Page 230 of Out of Bounds

"What is it?" I tried again with a laugh. "Is it the tiger?"

It was warm and humid inside. I shrugged off my jacket to tie it around my waist. A few fake branches stuck out of a log on the ground but beyond that, no hints jumped out.

"Remember, these are wild animals,” Mallory’s voice was soft from another doorway. “No sudden movements and let’s be as gentle as we can."

The form at the door took shape. Zookeeper Mallory, stooped behind a mesh wall, making slow, careful movements. "We want to sincerely thank you for your donation. Because of your contribution—"

"We don’t need to discuss that right now," Ryan was quick to reply.

"Donation?” I raised my eyebrows.

The quarterback didn’t say anything.

"Marrs donated for us to have a zoo day?" I pressed.

By the door, the photographers peered at me, a couple inches away from the cameras, and the shared glances between them made me click my tongue.

"How much money did you drop to make this happen?"

"The kind of amount we’ll never talk about or you’ll get upset with me."

"Ryan."

I didn't have a chance to argue about it. The zookeeper finally appeared from the mesh wall and my mouth fell open.

Two birds tittered on her arms. The two hornbills were gorgeous, the exact birds fromBird Pants. Ever since the dinner with Henry Miller, I stopped watching the show. All the episodes were deleted off my phone. But for one single morning, I could push the creator out of my mind and justmarvelat them.

“Oh,” I whispered. “Ryan.”

Mallory held out her arm in slow motion. "Now, we’re…not doing theBird Pantsnames anymore?"

Oh my god. We’re naming them?

My heart squeezed in my chest and I reached for Ryan’s hand, gawking at the birds. If I would’ve pictured hornbills before this, I would’ve thought about a pair of cute handful of feathers. But these were some damn big birds, at least three feet long and their fake beaks were enormous.

Mallory held out her arms to the fake branches behind us and the one on the left took the cue, bobbing his way down her arm, the cutest thing I’d ever seen in my life.

"No." Ryan shook his head. "I don’t think so. This isn’t going to work for us."

I’d been so focused on the birds, I hadn’t even noticed Ryan next to me, muscles taunt. He didn’t lift his eyes off of the birds for a second and subtly shifted to the side.

"What’d you mean?” I asked, my voice low.

"This isn’t going to work. We need something else."

The photographers stood up with their cameras but the zookeeper tried to figure out the problem.

"Mr. Cross, this isn’t okay? If you’re uncomfortable with birds, this is the time to tell me. These are wild animals and they’ll detect pulse differences and body language. They’ll react to it. It’s not a problem to—"

"No, that’s the opposite of Ryan." I couldn’t believe the concern. "He’s the most…professional person you’ve ever met. Wait, are you scared of birds?"

Ryan shook his head once. "No."

"But…we can’t meet them?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

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