Page 231 of Out of Bounds

"I thought they’d be smaller."

It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when I glanced over the little wall he’d put up in front of me, Ryan didn’t have the effortlessly cool look he always did, relaxing on a practice field or getting pushed with questions from reporters. He was tense. He was more than tense. His jaw was locked tight.

I resisted the smile. "Oh my god, Ryan."

"They’re very docile," Mallory offered, the birds bobbing up and down on her arm, waiting for their chance to join us.

I tried another approach. "They’re getting new names, huh? What were the old ones?"

"Uh….I shouldn’t…they were named after words that you can’t repeat on daytime television."

The laugh was easy from me, but Ryan was still hard as stone, refusing to budge. He could be so damn stubborn. I rested a hand on his shoulder and he stiffened.

"Hey?” I pressed the side of my face against his bicep. “Thank you.”

“No.”

Damn. He knows me too well.

"Ryan, they were somebody’s pets," I pointed out.

He snorted. "The tiger was too."

93

Kassie

If

Damn. He had me there. But we didn’t drive all the way to the zoo at the crack of dawn to dip out at the last minute. I couldn’t watchBird Pantsanymore but that didn’t change how much I loved hornbills because of the show.

"If you freak them out, yeah, that’s going to happen,” I murmured. “But that’snotgoing to happen. Because you’re going to be all real and gentle with them. Yeah?"

He still looked unconvinced.

“This means a lot to me,” I added lightly. “Thank you, baby.”

His voice lowered. "They’re birds that couldbiteyou."

“You already bite me, Ryan.”

The stiffness eased up for a moment and he glanced back with a smirk.

“We’re good,” I told the zookeeper. “We’ll be fine.”

Mallory waited until Ryan gave the affirmative and she walked close to the branches. The birds weren’t deterred by the conversation at all. Far from it. In a nice, bobbing dance, they shimmied their way to the log, content and happy as could be. Probably because they weren’t locked up with neighbor-mauling tigers anymore.

"Hey, sweethearts." I gave a little wave.

"Look at that, that’s his feeding movement, he wants you to feed him." Mallory beamed at Ryan, still uncomfortable, and she nudged the bucket over. "We have pellets, they’re perfect for the hornbills."

"She’s the one that’s here to feed them," he replied.

"But they're not going over to her."

I poked Ryan in the ribs again. "Feed them, I want a video."

With a heavier sigh, Ryan picked up a few pellets and the birds clambered close, ready for their next snack of the day. The way they played with their food, the way their beaks dictated their movements, I couldn't wait to sketch it out later. One of them stuck out his feet in front of him and made a jump to Ryan’s shoulders.

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