Page 21 of The Foul Out

“You okay?” Kyle stepped in front of me.

When he’d crowded my space the first time, I wanted to push him away. But right now, I really wanted his help. Damn it. The last thing I wanted to do was ask him. I just needed to remain calm. Maybe the bird would fly away.

The weight on my head shifted, and an object floated in front of my face before coming to rest on my nose.

“There’s a feather on my nose,” I whispered, my voice tinny. “Because there’s a bird on my head.”

He chuckled as he gave me a once-over. “Uh-huh.”

In that moment, terror won over pride and self-respect.

“Get. It. Off,” I begged.

“The feather or the bird?”

“The bird,” I hissed.

Smirking, he rubbed his hands together. “Afraid of our little Puff, huh, Crabby?”

The bird shifted on my head again, and a soft squeak slipped from between my lips.

Kyle chuckled again, and my blood pressure spiked. This was not funny.

I swallowed hard and closed my eyes for a moment. “My kids are watching, and I do not want to scare them by exposing them to my irrational fear of birds. So stop being a total asshole for one second and get it off.”

Kyle’s grin stayed firmly in place as he lifted his arm and tapped his wrist twice.

Instantly, the pressure disappeared, and in a flash of white and black, the bird was in front of me, happily resting on Kyle’s forearm.

“I’m so sorry about that. We train them to fly to red.” A blond with a sweet, high-pitched voice stepped up next to Kyle and held her arm out until the bird transferred to her hold. “I think the way the sun reflected off your hair got his attention.”

“Pet it,” Kyle demanded, his focus locked on me.

I took a step back. That was the last thing I wanted to do. “Wh?—”

“Pet the bird now.”

Behind me, Sam called my name. Not wanting him to sense my fear, I brushed my fingers along the bird’s soft feathers. It took everything in me not to flinch as I did it. When the bird moved, I froze, holding my breath, my hand still raised.

Kyle eased my arm down as Sam came up next to us.

“Mom,” he said. “You holded Puff. How cool.”

I wanted to agree, but my throat had closed up. With a deep breath in through my nose, I swallowed and cleared my throat.

“So cool,” Kyle said. “But she needs to wash her hands now.” He gave Sam a soft smile, then stepped closer to me and murmured, “Go into the dugout. There’s a bathroom down the hall. Take a minute to chill out. We’re good here.” Then he turned to Sam. “Want Avery to make him dance again? Let’s move closer to the bucket of fish. She can show you some husbandry behaviors.”

“What’s that?” Sam scratched his head, his face tipped up as he looked from Kyle to the bird.

“That’s what it’s called when Puff mimics what we do.” Kyle gently grasped my upper arm and spun me around. “Go wash your hands.”

Robotically, I walked down the steps. When I made it to the hall and out of sight of my kids, I collapsed against the wall and let out a big breath. Thank God I hadn’t freaked Sam out. I guessed I had Kyle to thank for that, regardless of how much it irked me.

I peeked back out at the field and found him bent over in the grass between my kids shaking his head back and forth. Beside him, Sam’s shoulders shook with laughter. Even Piper was smiling.

I didn’t know what to make of him.

“I’m so sorry I left you like that.”

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