Chapter Three #3
“Could you stop?” Caleb snapped. He pressed his lips together and shook his head.
“Look, I’m sorry. I wasn’t fair to you when I rejected your offer to help.
It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Sal and the way he treated Jonathan.
I tried to help, you know? I knew Sal was bad news.
He managed to get Jonathan away from me, and I couldn’t get back in.
No matter how hard I tried or how many times I tried to call Jonathan and get between him and Sal, I failed. ”
Austin resisted the urge to pull Caleb into his arms. He’d never been in a situation like that, but he’d seen plenty of abusive relationships in his line of work.
When something bad happened, he was one of the people called in to help.
He’d seen how controlling people could be.
He was aware of how hard it was to get out of those relationships.
Abusers isolated their victims, and that was what Sal had been attempting to do.
Thankfully, he’d failed, and Jonathan had gotten out, but it made sense that it had traumatized more people than just him.
Austin wasn’t happy to be dumped into the same category as Sal, but he understood. If Caleb gave him a chance, he’d show him that he was nothing like the other dragon shifter. “I accept your apology,” he said with a smile.
Caleb frowned. “I’m not done.”
“I don’t need you to be. I’m not happy to be painted with the same brush as Sal, but I get it. We should get past it.”
“Just like that?”
“I don’t see why we should make it more complicated than it is.”
Caleb opened his mouth, but his gaze flickered to something behind Austin. Austin turned to look, rolling his eyes at the sight of Jeremy and Lisa, very clearly eavesdropping. They didn’t need to clean the ambulance right now.
He grabbed Caleb’s arm and pulled him further down the parking lot.
He heard Jeremy whisper something to Lisa, and he was going to have to talk to them about privacy later, but for now, he wanted to focus on Caleb.
He’d apologized, but there had to be another reason he was here.
Austin suspected he knew what that reason was.
“So, you’re here for the fires, right?” he asked.
Caleb frowned. “I’m here to apologize.”
“And to find out about the fires. It’s fine.”
“I just don’t want you to think I’m here to use you. I truly am sorry for the way I treated you, and I want us to get past it.”
Austin waved Caleb’s words away. “We are. Did you find out anything? Because I haven’t had the time. I realize this should be a priority, but I can’t exactly tell my boss what’s going on.”
Caleb blinked, then shook his head. “It’s fine. I didn’t expect you to drop everything to focus on this.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I should because I’m worried.”
Caleb nodded. “So am I. I was at a community meeting earlier. People are scared.”
“Makes sense. What was said at that meeting? If you can share, of course.”
“Someone mentioned wanting to patrol, but I think I managed to get them to change their mind. I don’t think that would be smart.”
“Taking things into your own hands that way seldom is. Of course, I’m not a cop, but I have to think that the arsonist wouldn’t be happy if he was confronted or interrupted. That might lead to more problems, or worse, to someone dying.”
“I told them I’d talk to you, and they dropped it, but it’s not going to be for long if something isn’t done. I know this isn’t your responsibility, but they’re scared. They don’t want to just sit there and wait for something to happen, and I don’t blame them.”
Neither did Austin. He just didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
He looked around. “Look, this isn’t the best place to do this, but maybe we could meet and talk about it later?”
Caleb nodded. “When’s your shift over?”
“Around an hour unless the bell rings.”
“I’ll go sit in my car with my phone, then. I want to do some research, anyway.”
“Oh?”
“This story isn’t the only one I’m working on at the moment. I have work to do, and I think you do, too. I’ll see you when your shift is over.”
He didn’t give Austin the opportunity to answer. He turned around and walked toward one of the cars in the parking lot, and Austin watched him go, wondering what had just happened. He suspected that if he allowed Caleb close, the man would keep him on his toes.
He turned with a chuckle and walked back to the station, not one bit surprised to see that Jeremy and Lisa were still by the ambulance. At least they’d stopped acting like they were working.
“I know that guy,” Jeremy said.
“That’s Caleb, Jonathan’s best friend. Don’t the two of you have anything better to do than spy on me?”
“We weren’t spying on you,” Lisa argued.
“Sure you weren’t.”
“We were just curious. I don’t think anyone has ever looked for you here at the station. What does Jonathan’s best friend want from you?”
Austin winked. “What do you think?”
“Does West know you’re banging his boyfriend’s best friend?” Jeremy asked.
“Now, who said anything about sex?”
“Isn’t that what you were implying?”
“I didn’t imply anything.” That wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t happily give Caleb that, too. He just wasn’t sure Caleb would want it from him.
* * * *
EVEN THOUGH CALEB HAD told Austin that he had work to do, he barely managed to do anything.
Hell, he barely managed to look away from the fire station, even though nothing was happening there.
He couldn’t see inside. He couldn’t even hear anything.
He could just sit there, knowing that Austin was in the building.
He was glad he’d been given a second chance with Austin. He wasn’t sure what that would mean for him or for this case, but this would be good for West and Jonathan. Maybe it would be good for Caleb, too. He wasn’t sure yet, but something told him that now that he’d let Austin in, he’d find out.
Now that Caleb was letting go of his wariness of dragon shifters and of Austin being like Sal, he found it easy to like the kind of person Austin was.
He was open and clearly didn’t hold grudges.
It would’ve been easy for him to tell Caleb to fuck off, but instead, he waved off his apology.
He wanted to hear what was on Caleb’s mind.
Austin was the only thing on Caleb’s mind right now.
Caleb shook his head. He could admit, at least to himself, that he wanted Austin.
It didn’t make sense because he didn’t know the dragon shifter well, but Austin had been there for him when he’d been panicking.
He’d been gentle and caring, and even when Caleb had rejected him, he hadn’t held it against him.
He’d given Caleb the opportunity to apologize and explain himself, and it looked like he wouldn’t hold it against him at all.
Caleb’s priority was to find out who was burning down shifter-owned businesses, but if he came out of that with a boyfriend, he couldn’t say he’d be sorry.
But it was too soon to think of Austin that way. Hell, Caleb didn’t even know if Austin was interested in him. Maybe he was being nice because of Jonathan and West. Maybe he was just humoring Caleb.
Whatever he was doing, it was working. Caleb wasn’t afraid when he was with Austin. He’d been terrified whenever he’d been in Sal’s presence, although mostly, it hadn’t been for himself. He’d been scared for Jonathan, and he’d been right to be.
He wasn’t scared for Jonathan anymore. He didn’t need to be. Jonathan was safe and happy with West, and neither West nor Austin were like Sal, even though they were dragon shifters. They weren’t going to hurt anyone. Hell, they made a living out of saving people.
True to his word, Austin was out of the station just a little over an hour later. Caleb watched him walk toward him, taking in Austin’s long legs and his broad shoulders. Caleb might not be there to find a date, but he could look.
“There’s a coffee shop not far from here,” Austin said when Caleb opened his car window. “We could grab something and talk.”
“I’ll follow you,” Caleb agreed.
Austin’s smile felt like a reward, which was odd. Caleb really needed to get a grip.
He wasn’t sure how to make that happen.
He kept his gaze on Austin’s face once they parked and got to the coffee shop. Austin clearly frequented this place a lot because the woman behind the counter waved at him and asked him if he wanted the usual. He nodded and turned to Caleb, who quickly gave her his order.
He and Austin didn’t talk as they waited, but Austin opened his mouth as soon as they were seated. “So, you’re here for the case.”
“I’m here because someone needs to be.”
Austin took a sip of coffee and nodded. “I agree. I haven’t heard anything from my captain about the investigation yet, but he suspected it was arson, too, so he’s going to push for answers.”
“That’s nice, but he has to realize that if the investigators don’t know about shifters, it’s going to be almost impossible for them to find the culprits.”
Austin grimaced. “He doesn’t realize that because he doesn’t know about shifters, either.”
That was a surprise. “I thought for sure you’d have told him.”
“West has been pushing for us to. He wants us to tell our entire team.”
Caleb was curious. “Why haven’t you?”
“I don’t want them to look at us differently, you know? Even amongst shifters, dragons aren’t seen well. People think we’re arrogant and too willing to use our size and strength against them. Plenty of dragons do, but not all of us.”
Caleb had done exactly that. He’d assumed that he knew the kind of person Austin was just because he was a dragon shifter. “I’m sure that even if they freak out, they’ll realize how useful you being a dragon shifter is for the job.”
“Probably. I’m not afraid that they’d stop talking to us or kick us out of the station or anything like that. I just don’t want them to look at me like I’m not me anymore.”
“Looking at people differently isn’t always a bad thing.”
Austin cocked his head. He was a gorgeous man, but like he was now, with his big puppy eyes watching Caleb, Caleb mainly wanted to hug him.
He hadn’t been fair to this man, and while part of him still wondered if he was doing the right thing, he wanted to believe that he was.
Austin hadn’t given him any reason to doubt him.
“I suppose it’s not,” Austin eventually agreed.
“You want to protect people.” It wasn’t a question. Caleb already knew. Sal wouldn’t have wanted to protect anyone, not even Jonathan. The only person Sal cared about was Sal himself. It was another way in which West and Austin were different from him.
“That’s why I got into firefighting, yes,” Austin confirmed. “It made sense, you know? I’m a dragon shifter. It’s useful during fires. I can get further in burning buildings than most of my team. I can withstand the heat and don’t get burned.”
“That can’t be an easy thing to hide.”
“It’s not, but I’ve been doing it since I started at the academy. I’ll be fine. What about you? I know that you’re focused on this case because you’re part of the community, but it feels personal.”
Caleb had a choice. He could let Austin in, or he could tell him this was just work.
“My grandmother owned a flower shop,” he explained.
“I spent hours there as a kid and a teenager. It wasn’t here, of course, but it was on a busy street where everyone knew everyone.
The business owners were friends, and they cared about each other.
I always liked that. When my grandmother broke her hip, she never even had to close the shop.
The other shop owners took care of it for her.
I see that in the community here, and I don’t want to lose that.
Secrecy is important, obviously, which means that shifters have to rely on each other.
I’m a shifter, even though I don’t own a business there.
Besides, I spend more time there than at my apartment. ”
Austin nodded. “Because of Jonathan.”
“Yeah. He’s already been through enough. He almost lost the shop and his life because of the fire.” Well, because of Sal, but that detail didn’t matter in their present situation. “I don’t want him to lose people he cares about. I don’t want him to potentially be the next victim of this arsonist.”
“He’s more than a best friend to you.”
Caleb looked down at his coffee. “I’m an only child.
I don’t know what it’s like to have siblings, but I imagine that it’s like the relationship I have with Jonathan.
I almost lost him once, and I won’t let anything or anyone hurt him again.
I know it’s probably not my place to protect him like that since he has West, but yes, he’s one of the reasons I want this so badly.
I don’t want him to get hurt. I don’t want anyone to get hurt, and I don’t want any more shifters to lose their home and their livelihood.
Whoever’s doing this, whatever reasons they’re doing it for, they need to be stopped.
I know I won’t be able to do that on my own, and I’m glad you’ll help. ”
Austin nodded. “I will.”