AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No. I need to get out of here.” I begin to move past her and stop. “Do you like animals?”
“Um… yes?”
“Let’s go,” I say, taking her hand in mine.
The weather is perfect, the sun is shining, and we’re cruising to our destination with the windows down and the music up. She’s singing, and it’s awful, but the happiness in it is music to my ears. The whole crazy situation has been so stressful. I need this—we need this. A day like today, just the two of us relaxing and having fun is precisely what the doctor would order, even if it is just as friends.
“The zoo?” She laughs as I pull into the parking space. “Is that why you asked me about animals?”
“Is this okay?” I ask. “We can do something else if you want. I just thought…”
“No, it’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Let’s do this,” I tell her as we head toward the entrance.
“Do you want to talk about what had you so upset earlier?”
“What, the whole sex tape on the internet, thanks to my own brother, isn’t enough?” My voice is laced with a frustration Lexie doesn’t deserve. I’m about to apologize when she begins to speak.
“Don’t forget the crazy girl who lied to you.”
“She had her reasons,” I say with a soft smile.
At this point, I can’t even find it in me to be mad at her anymore. Yes, she should have been upfront, shouldn’t have kept who she was from me. As much as all this sucks, though, I wouldn’t change a minute I spent with her. It was the happiest I’ve been in a long time, even before the accident.
“She just really, really liked you.”
“Good because I really liked her, too.”
She takes my hand. “Come on, let’s go see the giraffes.”
We stand against the railing watching them walk around, their long necks moving with each step.
“Aren’t they amazing?” she says with complete and utter awe.
I notice off to the side that there’s a sign. Not only can we look at the giraffes, we can also feed and pet them.
“Lex, come on.” I grab her hand and pull her behind me.
“Are you serious?”
“Hell, yeah, I am,” I say as I pull some money from my wallet. “We are so doing this.”
We stand on the deck, carrots in our hands, and one moves in our direction.
“Oooh, here he comes,” Lexie says excitedly. “Come on, Fred.”
“Fred?” I say with a laugh.
“Yeah, Fred. Don’t you think he looks like a Fred?” The look on her face is priceless. She is completely giddy, being silly, and having the time of her life.
“He sure does,” I reply, playing along. The woman could get me to agree to anything.
Fred makes his way over to us, taking the carrot from Lexie’s eager hand first. Lexie’s smiling and having the time of her life. So am I, just watching her.
Fred and Lexie must be kindred spirits because they have certainly taken a liking to each other. So much that Fred moves in closer, wrapping his long neck around us. Unsure what the hell is going on, I’m a little startled, to say the least.
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Lexie teases. She might be joking, but I’m starting to think this giraffe sees me as competition. He would be right. Lexie’s mine, buddy.
