West wasn’t wrong.Normally, Austin would be a lot more laid-back.He’d give Caleb space since that was what he wanted, and he’d let things happen organically.There were a few reasons for his sense of urgency.For one, he believed they’d be more efficient if they teamed up.Caleb was way smarter than Austin, so he might look at the information Austin had because he was a firefighter and see something Austin hadn’t.Austin might also be able to look at some of the informationCalebhad gathered and find patterns that Caleb couldn’t because he wasn’t a firefighter, but there was no way to know for sure because Caleb had refused to work with Austin.
Then, there was the little problem of Austin having a crush on Caleb.
He wanted to impress Caleb because Caleb was Jonathan’s best friend and he was important, but also because he was cute.Caleb was intense in the best of ways, and Austin wanted to poke at him and see what happened.He wanted to find out what made Caleb tick and what made him lose his cool.
He wasn’t sure that telling all of this to his best friend was a good idea.Besides, it wasn’t like telling West would change anything.West was right when he’d said that the only thing that Austin could do was wait and give Caleb space.
“You know he wants to investigate the arsons,” Austin said instead of telling West that he had a stupid crush.
“He’s a journalist.It makes sense.”
“I know.I’m not saying he shouldn’t, although it’s dangerous, but I’m worried that he might stumble onto something he can’t do anything about.If there really is someone targeting shifter businesses, I doubt they’re going to stop.Caleb sticking his nose into it might cause them to react.”
“Yeah, Jonathan’s worried about that too, but Caleb knows what he’s doing.This is his job, and it’s not his first time investigating something dangerous.I already told Jonathan that, but I think that the best thing we can do is keep an eye on Caleb and leave him be.Someone has to find out what’s going on, and I don’t think anyone else is truly investigating.”
“That’s because they don’t know about shifters.”
“Caleb does.Look, I promise that Jonathan and I will make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.Give him a little time, and I’m sure he’ll let you in.”
Austin hoped that West was right, but he couldn’t swear on it, which meant that he had to find a way to keep Caleb safe without Caleb allowing him close.The best way to do that was to find out who was responsible for the arson before Caleb could get in trouble.That would probably piss Caleb off, but it wasn’t something Austin could consider in this situation.
Austin was nothing like Sal.He didn’t hurt people—he kept them safe.That included keeping them safe from themselves and a possible arsonist running around the city.
No matter how little those people liked it.
* * * *
CALEB COULDN’T STOPthinking about Austin’s puppy eyes.It was clear that Austin had been disappointed when Caleb said he didn’t trust him, and while Caleb shouldn’t feel guilty about that, it was hard.It wasn’t only because of Austin’s reaction, although that had a lot to do with it.It was also because Austin hadn’t done anything to show Caleb that he couldn’t be trusted.No, the only reason Caleb was wary was Sal, and it didn’t feel fair to hold Austin responsible for what Jonathan’s ex had done.
Hell, it didn’t even feel fair for it to be Caleb feeling this way.He wasn’t the one who’d been in a relationship with Sal.If Jonathan could trust Austin, surely Caleb should be able to do the same.Jonathan had gotten over his mistrust of dragon shifters.He’d managed to let West in, and he was happier than he’d ever been.Was Caleb depriving himself of that because of his stubbornness?Could he have what West and Jonathan had with Austin?Was that even a possibility considering the way he’d treated Austin?
He shook his head as he stared at the road ahead.He couldn’t think that way.Whatever relationship he might have with Austin wasn’t the most important thing right now.No, what was important was finding the person behind the arsons, and Caleb wasn’t sure he could do that on his own.Having Austin’s help could make or break this case.It could save countless lives.Caleb couldn’t allow fear to guide him, not in this mess.
He was going to have to reach out to Austin and apologize, wasn’t he?
He reached for his phone when he stopped at a red light and quickly dialed Jonathan’s number.He put him on speaker before driving ahead, tapping his fingertips onto the steering wheel as he waited for Jonathan to answer.
“Does this phone call have anything to do with the phone call West is currently answering from Austin?”Jonathan asked, his voice loud in the car.
Caleb winced.“I don’t know.I have no idea what Austin might want to talk to Wes about.”
“Liar.I know Austin went to the hospital to talk to Margaret.Are you still there?”
“I left a little while ago.”He’d had to stop at the grocery store because he’d used up the last roll of toilet paper this morning.If it hadn’t been for that, he’d already be home, sitting on his couch and eating takeout while watching bad reality TV.
“So both you and Austin were there.”
“He got there while I was talking to Margaret.”
“And now you’re talking to me.What happened with Austin?”
Caleb bit his lower lip.He’d been an asshole, and he knew it.“He suggested we work together since he knows I’m looking into the arsons.”
“Well, that’s not a bad idea.”
“I said no.”
“Okay.Thatsounds like a bad idea, and not like something you, of all people, would do.What happened?”Jonathan sucked in a breath and continued talking before Caleb could answer.“Please tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with Sal.”
