Sparks Fly

Chapter Thirty-One: Birdzilla and Physical Therapy

I'm back with another chapter! Uh, it's a ride for sure. That's all I'm gonna say...Hope you like it!
-VIVKELLER23
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Rain

Strange that despite living on the wealthier side of Granite Woods, she'd only been to the scenic park a total of three times in her life. The last time she'd walked through the soft grass and just enjoyed being outdoors, her mother had been beside her. Rain could recall her mother's pretty singing, the song choice an old church hymn that had attracted a docile flock of geese.

The geese weren't feeling very friendly today.

"That does it!" Teagan exclaimed as he snatched his paper bag away from one sneaky bird. "I paid for this, Birdzilla, and no one gets to take my fries!" The fry snatching goose flapped its wide wings, looking fierce. "Don't you rile your feathers up at me. You aren't a graceful swan."

Was it bad that she found this version of Teagan Miller equally funny and attractive? She'd never imagined he could look so menacing while staring down a large bird.

The goose cackled, and it wasn't an altogether lovely sound.

"Well, that's not a nice thing to say in the presence of a lady." Rain couldn't stop the bubble of laughter that escaped as Teagan chided the hungry fowl. "Tell you what, if I give you the rest of my fries, you have to share it with the others in your flock, got it?"

Strange as it was, it seemed the goose understood the deal Teagan was offering.

Teagan grinned. "Smart one, aren't you?" He stood slowly, his eyes level on the bird who'd been stealing his fries since they'd settled down on the grass. Teagan reached a hand behind him and motioned for Rain to take it. "Right, now, nice and slow. You get to keep these, but you stay away from us so we can enjoy what's left of our food, good?"

Miraculously, the goose and the rest of the geese that had grazed nearby watched as Teagan helped Rain up from the ground. It wasn't until Teagan retreated a couple of steps back that the birds approached the bag with the fries. The miracle though stopped there.

Birds didn't share anymore than humans did.

"You handled that well," Rain observed as Teagan led her to a wooden bench just beneath a shading tree. "Have you had much practice with that?"

"You mean handling Birdzilla back there?" Teagan asked with a confident smirk. "The bird was just the avian version of a hangry Gavin."

Oh. There was a comparison she couldn't unsee.

"All that aside, I did have a gift for you," Teagan explained. It was endearing to see how that smirk slipped just the slightest bit while he struggled over what else to say. In the end, he decided that words were overrated and instead yanked a white envelope from the pocket of his jeans.

Teagan Miller is an undercover romantic. Rain smiled as she remembered the sentence she had wanted to include in her final draft of her analysis paper for Tilden's class. She'd only scrapped it because she thought the observation was a little too personal.

That didn't make the statement less true.

Standing before her was the same man who'd once made it clear that women only served one purpose for him, and she hadn't made the cut for him. He'd made no secret about his sexual past, though his personal past hadn't been a topic he shared with anyone. He'd known to call her Ice Queen long before he'd known the name her mother gave her. He'd had a never ending supply of flirtatious one liners, but there had been a few, tender instances in which he'd said the sweetest words she'd ever heard.