I shook my head. “Do you know how much kids can pick up in a few weeks? She’ll kill you.”
“What do you have there, Dan?” Sadie asked, marching over to lift the covering and have a look at the bird for herself. “Oh, aren’t you a pretty bird.”
“I’M A LADIES MAN.” Nitro chirped back.
“Pretty bird,” Sadie repeated.
“I’M A LADIES MAN.”
“Dan.” Sadie dropped the cloth. “Whoever trained this bird needs to die. And Kim will kill you if you bring it home with you.”
Dan pointed to me. “That’s what he said.”
I knew what was coming a half second before Nitro squawked, “THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID.”
Jenny’s arm came around me, and I bent down and gave her a quick kiss. “Hi.”
Her smile slowly grew. “Hi, yourself. Never a dull moment in carpool, is there?”
I laughed. “Never.”
I kept her hand while we put our things in Sadie’s Jetta, and then climbed in back, with Nitro next to us on the seat behind Dan.
Dan had grown quiet. I knew his altruistic, save-the-whole-world personality was battling with the idea of possibly sleeping on the couch tonight, next to an obnoxious bird in a cage.
Jenny picked up my hand from my lap and kept it, tracing over the ridges of my knuckles with her fingers. It was her way of telling me how much she’d missed me without grossing out our other two passengers. The little time we got to see each other never seemed like enough.
I rested my head against hers and breathed in the scent of her shampoo. “Any new thoughts on our honeymoon destination?”
One of the perks of working for a travel agency, and having the best boss ever, was that my company was giving us an all-expenses-paid, one-week honeymoon trip. We just had to decide where we wanted to go. Jenny made fun of me when I said I absolutely didn’t care where. But I really didn’t. I just wanted to be with her. Always.
“I was thinking of Ireland,” she whispered. “Is that weird? I love the beach, but I don’t know that the beach loves me.” She held out her arm, covered in a light dusting of freckles. Her engagement ring caught the light and sent sparkles dancing all over the ceiling of the car.
I took her arm and kissed it, before turning it over and running my lips over the inside of her wrist, taking my time. “Ireland sounds great,” I murmured against her skin. I was going to release her and leave it at that, but Jenny cupped my face with her hands and tugged me closer. Kissing her was totally against our carpool rules. Especially kissing her long and good. What rules were those again?
Dan cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but I really need to figure out a game plan for Nitro before you two lose your minds back there. You did promise you wouldn’t turn the back of Sadie’s car into…” He waved his arm in our direction. “That. Speaking of, do you two want to hear about what Kim and I like to do after the kids go to bed? I put on a little mood music—”
“Lalalala,” Sadie put her hands over her ears before gripping the wheel again. “Ugh, all of you. Stop it. Dan needs help with the bird. Can we talk about that?”
I sat up straighter, and so did Jenny. Her face was so red. So, adorably, red.
“Can you give him to a zoo?” Sadie asked. “Maybe he could hang out with other parrots instead of whoever taught him to disrespect women.”
Dan rolled his eyes. “His new owners are coming for him in a few weeks. And even if they weren’t, Nitro can’t go to a zoo. He’s totally domesticated, Sadie. He can’t go hang out with other birds outside. His hobbies are sitting on the couch grooming himself while watching TV and staring at himself in his mirror.”
“Wow. Sounds like he and Denver would get along great.”
Jenny gave me a knowing smile before quickly hiding it. “Actually, Denver hates parrots. He thinks they’re creepy.”
“Really…” Sadie glanced back at Nitro’s cage, looking pensive. “And it’s only for a few weeks? Why can’t his new owners come get him now?”
“They live in Vegas.”
“VEGAS BABY!” Nitro squawked.
“Ugh, he’s such a pig.” Sadie shook her head. “Poor thing. He can’t help it, unlike some people we know.”
“Is Denver still dating your apartment neighbor?” I whispered to Jenny.
