4
“You didn’t tell me she was bright yellow!” Nolan enthused as Finn introduced him to Buttercup, who had turned out to have an appropriate name.
“She’s an albino Burmese python,” Finn said. “Which works out to yellow. They’re normally dark brown.”
“Yeah, yellow isn’t great camouflage, huh?”
“And yet, somehow, she still manages to sneak up on people from time to time,” Finn said. “She gets out of her tank a lot. I hate to admit that I keep being outsmarted by a snake, but I don’t know how she does it. You wanna hold her?”
“Can I?” Nolan asked, excited by the possibility. He never got to be around animals.
Finn seemed impossibly cool, hanging out with all kinds of wildlife for a job.
And hewaslooking at Nolan differently.
Maybe that didn’t mean anything. Maybehewas just more comfortable away from big crowds, too.
But Nolan couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he’d taken Rita’s advice. And if it got him Finn’s attention…
There was no point in pretending Finn wasn’t attractive. Tall, well-built and handsome, with a healthy tan from working outdoors and a warm, easy smile that went straight to Nolan’s gut, swarms of butterflies exploding there every time Finn turned it on him.
If this was what it took to get someone likethisto like him, maybe he’d just have to accept the compromise. It was worth it, wasn’t it?
“She’d actually love that,” Finn responded, opening the huge glass tank Buttercup seemed to live in. “You’re warm, which is pretty much her favorite thing. Snakes are easy to keep happy.”
“Pythons definitely don’t bite, right?”
“Theycanbite,” Finn said. “But they’re not venomous. And she’s used to being handled and you’re too big for her to eat.”
Nolan watched in awe as Finn coaxed the huge snake out, guiding it gently with both hands.
“She’s heavy,” Finn said. “You should be able to take her weight on your shoulders, but if it’s too much, just tell me. Don’t wanna crush you or anything.”
A nervous chuckle escaped Nolan before he could stop it, but Finn barely seemed to notice. Or if he did, at least he wasn’tsayinganything.
Sparks skittered over Nolan’s skin as Finn’s hand made contact with his bare arm. The weight of Buttercup settling on his shoulders was alot, much heavier than Nolan had really expected her to be, but he could take it. She was a nice, solid presence, almost soothing.
Maybe he’d get a python. They didn’t bark or meow, so no one would even have to know.
“You’re not afraid of her at all, are you?” Finn said, sounding impressed.
“Not really.” Nolan tried to shrug, but the weight of a six-foot python stopped him from moving his shoulders much. “I’m a little worried I’ll hurt her, but I’m not worried she’ll hurt me. You wouldn’t be showing her to a completely inexperienced I.T. nerd if she was dangerous.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in my judgement,” Finn said.
“You work with wildlife every day and you’re still alive and not missing any limbs. I figure your judgement has to be pretty sound.”
Finn chuckled at that, and Nolan desperately wanted to keep making him laugh. He wanted to be funny and interesting. He wanted people to want to be around him.
“That’s one way of looking at it. And I do still have all my toes.” He grinned.
Nolan ran a hand along Buttercup’s side, taking in the texture of her scales, the way her body was cool but not cold. He’d never held a snake before, and while he’d known they weren’t slimy, he was surprised by how nice she was to touch.
Gavin might have been trying to be an asshole, but he’d actually ended up giving Nolan a genuine gift.
Served him right.
“She’s beautiful,” Nolan said. “This is absolutely worth five thousand dollars of Gavin’s money.”
