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15

JAMES

Watching Benny hold Callie shoots a flame of anger through my body. She doesn’t look like herself, but it is her. I would know her anywhere with any face. What's he even doing here? He shouldn't know how to find us. Did he do something to get her out of the house? She should be inside, protected by all the wards and protections we've set up. Instead, she's in the firehouse with a man we don't know if we can trust.

For a moment, all I can think about is the Benny I used to know. The charming asshole who swept every woman off her feet. Would he sweep Callie off hers, too? Am I going to lose her to him? He's never taken anyone on purpose, but that doesn't mean he won't, especially if he's given her an offer she can't refuse.

My stomach turns. If anyone can turn her away from the path she's on, it’s him.

And the worst part? I can't blame Callie at all. Benny is everything I’m not and more.

"See you later, old friend." Benny says, flashing that smile of his, then heads out the door.

"What the hell?" Will’s voice drips with the same jealousy and anger humming through every ounce of my soul. "We're out there risking our lives, and you're over here... dancing ?"

Sugar holds her hands up. "It wasn't like that. Let her explain.”

I raise an eyebrow. I want to believe Sugar. She's never given us a reason to mistrust her. But the jealous streak inside me is refusing to listen to reason. She's obviously helping Benny and Callie with whatever they've been doing here.

Will shoots Sugar a warning look.

She grimaces. “I'll go talk to our friend and give you guys a minute." She scurries after Benedict.

"They know each other?" I ask in a quiet voice. So much for me knowing him the best.

"Apparently," Hank replies, watching her walk out the door.

We look at Callie, who still doesn't look like herself through the glamour. But then, neither do we. Anyone can walk into the firehouse; we shouldn't take unnecessary risks.

"Well?" I prompt when no one says anything. I try to keep the frustration out of my voice, but I don't think I do a good job. Anyone would be able to figure out how I feel.

"Well, what?" Callie's eyes narrow and she places her hands on her hips, anger flashing across her face. I don't need to be a genius to work that out.

"Sugar said you could explain." I prompt.

"I shouldn't have to!" Her face is a mask of annoyance. She points at Will. "You just accused me of goofing off while you were out in danger as if I wasn't worried. As if I didn't want to come after you to help!"

Hank throws his hands up. "We specifically asked you not to come after us."

"But I should have. Sugar stopped me, and then Benedict showed up, or I would have!" Pain lances through her voice.

I grimace. We measured that one wrong. We thought we were keeping her safe, but instead, we've driven a wedge between us.

Sugar sticks her head in the door. "That's true, and you all are shouting loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear."

When I look behind me to see Sugar, I remember everyone else has followed us, too.

"Theresa, can you take everyone home, maybe start some dinner? It'll be dark soon," I suggest. At least that'll give us some measure of privacy. The last thing we need is this conversation undermining Callie's authority.

Sugar[3] nods and shoots Callie a wide-eyed look. Probably some girl code for how to handle this situation. I'm glad they're bonding, even if it scares me.

The only way to handle this is an apology from Will, then huge explanations from Callie about why she was dancing and flirting with a questionable man while we were fighting a fire.

And I need to have a talk with Sugar about letting Callie goof off with a virtual stranger. She should've sent her straight back home.

Callie stares at Will, who doesn't budge.

I lean toward him. "Apologize for jumping the gun and speaking rashly, and we can get to the bottom of this," I whisper, hoping to get us all out of the doghouse in one go.

She turns her glare on me. "There's nothing to get to the bottom of. Benny was distracting me and helping me practice with water. We were dancing, and he was attempting to draw my attention away by making me laugh. And it worked, proving that I need to work more with water!"

"There are lots of ways to distract someone without dancing," I point out. It's hard not to speak rashly and accuse her of being insensitive. I know that's unfair, but when someone as charming as Benny is involved, it's hard not to be irrational.

She clenches her teeth. "There wasn't a single moment that my heart wasn't frozen with fear. Not one moment I was distracted enough to forget that I wasn't there with you."

All of us are quiet.

Maybe she had been worried about us, but there's a chance that isn't enough. We don’t just need her to care about us when our lives are on the line. We need her to want us more than other men.

This situation has drawn us together, but what if, at the end of it she realizes she can do better than us? The thought makes my chest ache. Callie wouldn’t be the first woman to realize she could do better than me. That’s for sure.

"I thought we had a great thing going," Hank says, trying to sound like he’s not upset and failing. I know him too well to be fooled, and the others likely do too. "It hurt to see you dancing with someone else. I understand that the three of us and you have an unconventional relationship, but whatever is budding between us, it's great. It's more than great."

She narrows her eyes. "And you're willing to risk that amazing, great, budding new relationship on one thing you saw and misconstrued?"

That’s one way to twist this.

Hank mouths at her soundlessly. "I'm not risking . I'm just saying it hurt my feelings. I wanted an explanation."

Will clenches his jaw as Hank elbows him.

“Come on, man,” Hank mutters.

"I'm sorry," Will finally says through gritted teeth. "But I'm still mad to see my girlfriend dancing in a man's arms that just a few days ago we were watching like a hawk."

Callie turns her eyes to me, waiting for me to say something. But nothing comes out. Certainly not what she wants to hear. My throat clenches around my fear that she’ll think Benny is exactly who she needs.

Callie clenches her fists and slams them into her hips. "Nope. No." She rushes past us toward the open doors.

What does that mean?

"Where are you going?" Oh, yeah, now my voice works.

"Anywhere I damn well want to!"

All three of us rush after her, but she stops at the bay door and turns back. "Don't follow me. Give me some space, damn it." Her voice is so harsh we do what she says.

My heart breaks as I watch her rush out the door and away from us. It reminds me of the way her cat responds to danger. Perhaps it wasn't all a response tied to the cat at all. Perhaps it's all Callie.