Page 27 of Gator

He picked up my bag off the bed and headed for the front door, pausing as we walked past the bar that divided my living room from the kitchen. “Do you need to take anything from your fridge so it doesn’t spoil?” he asked.

“Nah, there’s nothing in there that’ll go bad.”

He gave me a look and dropped my bag on the bar. He walked over to the fridge and pulled it open. I knew what he would find in there. Pretty much nothing, and I knew he would have something to say about it. Sure enough, he didn’t disappoint.

“Tell me you just haven’t been shopping for the week.”

I shrugged. “Okay, I haven’t been shopping for the week.”

He raised one eyebrow at me and said, “Is that true?”

“No, but you told me to tell you that, so I did.”

“Jules, what do you eat?”

I marched over to the drawer by the fridge, pulled it open, took out a stack of take-out menus from all over town, and slapped them down on the counter. “Whatever I want.”

“Fine. We’ll talk about that later. Let’s pack up your bird.”

Gator

We got in the SUV, and he reached for the radio. I batted his hand away. “My vehicle, my radio. Now, what’s the address?”

He rolled his eyes and rattled off an address. I punched it into the GPS and pulled out onto the road.

We got to his sister’s street a few minutes later. Nice place. A couple of bikes on the porch. Potted plants.Normal. Exactly the kind of normal someone could ruin if they followed him here, which just confirmed the decision to have him stay at Three Bears.

“Stay put.”

Julius opened his mouth to argue, but I was already out of the SUV, checking down the street, the front yard, and the porch.Nothing.

When I came back and opened his door, he gave me that shit-eating grin. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“Jules, behave. You’re adorable, but you’re also a distraction, and right now I just need to keep you safe.”

He snickered but silently followed me up the walk.

The inside of the house matched the outside. Lived in but tidy in a comfortable homey way. I let him lead, but kept close. He went straight for a birdcage in the corner.

When the bird saw us, it fluffed up its gray feathers and cocked its head from side to side, studying me. Then it spread out its wings and let out a piercing wolf whistle that would’ve made a sailor blush.

“Well, hello, Daddy,” she said in an almost perfect imitation of Julius’s voice.

I froze and then stared at Julius. He was fighting a laugh, but not very well. It figured that Julius would have a bird with a big personality.

I sighed. “And she has to come with us?”

He shook his head. “Where I go, Trixie goes.”

“Wonderful.”

It didn’t take him but a second to grab her things, and we were ready to go.

“She’ll need to sit in the backseat. She’ll lose her shit if we put her all the way in the back.”

I chuckled. “Why doesn’t it surprise me that your bird would be a diva?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”