Chapter 5
5
C ody opened his lunch bag and pulled out a salami and Swiss sandwich on rye, his go-to work meal. While he couldn’t stay in one city or zoo for long and craved change in most areas of his life, lunch was not one of those areas.
“Tasty, tasty, tasty!”
“Not for you, Gary,” Cody said through a mouthful of bread, meat, and cheese. He used his sandwich as a pointer and aimed it at the giant cage. “You’ve got your own food.”
He should know, since he’d checked the bird’s food before sitting down to feed himself. Gary’s training and health were part of his care, but Gary’s general caretaking was another keeper’s rotation. Cody cared for the large cats each morning in addition to giving visitor talks during the day.
“Rat bastard!” Gary squawked.
Lauren entered the room in the middle of Gary’s mini-tirade. “Ah, having a nice, peaceful lunch, I see.”
“Jealous?”
“Of you and Gary?” Lauren made a pouty face. “Maybe a little.”
“You can always take him home, you know.”
“Prince would love that.”
Lauren had a gigantic Maine Coon that she’d adopted as a kitten. They could tell by his paws that he’d be big, but she never guessed he’d grow up to be that big. And he was somehow grumpy and needy at the same time. She treated him like a prince, and he lived up to his name.
She sat on a stool across from Cody at the big table they used for meal prep. “Any word on placing him with someone who doesn’t have a spoiled Prince?”
“Not unless you’ve convinced your girlfriend to take him.”
“That’s a no go,” Lauren said. “She’s apparently allergic to birds. Something new I learned about her.”
“New is good,” he said. “I figured you two would be as close as an old married couple by now.”
Despite Lauren insisting that things were still new after only a couple months together, Cody knew how deeply she dove into relationships. But he guessed it was reasonable that a bird allergy wouldn’t have come up until now.
“So, no word from the rescue?”
Cody shook his head while he swallowed a bite of sandwich. “Haven’t heard anything yet. They said it might take a while.”
“They?” Lauren raised her brow and smirked.
“Taylor,” he said. “And whoever I talked to at the shelter.”
“Not Taylor’s wildly attractive older sister?”
“I don’t see Geena talking to me ever again if she can help it.” He shrugged and wiped the crumbs from his hands over the empty plastic bag. “No sweat off my back. I’m not everyone’s taste. Besides, she seems like a forever kind of person. I’m not planning to stick around here, so better to not start something I don’t plan on finishing.”
“Any word on that front?”
“What’s the word, bird?” Gary shouted.
Lauren and Cody both ignored him. They’d learned that any acknowledgment egged him on and only led to worse language.
“Not since Phoenix passed on me.” That had stung, but he didn’t let it bug him for long. He’d gone home and submitted resumes to three other zoos after that blow. “If you ask my mom, it’s a sign.”
“Maybe she’s right?”
“Despite what she thinks, not everything is a sign.”
“No, but this particular thing could be.”
Cody gathered his trash and dropped it in the huge garbage can along the wall behind him. “Things just happen. They don’t have to be connected or mean anything more than they are.”
“Speaking of, how’s your mom?”
“Same as always. ”
Cody’s mom had been thrilled when he moved back to Louisiana. Even better, he was working in the same town as her. But she was quickly disappointed when she realized her only son wouldn’t be stopping over for dinner every night.
He felt bad when he’d moved away for his first job in Florida, mostly because his dad had up and left within a year of Cody leaving. Crappy timing, but Cody had to live his own life.
“Does she know you’re planning to leave again?”
“Absolutely not. I’ll tell her when I get a new job. Not a minute sooner. No point dragging out her disappointment.”
“You don’t have to disappoint her.”
“If I stay here doing this same job the rest of my life, I’ll be disappointing me .”
“What about doing something different here?”
“I like what I do. Moving up the ranks here means less time with the animals. If I want something new and different, it’s gotta be a change of scenery, not a promotion.”
“Speaking of a change of scenery, have you seen the plans for the new herp area?”
“Not yet.”
“You should take a look at the map and plans.” Lauren stood and headed toward the door. “Could be something interesting for you to be part of.”
“The only plans I have are a date tonight.”
“I’m still rooting for Geena.”
“Why don’t you date her, then?”
“I’m off the market. You, my friend, are not. I think she could be good for you.”
Cody scoffed. “I don’t need anyone to change me.”
“I don’t mean to change you. Just… expand your possibilities.”
“Sounds like shrinking them to me.”
Lauren rolled her eyes and pulled the door open. “Have fun tonight.”
T he keys were wedged deep in his front pocket, and Cody had to take one hand off his date’s backside to dig for it. He kept her close with his free hand as she ran both of hers up and down his chest.
He’d been pissed at himself for leaving his keys at work. He almost never did that. But he’d gone straight from the zoo with Lauren for their standard Mexican food and margaritas Friday night event. Since his car key was on his work keychain—so he would never forget his work ones at home—he didn’t notice he was missing the separate keychain with his apartment key and various others for his mom’s house until he left the bar with his date a few hours later.
Of course, he could have taken that as a sign to end their evening early. But Cody wasn’t into believing that any more than he’d believed that job rejection had been a sign. And he wasn’t keen on missing out on whatever came next with this woman.
And why shouldn’t he? Kayleigh was hot.
Really hot.
Aside from Geena, he’d been dating mostly men since he was back in town. But he couldn’t resist a night out with this woman after they matched on an app. She was tall and lean with soft muscles, like yoga or pilates muscles. Her thick auburn waves fell loosely over her shoulders.
More importantly, she was sober.
Mostly.
He didn’t take drunk dates back to his place. Mildly buzzed and eager to forget a shitty week as much as he was? Exactly his type.
Well, his random hookup type, at least.
Lately, that was the only thing he was interested in. Especially on a night when he wanted to forget all about the missed Phoenix opportunity and the nonresponse from the other zoos.
“Sorry,” he mumbled against her mouth before pulling away to look down at his work keys. He fumbled through the ring, looking for the right one, then turned to unlock the door.
Kayleigh pressed herself against his back, nibbling his earlobe from behind.
Before he could put the key in, a loud squawk rang out from inside. It was a noise Cody wasn’t familiar with, but he suspected they hadn’t reached the depths of Gary’s vocal abilities yet.
The key turned with no resistance.
Shit. His brain really hadn’t been screwed on right today. On top of leaving his house keys here, he must have also forgotten to lock up.
Cody entered, feeling his way through the dark room. Kayleigh followed close, her body pressed against his back, reminding him of why he wanted to hurry up, find his keys, and get out of there. And that reason wasn’t a foul-mouthed bird.
He left the light off and headed toward the back of the room. Even though there was no one else in the zoo at this hour, Cody didn’t want to rev Gary up.
The bird squawked again anyway.
Cody tried to stay focused as he felt along the back counter in the dark.
Just get the apartment key and get out.
Not that he needed a pep talk. Kayleigh’s hands planted firmly on his hips were enough motivation.
Wait.
There.
Cody’s hand landed on the keys. One for his apartment and several for his mom’s house. He held the keyring in the air and jingled them. “Got ‘em.”
Instead of following him out, Kayleigh moved ahead, pinning him to the edge of the desk. She slid her hands up his arms and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.
“I’ve never had zoo sex before.” The words came out as a purr.
Come to think of it, neither had he.
But Cody didn’t have time to ponder how he’d missed out on zoo sex before now. Kayleigh was already grabbing the waist of his pants and undoing the button.
This wasn’t a terrible turn of events. He wasn’t one to decline a random hookup anywhere his date might find interesting. But he had to make sure this was really what she wanted. As much as he lived his life with no regrets, he learned some people very much regretted their own choices from time to time.
“I thought we were just getting my keys so we could go back to my place.”
“We were.” Her tone was playful with a hint of teasing that he enjoyed the sound of. “But this seems like even more fun.”
Cody couldn’t argue with that.
But before he could take her up on that enticing prospect, Gary squawked again. The noise was louder and more insistent this time, followed by something crashing onto the floor.
“What the hell?”
“I’m sure it’s just some animal,” Kayleigh said, sliding his shirt up.
It was definitely an animal. A feathered menace, to be precise.
But there was nothing within Gary’s reach that might hit the floor like that.
Cody pulled his head away and scanned the dark room.
“There shouldn’t be loose animals,” he whispered. “Especially not in here.”
When he discouraged her from pulling up his shirt, she took hold of his jeans again. “Speaking of getting loose.”
A loud rattling noise sounded from the direction of the cage. Gary cried out again, this time screeching like he was being murdered.
Cody’s mind went to the door he’d left unlocked. Could one of the cats have gotten in here?
No. That was ridiculous.
Even if it was some other animal, they wouldn’t have closed the door behind them once they entered.
So what the hell was making Gary screech in the dark?
After being in the room for a few minutes and adjusting to the darkness, Cody still couldn’t see across the small space.
Suddenly, a bright light shined beside him as Kayleigh turned on her phone’s flashlight.
That’s when he saw the figure.
A man.
Standing near the bird’s cage.
His hand reaching inside the metal door.
A second later, Cody heard a horrific screech. This time, the screech came from the man, not the bird.
“Rat bastard!”
That was from the bird.