious considering all the recent fires? Were they all arson?”
Austin raised his hands. “I can’t confirm or deny anything like that. Again, I’m not an investigator.”
“But you’re close to this. You have to know something.”
“I really don’t. What do you mean, there are rumors?”
“Just that. They’re rumors, but considering the fires, I think it’s safe to say that there’s something true to them.”
“You can’t know that for sure.”
“And you can’t know for sure there’s nothing to it.”
They stared at each other for a moment. They were both right, and Austin wasn’t sure where that left them. He kind of wished he’d been introduced to Jonathan’s best friend differently, but it was too late for that.
“West, Austin,” Taylor called out. “We’re headed back.”
Austin didn’t want to leave Caleb alone here.
He felt like the man was trouble, and he didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Jonathan would be distraught if something did, and that meant that West would be, too.
It had nothing to do with Caleb himself, or at least, that was what Austin told himself.
“Let’s go,” he told West after quickly hugging Jonathan. He didn’t turn back to Caleb, but he could feel the man watching him.
Yes, Caleb was going to be trouble. He wasn’t Austin’s trouble, but something told Austin that he’d be involved, anyway. He wasn’t going to have a choice if it meant keeping Jonathan safe.
Who would want to burn down shifter-owned businesses?
Who knew about shifters in the first place?
Some humans did. Maybe it was one of them, or maybe it was other shifters.
Austin didn’t know if there was anything in common between the owners of the shops that burned down.
He was going to have to look into it, though.
Caleb definitely would, and Austin wouldn’t be left in the dark.
For some reason, Austin felt it was his job to protect Caleb. West already had his hands full with Jonathan. The least Austin could do for his best friend was to keep an eye on Jonathan’s best friend.
Even though he was pretty sure that was going to end in a disaster.
* * * *
CALEB FOUND HIMSELF watching as West and Austin walked back toward the rest of their team.
Austin’s broad shoulders filled out his firefighter’s jacket, and there was something about the way he carried himself that drew the eye—or Caleb’s eye, anyway.
When Austin glanced back toward them, Caleb quickly looked away, focusing instead on what remained of Margaret’s bookstore.
“Subtle,” Jonathan said, sounding amused.
“What?” Caleb tried to sound innocent, but Jonathan knew him too well.
“The staring. Very subtle.”
Jonathan’s eyes held that particular glint that meant Caleb was about to be thoroughly teased. Normally, he’d be annoyed, but after what had happened today, he was glad that Jonathan felt up to teasing him.
“Should I be worried that my best friend is checking out my boyfriend’s best friend?” Jonathan asked.
“I wasn’t—” Caleb started, but what would denying it do? “Fine. Maybe I was looking. He’s, well, he seems nice.”
“Nice.” Jonathan drew out the word. “Austin is many things, but I’m not sure that nice covers it. I’m also not sure that’s actually the word you wanted to use since you were staring at his ass.”
“I wasn’t!”
Jonathan arched a brow. Caleb hadn’t been staring at Austin’s ass, but he might as well have been. Hell, he’d been thinking about Austin’s broad shoulders.
They started walking back toward Jonathan’s tattoo shop since there was nothing more they could do here.
The smell of smoke clung to everything, including them, but the danger was over.
Caleb tried not to think about when Jonathan’s shop had burned.
Thankfully, it hadn’t been as bad, and Jonathan hadn’t lost it, but still. It was too close for comfort.
“What would you call Austin if not nice?” Caleb asked, curious despite himself. He shouldn’t be thinking about Austin, but it was a distraction he needed right now.
Jonathan was quiet for a moment. “Dedicated. Intense when he needs to be, but not in an overwhelming way. Loyal to the people he cares about. West says Austin’s the kind of person who’ll run into a burning building for a stranger, but he’ll also remember your coffee order after meeting you once.”
“He’s a firefighter. Running into burning buildings is his job. It doesn’t make him a good person, especially since fire can’t hurt him.” The words came out harsher than Caleb intended.
Jonathan shot him a knowing look. “Not everyone is Sal, Caleb.”
Caleb would rather not think about Jonathan’s ex, but he’d been the one to start their conversation, and he couldn’t deny that he was worried.
Sal had swept Jonathan off his feet with grand gestures, then he’d isolated Jonathan from his friends and had hurt him.
He’d made Jonathan believe that love meant giving up pieces of yourself until there was nothing left, and that was what Jonathan had done for too long.
“I know that,” Caleb said. “I just—dragons are—”
“What? Big and scary? West is a dragon. Austin is a dragon. Are you telling me that you think West is going to hurt me?”
Caleb stopped walking. The idea of West hurting Jonathan was ridiculous, even though he couldn’t help but wonder sometimes.
He’d seen how gentle West was with Jonathan and how he encouraged Jonathan’s independence rather than trying to control it.
He’d always been careful with Jonathan and was nothing like Sal, but that didn’t mean that no one was.
“No, of course not. But West is different.”
“Different how?”
Caleb wasn’t sure how to explain it because it didn’t make a lot of sense. It was an irrational fear. “He doesn’t make everything about himself. He doesn’t need to be the biggest, strongest person in the room. He actually listens to you.”
“And you think Austin wouldn’t listen to you?”
Caleb thought about the way Austin had dealt with his panic attack.
He’d been calm and professional, but also concerned.
He’d offered help without being pushy and had backed off when Caleb insisted he was fine.
It wasn’t the behavior of someone who needed to dominate every situation the way Sal had.