Crazy Sexy Love (Dirty Dicks 1)

My phone rings and I pull it out of my pocket and smile when I see Tess’s name. “Hey,” I say, answering my phone. “Are you ready to give the bird back?”

“Heck no. Simon is the best company I’ve kept in a long time. I was actually calling to tell you that I could come in tomorrow for a few hours and help if you’d like. I know I wasn’t on the schedule, but I had an appointment get cancelled and figured I could spend the extra time at Animal Haven.”

“I can always use the extra help.”

“Perfect. I have a few things to do in the morning and then I’ll be in.”

“You talk too much,” Simon says, his squawk piercing through the phone.

“Sorry about that,” Tess says. “He has a huge vocabulary. He also talks way too much and loves to play Simon Says.”

“Simon says, shut up!”

Tess growls. “No, Simon, I’m not playing with you right now.”

“Shut up!”

“Sometimes it gets a little annoying, but I’ve gotten used to it. His incessant chattering is better than silence… I think,” she says, ignoring Simon’s high-pitched voice in the background.

“Shut up!”

“Will he eventually stop telling you to shut up?” I ask, secretly thankful that she offered to foster the bird because there’s no doubt he would’ve driven the other animals here crazy—myself included.

“Oh yeah, when I get off the phone and actually play his little game.”

“Shut up!”

The phone muffles but I hear Tess talking to Simon. “Simon if you don’t stop telling me to shut up, I’m going to put a blanket over your cage and make you take a nap.”

“Ew!”

“That’s the only way to get him to stop.”

“Threaten him?” I ask.

“Pretty much. He hates taking naps,” she says, unapologetically.

“Nice. You’re learning fast.”

“I’m going to be the best darn cockatoo mom this world has ever seen. And now I have to go because Simon just fell off his swing.”

“Oh my gosh, is he—” Tess hangs up before I get a chance to finish asking if he’s okay, but a minute later she sends a text.

Turns out he knows how to play dead, too. Damn bird.

I smile and type out a quick reply. Want me to take him back?

Not a chance in hell.

Thank God.

After shoving my phone in my back pocket, I check on the other animals, saving Pickles for last. There’s just something about him… He’s special. Okay, they’re all special, but Pickles has a unique grip on my heart.

I open his cage and rather than waiting on me to come to him, this time Pickles comes to me and it’s a welcome surprise. There’s a purr thick in his throat as he rubs against my leg.

“Did you miss me, or are you just hoping for more Tuna? Because I’ll be honest, I think Rhett is onto something. You’re playing me,” I say, scooping the cat up.

Moving his head along my chin, Pickles continues to purr and I find his sweetness deceptive because I know he’s ornery as hell.