Page 21 of Tempered By Flames

Or maybe it had nothing to do with Taylor and Liam was freaking out for a different reason. Ethan didn’t know, but he was sure Liam was freaking out. He could see it in his expression. He wanted to know what was going on, but he couldn’t. He didn’t belong there. Neither he nor Jonathan did.

Ethan looked around. Trying to get Liam’s attention was definitely a bad idea, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t think Jonathan would mind, so he grabbed his best friend’s arm and pulled him to the side. They couldn’t get very close with the police officers watching them, but they could hopefully get close enough to catch Liam or West’s attention.

By the time they were as close as they were going to get, Taylor was done talking with the other firefighter. He turned towards the three, and something changed in his expression. He looked slightly bewildered, which didn’t make a lot of sense. He didn’t hesitate to walk towards Liam and the others, and when Liam noticed him, his entire body tensed. He was so tense that Ethan was pretty sure he’d snap if there was a strong breeze.

“We’ll talk about this later,” Ethan heard Taylor say. “At the station. In my office.” He glanced at West and Austin. West was steady, but Austin looked like he was thinking about making a run for it. Knowing him, maybe he was.

It would be kind of funny if the situation didn’t look as dire as it did. It was clear that something was seriously wrong, though. Ethan wanted to do something, but what? He wanted to protect Liam and the other two from whatever was going on. He shouldn’t have a reason to protect them from Taylor, but it looked like he might need to, and he didn’t know what to think about that. He didn’t have a plan, though.

“We will talk about this,” Taylor said, his tone hard and uncompromising.

Liam turned even paler. He looked like he was about to faint, and every single one of Ethan’s protective instincts rose up as one. He might not have a plan, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to do something.

“Captain?” he called out.

He was loud enough that Taylor looked over. Jonathan said something and elbowed Ethan in the ribs, but Ethan ignored him. Taylor was frowning now and moving toward him, and Ethan had no idea what was about to happen.

“What are you doing?” Jonathan asked.

“I don’t know. I was trying to get him away from them,” Ethan whispered back.

“Well, it worked, and now he’s coming toward us.”

“What do we say?”

“You caused the problem. You solve it.”

Ethan plastered a smile on his lips when Taylor reached them. Taylor looked from him to Jonathan, then back to him, probably because he’d been the one to call him over.

“Ethan, right?” Taylor asked.

“Yep, that’s me. You look good in your turnouts.”

Taylor blinked. He stared at Ethan as if he wasn’t quite sure he’d heard that right, something Ethan agreed with. What the fuck was he thinking? It sounded like he was flirting with Taylor, which definitely wasn’t the case. No offense to Taylor, who was a very handsome man, but Ethan only had eyes for Liam.

Who, at the moment, was staring at him with wide eyes instead of slipping away from Taylor.

Ethan tilted his head, trying to get Liam to understand that he needed to leave. At the same time, he didn’t want Taylor to realize that something was up, so he gave him a wide smile.

“Thank you?” Taylor said, making it sound like a question.

“You’re welcome. I was just wondering if Margaret was okay. I know her, and I noticed her store.”

Taylor’s expression turned serious again. “She’s going to the hospital right now. My paramedics think she’ll be okay, but we can’t make promises. If you know her, you should reach out to her family.”

“I’ll do that. Thank you, and sorry for disturbing you.”

“It’s fine.” Taylor started to turn, then hesitated and looked back at Ethan. “Are you all right?”

Ethan definitely wasn’t, but he wasn’t about to tell Taylor that. He was afraid the man would call the paramedics over or something. “I’m fine, just a little bit in shock. I’ve known Margaret for years. I really hope she’s going to be okay.”

“Well, she’s alive. It could have been much worse.”

That much was true. Considering the state of the building, the fact that Margaret was alive was a small miracle.

Taylor turned again and walked away, but thankfully, Liam and the other two seemed to have gotten the hint, and they were nowhere to be seen. Ethan allowed himself to relax. He was pretty sure that Taylor thought he was a weirdo now, but that was fine. He’d take the man thinking that about him if it meant that, for now, Liam had stopped freaking out. Unfortunately for Liam, there was little Ethan could do about the rest of the day. If Taylor wanted to talk to him, he would, no matter how Liam felt about it.

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