Page 28 of Tempered By Flames

“Austin and West have something to tell us,” Taylor said. He glanced at Liam, but he didn’t say his name. It was as if he was giving Liam the choice of whether or not to tell the others. Liam was glad for that, but it was a little ridiculous.

“Me, too,” he declared.

Ethan made a soothing sound, and Liam realized that he was squeezing his hand way too hard. If Ethan hadn’t been a shifter, Liam probably would’ve hurt him. Liam hoped that the people around them would understand that whatever he had to say was the same thing as West and Austin. He wasn’t sure he could find the words.

“They’ll answer all your questions,” Taylor continued after nodding at Liam. “But please, don’t overreact. There’s no need for you to. You’ve known Austin and West for years, and I know that you’ve all suspected something was up with them.”

“So we’re finally going to find out what that something is?” Jeremy asked. He sounded amused, but he might not be once he found out what was going on.

It would be so easy for Liam to lose all these people. He really hoped he wasn’t about to. He couldn’t imagine starting again at a new station, even though he hadn’t been here long. He didn’t want to leave, and he knew that feeling had to be even worse for Austin and West. This place had been their home for years. These people were their family. Losing them, or having some of them react badly, wouldn’t be easy. Hopefully, that wouldn’t happen.

“Yes, you’re going to find out,” West said, stepping forward. “Some of you are probably going to think that we’re pranking you or going nuts, but that’s not the case. We’re incredibly serious about this, and yes, we can prove it.”

“I don’t like how that sounds,” Lisa said.

West shook his head. “There’s nothing to like or dislike. Austin and I are dragon shifters. It means we can turn into dragons. Yes, I realize it sounds like a bad movie, but it’s the truth. We’re stronger and more resistant than humans, especially when it comes to fire, even when we’re in our human form. We’ve been using that advantage on the job for years, protecting the people around us, including you. We’ll answer your questions, but know that the reason we haven’t told you isn’t that we don’t trust you; it’s that we were afraid of how you’d react. We’re still the same people we’ve always been, though.”

For a second, everyone was silent. Liam cleared his throat, grimacing when everyone turned to him. Still, he wanted to make something clear. “This goes for me, too. I’m a dragon shifter, just like West and Austin.”

Noise exploded into the room. Liam took a step back, not surprised but startled. Everyone had questions, but thankfully, they were mostly directed at West and Austin. It made sense. It was also a relief because it meant that Liam didn’t have to stick around, not for now anyway.

He pulled on Ethan’s hand. Ethan looked surprised, but he followed him back outside, where they’d been standing with Taylor earlier. Ethan relaxed as soon as they were out there, and Liam had something he wanted to do.

He turned to Ethan. “Thank you. You didn’t have to tell Taylor about yourself, but you did, and that means a lot to me. I know you did it for me.”

“I did, but I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t wanted to.”

“I know, but still. I know how afraid you were of it, so thank you.” He pulled Ethan closer. Ethan came willingly, and when their lips touched, Liam could feel him smile. He smiled, too. He might not have known where things were going between them before, but he felt he had a pretty good idea now.

Chapter Six

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LIAM WAS COMING OVER for dinner. Normally, that wouldn’t warrant any kind of anxiousness from Ethan since they were friends. He wasn’t coming as a friend tonight, though. No, he was coming after they’d kissed, after Ethan had asked him if he wanted to have dinner with him and had offered to cook for him. They both understood that something more might happen by the end of the evening, which was what Ethan wanted.

But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been with someone without the fear that they’d find out what kind of shifter he was. When he was younger, he wouldn’t tell people because he didn’t want to push them away, which meant he was always afraid they would find out. More recently, he told people right away because he didn’t want to play games anymore, which meant that he often didn’t get to this stage of a relationship.

He wasn’t even sure that he and Liam were in a relationship, for fuck’s sake. They’d kissed, and Ethan definitely wanted to be in a relationship with Liam, which was surprising, even to him. He’d been telling himself for years that he was fine being alone, and maybe he had been, initially. It got lonely after a while, though, and Ethan missed the easy intimacy that he could see his friends share with their partners. He wanted that, too. He wanted to sit on the couch watch a movie, and fall asleep with his head on Liam’s shoulder. He wanted to wake up with a crick in his neck and Liam telling him they should go to bed. It would probably take a little while for them to get to that stage of the relationship, but this was the first step, and Ethan was excited as much as he was terrified.

Liam could cause him a lot of pain. He was the first person Ethan had trusted in a long time, and Ethan wanted to hope that he’d been right to do so. He wouldn’t know unless he gave this a chance, though, which meant opening up and letting Liam in. It was what he’d been forcing himself to do, and it was getting easier now that he was relaxing, but tonight would be a test, and hopefully, Liam would pass it.

Ethan couldn’t imagine him not doing so.

Maybe he was putting too much hope into this, but he was ready to have what Jonathan and West had. He was ready to have a loving partner and not have to be afraid of what he was anymore.

He stared down at the table with his hands on his hips. He’d wanted the dinner to be nice, but he also didn’t want to go overboard, which was a little difficult. He wanted everything to be perfect for Liam, even though Liam definitely didn’t need it. Ethan was pretty sure that Liam would’ve been fine with a bag of takeout and a movie, but instead, Ethan had gone all out. He’d bought fresh salmon and had put on some music. There were candles—luckily, Liam was fire-resistant, so Ethan wouldn’t have to worry too much about something happening there—and the lights were low. Everything was ready and perfect, or at least, as perfect as it was going to be.

Ethan was still anxious. He knew that wasn’t going to change anytime soon, so he quickly moved a few things, even though they didn’t need to be moved, and went back to the kitchen. He puttered around there for a bit until his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out to see that Liam had texted him to let him know that he was there, and his heart started racing again. So much for having just managed to calm himself down.

He sucked in a breath, squared his shoulders, and went to open his door. There was no reason for him to be nervous, even though this was technically their first date. Liam had already proved to Ethan that he was someone Ethan wanted in his life. He didn’t know how things would go or what would happen, but he knew that as long as both of them wanted this, they would probably be just as happy as Jonathan was with West and Caleb was with Austin. It was in their hands, and Ethan liked that, because he was sure that in Liam’s hands, his heart would be secure.

He opened his door to find a bouquet of flowers being thrust at him. He reached out by instinct, blinking at the bright sunflowers. He hadn’t expected flowers, but knowing Liam, maybe he should have.

“Thank you,” he said with a smile.

Liam looked as nervous as Ethan felt. He smoothed his hands on his thighs, then shuffled his feet. “Sunflowers always make me smile, so I thought you might like them, too,” he explained.

“I do like them. Come on in.”