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“Most what?” Beckett looked at me like I would know.
I shook my head and kept my expression blank.
Waving one hand, Cortney waggled his brows. “You know…most.”
Oh. In most situations, I’d call bullshit, but with Dylan, it was hard to say. She was a total free spirit. I could see her deciding to have an orgasm contest with her best friend. I started to chuckle, but quickly covered it with a cough.
“He gets it.” Cortney tipped his head my way.
The wheels in Beckett’s head were turning now. He scanned the shelves behind us, then snapped his attention back to Cortney. “No ducking way is Dylan winning.” With that, he spun, strode away, and slammed the door shut behind him.
Cortney brushed his hands together, then rounded his desk and sat.
“You’re fucking with him, right?” I asked.
“Oh, 100 percent.” Cortney laughed evilly, dropping his elbows to the desktop and steepling his fingers.
In this moment, I understood why Beckett Langfield had hired this guy. Although very few people would stand up to or give Beckett a hard time, Cortney had no issues. It was probably nice to have someone on the team who was more than just a yes-man.
“Are we having a meeting or what?” Or was Cortney fucking with me too?
His expression evened out into the supportive one he typically used with me during games. “Just a conversation.”
I sank into the chair across from him. “Is this about Price?”
With a shake of his head, he sat back. “But if you have issues, my door is always open. He’s a solid choice, though. I think you two will work great together.”
I did too. “He’s got big shoes to fill, but I’m looking forward to working with him.”
“Not many of us wear a size eighteen.” One side of Cortney’s lips kicked up, but then he tempered his expression and sat up straight. “On a serious note, I wanted to check in and see if you had anything to declare for human resources before the season starts…” He let the sentence trail off as he studied me.
I surveyed him in return, at a loss for what he thought I’d want HR to know.
After several silent seconds, he cleared his throat. “I might wear the suit now, but when I was still your teammate, I heard all the rumors about you and Avery.”
I shrugged. “We’re friends, man.” I tamped down on my annoyance that he was sticking his nose in my business, but I understood that, with any team, there were rules regarding fraternization.
He nodded once. “You’ll come to me if that changes?”
With a huff, I stood, but I kept my anger in check. “Sure.”
Behind me, the door flew open again. “Man Bun,” Beckett growled, stomping into the room. “My wife has no idea what you’re talking about.”
And that was my cue to leave. With a chuckle, I sidestepped him and slipped out.
At the soundof my whistle, Sarge flew across the green screen and landed on my gloved arm. My stomach growled so loud Jana, who was on the other side of the room, laughed. We’d been at this for entirely too long.
This was our fourth and final set of photos today. We’d done a few with the giant condors, and then we popped in for some in the parakeet house. Wobbles, our favorite snow owl, was a natural in front of the camera. We’d started Sarge’s session at three thirty so we could be wrapped by five, but Sarge had refused to leave the perch for the first hour. Winter was hard on most of the birds. They were all pretty mellow, but it made it almost impossible to get them to do more than just sit and watch what was going on around them.
Once the nearly ten-pound bald eagle was steady on my arm, I turned to Jana, who’d positioned herself behind the camera. “Did you get it that time?” Sarge was only cooperative to a point, and he’d about reached it.
“Um…”
Jana flipped through shots on the camera’s small digital screen. Since she had been tasked with updating the zoo’s website withinformation on Blondie’s Birds, she’d requested action shots of the fan favorites. And the zoo’s only bald eagle fit that bill. Everyone loved the big guy.
“Can we do one more?”
“Last one.” I waited for Jana to agree before I put Sage back on his perch.
