Page 56 of Talk Birdie to Me

“Hopefully this is all extra precaution, anyway.”

“Yeah, I’d feel terrible if me going over there tipped someone off to where Gary was hiding out.”

“You were trying to look out for both of them.” Lauren opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat. “Don’t beat yourself up over that.”

He wasn’t exactly beating himself up, but he did feel a twinge of guilt. This was one of the many reasons he didn’t want a serious relationship. Even his friendships maintained a respectable distance between him and the other person. Lauren included. Getting too close meant you were responsible, in part, for the other person’s well-being. Physical and emotional. Not something he was interested in. Not at this point in his life, at least.

“It’s fine. If she doesn’t want me over now, I’ll take care of it after work tomorrow.”

He started the engine and headed out of the parking lot, aiming for the zoo to drop Lauren off at her car.

From the corner of his eye, he caught her staring at him curiously.

“What?”

“It’s okay to admit you like her,” Lauren said.

He’d been trying to convince himself of that for the last several days. He liked hanging out with her, and while he’d been teasing about their time together being dates, he couldn’t help feeling there was some truth there.

“I care about her safety. Geena’s an orderly person who wants a commitment. I’m… well, me. So I’m just making sure she’s safe until we find another landing spot for Gary.”

Against all of his instincts to keep his distance, he couldn’t help worrying about her. It was a new and uncomfortable feeling, but that was all it was.

Or, at least, that’s all it could be.

“Oh, come on,” she said. “It’s obvious you’re more than worried. How many times have you been over there?”

“Just twice. No, three times. But for Gary mostly.”

“Uh-huh. Just for Gary? Didn’t you say you brought food for her?”

Sure, he’d gotten a kick out of guessing what food she might like. And he’d gotten a little thrill out of making her laugh. Plus, their conversation had been easy and enjoyable. Much better than their first and only official disastrous date.

But none of that meant he had romantic feelings for her, much less that there was any chance of a relationship.

Did it?

He wasn’t even sure how she felt about him, making this whole line of thinking pointless.

“She’s doing us a big favor, so I did a couple of small favors for her.” He stopped at a red light and squeezed the steering wheel. “That’s all it is.”

For now, his brain added, despite his attempts to downplay everything.

“Fine,” Lauren said. “But once you realize what’s obvious from this angle, I’m gonna say I told you so.”

Geena downloaded the app and handed her phone to Cody. He looked back and forth between the system’s manual and the app, adjusting settings and testing out the live feed.

“All right, Bourque,” he said. “You’re good to go.”

She side-eyed him. “So we’re really doing the name thing, huh?”

He grinned. “It should be all set up. Take a look and see if it works for you.”

She took back the phone and studied the app while she tapped around a bit.

“This is great.” She gave a sly smile. “Thanks, Brasseaux.”

Cody couldn’t hide his amusement even if he wanted to. And he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hide anything related to his feelings.

---