Page 61 of Talk Birdie to Me

“What about it? I’ve never run a day in my life.”

Cody shrugged. “First time for everything. Could be fun, right? Won’t know until you try, and you’ll have your sister to hang out with while you do it. This seems like a perfect time for you to test out new stuff. Look how Gary worked out. You thought that would be terrible, but I see how you are with him. You like him.”

Geena couldn’t deny that last part. Gary had definitely grown on her.

But running?

She wasn’t keen on exercise of any type, but she wasn’t getting any younger. At some point, she’d need to take better care of her body. Yoga sounded like her brain would have too much time to spin on itself. She didn’t really want to go to a gym because exercising with other people wasn’t a motivator for her, and all of that equipment seemed daunting without hiring a personal trainer. Also not appealing.

“Maybe,” she said. “I did say I wanted to try new things.”

She’d been saying it was time to reimagine her life. In the same way Cody had made her consider whether she was bi and consider taking up photography as a hobby again, maybe she also needed to reconsider her stance on running.

“Speaking of new things.” Cody nodded at her phone. “Why don’t you check on that security feed to see if it’s working?”

“Right.” Geena flipped the phone over again and tapped a few things until she saw a black-and-white view from her front door. “Working great.”

“Awesome. I’ll feel much better about you alone there now. Just keep the dead bolt locked.”

“Not a problem.” She flipped the phone over again and raised her gaze back toward Cody. “I always?—”

She froze, her gaze stuck on the couple behind Cody who were entering the restaurant.

“What is it?” Cody turned to look over his shoulder, then back at Geena. “Someone you know?”

She could only nod. It was taking every ounce of energy to keep her heart from racing out of her chest.

Then they saw her.

“Well, this is interesting.”

His voice grated on her ears.

Thankfully, his girlfriend sat at a table across the room, equally eager to avoid Geena.

“Cody, this is my ex-husband, Ricky.” She waited a beat for Cody’s wide eyes to return to normal, and he turned to extend his hand. “Ricky, this is Cody.”

She intentionally left off any information about Cody. It was none of Ricky’s business.

“Soon-to-be ex-husband.” Ricky shook Cody’s hand stiffly but kept his eyes locked on Geena. “And to think, you’ve been giving me a hard time about the company I keep while you’ve been doing the same.”

Geena ignored him. “I thought you hated this place.”

His signature slimy grin stretched grotesquely across his face. “Turns out, it wasn’t the place I didn’t care for.”

Geena felt heat rise along the back of her neck.

Rage. Embarrassment. A whole slew of emotions swam in an internal stew.

She focused on her breath and counted backwards. Before she could respond, she realized she wasn’t the only one enraged by Ricky’s jab.

Cody glared at her ex, his breath rising and falling heavily in his chest.

The reaction caught her off guard. Was he actually angry on her behalf? Sure, Ricky made her see red, but Cody had nothing at stake here.

“Turns out, the feeling’s mutual,” she said, trying her best to diffuse the tension before she had to diffuse a physical brawl.

She didn’t support any kind of violence, no matter how much Ricky deserved it. And she didn’t know Cody well enough to know what it would take to push him over the edge.

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