Page 17 of Talk Birdie to Me

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.

---