Page 117 of More For Me

“No. Absolutely not. I’m not going in there.”

“But Bodhi,” I whine. “I haven’t been to the zoo since they opened the habitat. It’s supposed to be amazing. They just let the kangaroos roam free right there where you’re walking and—”

“Dear God,” he mutters, shaking his head rapidly back and forth. “You can go in there if you want, I’m staying outside with all the normal, non-demonic animals.”

“So you’re going to send me in alone?” I ask in mock-outrage. “You just got through telling me how dangerous these beasts are. What if I need you to defend me? What if one of them tries to put me in a choke-hold?”

“Then it was very nice knowing you.”

I laugh again, but a look at his face tells me he’s very serious. “Bodhi, we don’t have to go to the zoo.”

“Oh, yes we do,” he insists.

“No, really.” This time when I try to take his hand, he lets me. “I don’t want you spending the day doing something that you don’t enjoy.”

“I enjoy being with you.”

“So sweet.” I reach over and run my other hand through his hair. It’s still more than a little thrilling I get to do things like that, touch him like this, so easy and natural like we’ve been doing it our whole lives. “But seriously. We can do something else.”

“It was your turn to pick our date,” he says stubbornly. “Just like it was my turn to pick on Wednesday when you had to go running with me.”

I groan at the mere memory. “Running is the worst. I still can’t believe you do that for fun. I thought I was going to die.”

He scoffs. “We barely ran a full mile and you walked most of it. While complaining. Loudly.”

“You made me run up a mountain, Bodhi.”

“There was barely an incline! And the trail was mostly paved.”

“Yes, but it was out in nature. There were mosquitos. And humidity. My hair was a mess.”

“Your hair is adorable when it gets all frizzy.”

I gasp and pull my hand away. “You did not just say that.”

Bodhi laughs. “You’re such a drama queen.”

“Says the man who just went on a twenty-minute rant about kangaroos!”

He ignores that. “But even though you barely stopped whining long enough to draw breath, you still did it. And I can do this for you.”

“You really are incredibly sweet.” I lean over the console and kiss his cheek. “I promise I’ll protect you from the scary marsupials. And buy you cotton candy as a reward for being so brave.”

He sounds offended. “I’m a grown ass adult man and I don’t need to be patronized with cotton candy, Everly.” He’s quiet for a minute. “What about a funnel cake?”

I laugh and lean over to kiss his cheek. “You can have all the funnel cakes you want.”

* * *

It really shouldn’t bethis fun to walk around the zoo. But our relationship is still new enough that just holding Bodhi’s hand for an afternoon makes me happy. And his adorable expression when we visit the otter habitat makes me fall just a little bit more for him.

“Did we see everything you want to see?” he asks when we leave the reptile house.

“I think so.” Normally I would schedule an activity like this down to the second. I’ve always been a fan of planning, of making lists and doing everything possible to maximize every minute of fun. But I find I don’t feel that way so much with Bodhi these days. It’s enough to just stroll along with him, to see where the day takes us.

Then Bodhi surprises the hell out of me. “I think I want to try the outback habitat.”

I stumble, gaping up at him. “What? Why?”