Page 25 of Burned By Love

“I guess people don’t think about illnesses when they see cute animals,” Jonathan said.

“They should.Stay away from any wild animal, but especially those who dig in the trash.”

“Oh, I’m not planning on getting pets.You don’t have to worry about me calling nine-one-one anytime soon.”

“Unless it’s for a customer who fainted.”West looked around.This wasn’t what he’d expected, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t perfect.“Food trucks?”

The air smelled of garlic and grilling meat but also of fresh bread and cinnamon.The trucks were arranged in a half-circle with benches and tables in the area at the center.There were lights strung on almost all the trucks and around the tables, making the place a good first-date spot even with so many people around laughing and talking and ordering food that smelled good enough to make West’s stomach growl.

Jonathan rubbed the back of his neck.“I figured that if we don’t like the same food, we could each grab something and eat it together.”

West was overdressed for food trucks, but Jonathan was wearing a dress shirt, too, and it wasn’t like the people around them would care.They were focused on their own food and the people they were with.

West decided to take a chance and took Jonathan’s hand.Jonathan’s eyes widened, but his smile was soft, and he didn’t pull away.West squeezed and turned back to the trucks.“I don’t even know where to start.”But whatever food he chose, it would be nothing next to the company.

* * * *

JONATHAN HAD ALMOSTchanged his mind about bringing West here about a dozen times.If he’d brought Sal here, Sal would’ve complained.He liked fine dining and being able to show everyone how wealthy and good-looking he was.He would never get his hands dirty by eating without silverware.He would never sit on one of the wooden benches and lick ketchup off his fingers.

Jonathan couldn’t look away from West as he did just that.West was laughing at something Jonathan had said, but Jonathan could barely remember what had come out of his mouth.He was too focused on West’s tongue running over his skin.He wanted to be West’s fingers.Hell, he wanted to be the ketchup.

“Anyway, Austin’s standing there, proud as a peacock, holding this tiny kitten that’s hissing at him and scratching his hands, and the little girl looks at him without even smiling and says,what about the other one?”West said, already laughing.

He seemed to have an endless number of stories about his job to tell Jonathan.Jonathan was glad.It was interesting, and it helped him get to know West better.It also meant that the date hadn’t been awkward yet.They’d fallen into easy conversation and hadn’t yet stopped talking.

Jonathan had never felt like this with Sal.Sal hadn’t wanted to know about Jonathan’s day.He hadn’t wanted to know about his customers, about what art he was working on, or about anything, really.He’d just cared that Jonathan looked good on his arm.He’d been annoyed when Jonathan had tried asking him about his day, and he’d never asked Jonathan about his.

West couldn’t have been any more different, and Jonathan loved it.Nothing about this date was anything like what he’d had with Sal, which was what he needed.

That, and to stop thinking about his ex-boyfriend.

It wasn’t easy.Jonathan had always felt as if Sal was still around, watching him.He’d never actually seen him after the breakup, which probably meant it was all in his head, but it wasn’t an easy feeling to shake.Even now, Jonathan kept glancing around, half expecting Sal to pop up between two food trucks.Sal wouldn’t be caught dead here, though, so Jonathan doubted that would happen, but he was jumpy, and he hated it.

He wanted to enjoy his date.He wanted not to think about what would happen if Sal did pop up.He wanted Sal to be part of his past, but no matter how long ago they’d broken up, he was still very much a part of Jonathan’s present.He was the reason why Jonathan had almost missed out on this opportunity and on a wonderful man.

If Jonathan hadn’t already hated Sal, he would now.

But hehadn’tmissed his chance with West.They were here, and they were both having fun.Sal hadn’t taken this away from Jonathan, no matter how hard he’d tried.

“So he went back into the tree?”Jonathan asked, leaning forward and trying to imagine big, bulky Austin climbing up a tree to save two kittens.

“We tried sending someone else, but he refused.He said that he’d saved one of the cats, so he was going to save the other one, too,” West said, his voice still bordering on laughter.“He got back down the second time with even more scratches and the cat on top of his head, clinging to his hair.The first kitten was pissed, but this one was more scared than anything, and it jumped off and ran into the house before Austin could even try to get him off his head.”

“At least no one got hurt.”

West took a sip of water and nodded.“True.We see enough pain and suffering that it was a nice break to deal with cats.”He grinned.“Well, except for Austin.”

“He’s a big bad dragon shifter.I’m sure he was fine,” Jonathan murmured.That was something he and West still needed to talk about.Maybe it wasn’t a conversation for a first date, but eventually, they would have to face the fact that West was a dragon shifter and that Jonathan had no idea how to deal with that.

For now, it was easy to forget that part of West.He wasn’t going to shift in the middle of their date, but Jonathan couldn’t forget that he could if he wanted to.

West’s smile never dimmed as he nodded.“We’re sturdier than humans,” he agreed.“But that makes it even funnier.Can you imagine a big bad dragon shifter rescuing two tiny kittens from a tree?”

“He seemed nice when I met him at the hospital, so I guess I can.”

“Austin’s the best.”

“The two of you are close.Is it because you’re both dragon shifters in a human team?”

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