Page 1 of Burned By Love

Chapter One

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“AND THEN, I SWEAR TOGod, he opened his mouth and told me and the waitress that he forgot his wallet at home.”

West pressed his lips together.He didn’t want to laugh in Austin’s face, especially because Austin sounded genuinely distressed about his failed date.It was kind of funny, though.“Maybe he really had forgotten his wallet,” West offered.

Austin rolled his eyes.“I might have believed that if he hadn’t ordered the most expensive food on the menu.No one needs to eat both steak and lobster on the same date.”

“You saw him order that, and you stayed anyway?”

“That and the oysters, macaroni and cheese, and cheesecake.”

West put down his clipboard.Inventory could wait.Austin’s broken heart, on the other hand, couldn’t.One of these days, he was going to do something stupid in his attempt to find love, and he’d get himself in trouble.

“Austin,” West started.

Austin shook his head.“I know.You tell me this every time my dates turn into disasters.”

“Tell you what?”

Austin looked done with everything, including West.He was exasperated more than angry, though, and they were best friends, so it wasn’t a problem.West didn’t mind Austin being annoyed with him.As long as Austin talked to him and West could help, everything would be fine.

“You’re going to tell me that I’m making this harder on myself than it should be, that love will find me when I least expect it, and that dating apps are the worst place to find a relationship.”

“All of thatistrue.”

“Maybe, but love hasn’t found me so far, and I’m done waiting.I’m not like you.I want a relationship.I want to fall in love and get married and be happy.”

West wouldn’t say he didn’t want those things, but he wasn’t as focused on them as Austin.Austin was dating as if it was his last day on earth.He was desperate to find the perfect person.To get to that person, he had to wade through throngs of bad dates.

At least this time, the only thing to suffer had been Austin’s wallet.Considering the people Austin went on first dates with, West was always a little worried.

“You’ll do all those things,” West reassured Austin.“But clearly, the dating apps aren’t working, and you won’t find the love of your life on one of them.Maybe you should give it a rest for a few weeks and see what happens.If anything, you won’t be as stressed.”

It wasn’t like Austin needed more stress in his life.They were firefighters, and between the weird work hours and what they saw and did on the job, Austin had enough stress to last him for a lifetime.

Maybe that was why he so desperately wanted someone to go home to.West understood that, and some days, he wanted the same, but he wasn’t about to create accounts on any kind of dating app.He wasn’t looking for anything, and if love found him, he’d be grateful, but he also wouldn’t feel like a failure if he stayed single.Austin was being too hard on himself, but West didn’t know how to make him stop.

“We need to continue inventory,” Austin grumbled.

“You need to stop using dating apps.Go out.Meet people that way.”

“You think there aren’t weirdos out there?They’re not all on the dating apps, and with my luck, I’d probably meet a serial killer or something.”

“If you do, you could just eat them.”

Austin glanced around, but they were alone in the closet.There wasn’t a lot of space, so they didn’t have to be loud to hear each other.West wouldn’t have mentioned anything about their dragons otherwise.

“My scaly problem doesn’t help.He wants a mate as much as I do.Who do you think’s been pushing me?”

Being a shifter could be tricky, but being a dragon shifter?It made everything worse.When they shifted, there was no way for them to hide.People saw them coming from miles away, and it was hard to keep that kind of secret with someone you loved and lived with.The hope was always to meet someone who would accept both them and their dragon, but as Austin’s adventures with online dating showed, it was nearly impossible.

“You just need to give it time,” West said.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Austin didn’t look convinced, and West didn’t blame him.He understood where Austin was coming from, even though he didn’t feel the same desperation to find a mate.At least they had each other.It wasn’t the same, but they’d always be best friends, no matter what.

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