Page 6 of Wild Bred

I smile. “I wasn’t worried about that. Will it just be you living there, or…?”

His eyes slide over to me before snapping back to the road. “Yup. Just me.”

“Nice. That means you can make everything exactly how you want it to be.”

He nods.

“I live in a tiny house on the sanctuary grounds,” I continue. “It’s the first and only place I’ve ever had all to myself. I didn’t realize how nice living alone would be until I experienced it.”

“I’m used to living alone,” Reid says. “I’ve got an apartment in town.”

“Does your brother live in town, too?”

“Shaw? Yeah. He owns a bakery on Main Street. I’ve got a brother up in Seattle, too. His name is Jake.”

“Oh? Cool.”

He glances over again. “You have family around here?”

“No. It’s just me.”

Silence falls between us, and I feel an urge to tell him why I’m on my own. But I don’t. I just shift in my seat and smile at him and say, “So what did you think of the cookies?”

“They weren’t bad,” he says, hitting his turn signal. “I mean, they were good. You should give some advice to my brother. He tried to make some vegan stuff for his bakery and it tasted like cardboard smothered in glue.”

I laugh. “I’d be happy to give him some tips.”

It’s not much, this brief conversation of ours, but it’s something. It’s progress. And it gives me hope that maybe, with time, Reid and I can become friends—a prospect that fills my guarded heart with an inkling of warmth. Because despite all the times I’ve been let down by people, I still long for human connection. I still yearn for that elusive bond that so many other people on this earth seem to have found.

I steal another glance over at Reid, a happy nervous feeling twinkling inside me.

“What?” he asks, catching me looking at him.

“Nothing,” I say, pressing my lips together and turning my gaze out the windshield.

3

REID

If it was up to me, I’d be doing this work solo. I even told Mackenna—twice—that I could handle it myself. But she refuses to let me be, hovering the whole damn time.

“Thanks again for offering to do this for me,” she says as she holds up the mesh fencing I’m stapling to the posts. “I really appreciate it, Reid.”

But I’m not doing this for her. I’m doing it because I don’t want that little mischief-maker of hers messing around on my property again.

“Keep it flush,” I instruct her, gesturing to the mesh.

“If there’s anything you need help with while you’re renovating, I’m more than happy to lend a hand,” she goes on. “Feel free to call me anytime. I mean it.”

I know she’s just trying to be friendly, but goddamn it, I wish she wouldn’t be. I’m not capable of being friends with a woman as stunning as she is. It’ll be torture. The best thing for both of us is to be polite but distant neighbors, keeping our interactions to a minimum.

As we continue working, I notice Daisy watching us intently from the nearby temporary cage that Mackenna put her in. The monkey’s sharp eyes follow every movement I make as she studies the changes we’re making to her home. When I walk by her temporary cage to grab some more fencing, Daisy chitters with excitement, following me as I stride by.

Mackenna laughs. “I think Daisy’s taken a liking to you, Reid.”

I grunt in response, not wanting to encourage more conversation. The less we talk, the better.

“You’re really not a fan of animals, are you?” asks Mackenna.

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