Isaac followed them out into the hallway, much to Aaron’s surprise. “I need to change,” he said when Aaron looked at him.
One flight of stairs later, they parted ways. “I’ll see you in thirty minutes outside your building.” Not waiting for an answer, Isaac opened the stairwell door and marched off down the corridor in the direction of his flat.
When they got outside, Aaron took in a big lungful of fresh air and closed his eyes for a second.
Harry elbowed him in the ribs. “I wasn’t expecting that to happen when we walked over here earlier.”
They started walking again and Aaron sighed. “Nope. Me neither.” Though in hindsight, maybe he should have. “But when you think about it now, it seems kind of an obvious choice. Don’t you reckon?”
“I guess.” Harry shrugged, his shoulder brushing Aaron’s. “You did tell them all about Charlie and how he’d had a run-in with Smith, or White, or whatever we’re supposed to call him now.” Harry rolled his eyes. “I wish they’d never mentioned his real name. I don’t want to accidentally blurt it out when I shouldn’t.”
“I know what you mean.” Of course, he’d always known that Mr Smith wasn’t his real name. No one actually thought that. Well, no one who Aaron knew, anyway. But Smith didn’t advertise his real name. Aaron had never heard it mentioned before, and he doubted them knowing it would be seen as a good thing by anyone other than the SCTF. “Let’s stick to calling him Smith.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“At least you have Isaac going with you on Thursday.”
Harry smiled. “I know. Makes me feel a whole lot better about it all.”
“Me too.”
As they reached the entrance to their building, Harry glanced over at him. “What do you think of Detective Archer?”
Aaron eyed him suspiciously. “In what way?”
“Oh, come on, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how hot he is.”
“Fuck no!” Aaron scoffed. “Hot is so not the word I was thinking when he threatened to arrest me earlier.”
Harry laughed at him, clearly thinking he was full of shit. “What about before that? I saw you eyeing him up yesterday afternoon.”
“When?”
“At the crime scene. You might have thought you were being subtle—and for fuck’s sake A, we were standing near a huge bloodstain—but I caught you taking a peek. There’s something to be said for a man in uniform.”
Aaron’s cheeks heated because Harry was spot on. Hehadnoticed. “I might’ve given him a second glance, yesterday. But that was before heaskedme to carry on fighting.” He refrained from using air quotes—just. “And they don’t wear uniforms.”
Harry waved him away as he reached for the door. “You know what I mean though. It’s that air of authority they carry with them.”
“They’re SCTF. Their sole purpose is to arrest shifters, report them to the council, and make sure they end up in Krillick Hall. Why would I find that attractive?” He walked inside after Harry and followed him to the stairs.
“They’re just doing their job. And anyone who ends up in prison usually deserves to be there.”
Aaron hummed in response. Harry made a good point, but still. They were SCTF. They weren’t shifter friendly.
“All that aside, he is really hot. Admit it.”
That coaxed a laugh out of him and he looked up to see Harry staring at him over his shoulder. “He’s all right, I guess.”
“And I reckon he thinks you’re a bit of all right too.” Harry grinned as he said it.
“Fuck off. Now you’re just talking out your arse.” The thought of Archer liking him was more appealing than he was comfortable with. It was a terrible idea to even entertain. Making a shooing gesture, he added, “Hurry up, I’ve got to fix my face before we meet Isaac.”
“Yeah, got to look pretty for our new beta.” Harry laughed and ran up the rest of the steps as Aaron lunged for him.
“Wanker.” Aaron glared as they parted ways and headed for their respective flats, but Harry just waved and grinned.
“I’ll be round in twenty.”
