Page 28 of Talk Birdie to Me

But… she didn’t even like the guy.

She wondered what her body and brain might do if she actually did like him.

Nope. That wasn’t a thought path she needed to go down. Something about getting divorced was making her brain react in all kinds of unexpected ways.

Cody gestured at both boxes. “Take your pick. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

“Let’s fucking eat!”

Cody raised a brow at the bird. “Well, that one’s new.”

“Lucky me.”

She grabbed a piece and slid it onto a plate, then she bit into her slice of blackened chicken and artichoke pizza. The crust was both crispy and chewy. The mozzarella thick and rich. The chicken spicy, paired with the tangy marinated artichoke hearts.

Perfection.

“So what’s all this?” Cody used his slice to gesture at the papers spread out on one corner of the coffee table. “You taking classes or something?”

“Or something.”

She wished it was for classes. But Geena held back from telling him she missed school. People rarely responded well to that, but it was true. She loved learning. And while there were always opportunities to learn new things, especially with all the access to information available now, she also missed the structure of classes. Someone else to make the decisions of what she needed to know by when. Her work projects had deadlines, of course, but those projects weren’t exactly what she’d call fun.

“Work then? You seem the type to take work home.” He swallowed a bite, then shook his head. “No offense meant at all. I swear. No judgment either. Just an impression.”

“I wish it was for classes or work.” Geena sighed and rested her slice on the plate, staring at the papers. “Divorce paperwork.”

Cody froze and cringed with his slice of pizza still hanging out of his mouth. After he bit off a piece and chewed it most of the way, he mumbled, “Yikes. Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said. “I’d go through twice the paperwork if it meant getting all of this over with faster.”

“And I’m guessing if this person was even remotely respectful of your time and energy, you wouldn’t be going through this divorce stuff in the first place.”

“You guessed correctly.” She narrowed her eyes at him curiously. “Although I’m not sure how you would guess that. As far as you know, I could have been a lousy partner.”

He laughed and gestured at the papers in both neat piles and strewn about. “This all screams conscientious.” He then tilted his head like a puppy, examining her and carefully choosing his next words. “And you seem like the loyal type.”

“I don’t know whether to thank you or be offended by that.”

“It’s a compliment.” He wiped some tomato sauce from the side of his mouth. “A trait I respect, but don’t possess.”

Well, that was… honest.

Despite her wobble of attraction over his care for the bird and his remembering what she’d eaten on their date, she was glad she’d mentally ended things before she found out this minor fact firsthand. She was kind of a sucker for honesty.

Although, you wouldn’t know it from her marriage.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said quickly after. “I’m not an asshole. I’m upfront about the fact that I’m not interested in a long-term commitment. I get restless and move around a lot. So I’m honest about that and clear that I’m just looking to hang out and have a good time for as long as I’m around.”

She could respect that, she supposed. It was more honesty than most of the people she’d dated before Ricky were capable of. Definitely more honesty than her ex had given her.

“I don’t remember you being clear about that with me, though.”

“It’s not always a first date conversation,” he said. “Especially when it’s pretty clear the other person isn’t interested in a second date.”

She opened her mouth to object to his assumption, but closed it and smiled. If he was going to be honest, he deserved her honesty in return. “I was that obvious?”

“Oh, for sure.” He wiped his hands and placed his napkin on his empty plate on the coffee table. “I’m not offended, though. I know I’m not for everyone. That’s cool. We gave it a shot, and it didn’t work. No harm, no foul.”

---