I ran my hands over his chest, tracing the muscles I had caught hints of through his shirt. Eventually I tangled my fingers in his hair. He mumbled things I didn’t understand and didn’t need to, the tone making it obvious. He tasted like a dark, decadent dessert. I had a feeling I could live on that taste alone for months; that his kiss was something I could become addicted to.

The sound of wings flapping and loud squawking had us pulling apart. My breathing was heavy and I felt lightheaded. Alex ran a thumb over my bottom lip, his eyes bright with a mixture of surprise and desire.

“I think someone is jealous.” I bit my lip and looked over his shoulder to where Dover was glaring at us.

“Not much I can do about that.” He leaned forward and nipped my bottom lip. I melted back into him, already craving his taste again. His hands moved up my sides, his thumbs barely grazing the sides of my br**sts. I sucked in a breath at his touch and moaned softly.

One of the side doors opened and we froze at the sound of voices. Alex smiled at the look on my face, but pulled away. I adjusted my shirt, hoping I didn’t have that ‘just kissed’ look. Alex picked up my gloves and handed them to me. I pulled them back on and turned back to what I was doing.

“Hey, Sam?” David’s voice heralded his entry into the room. Alex moved over to the sink to wash his hands and I heard David’s footsteps pause.

“What’s up?” I turned to look at him, the knife in my hand. His eyes moved from Alex to me, noting how close we were standing.

“I wanted to see how Dover was healing. Dr. Geller asked me to keep an eye on her while he was gone.” Something in his tone changed and I realized he appeared pissed.

“She’s doing good.” I felt my eyebrows draw together. David was usually a bit distant, but friendly. Did he think I had ignored the owl because of everything going on? Everyone brought friends or family to the center, so he couldn’t be upset at Alex’s presence.

“Have you given her the medicine yet?” David glared at Alex, who had turned around to lean against the sink. There wasn’t much space between us and I could see the calculating gleam in David’s eyes.

“Yep.” My response was curt, annoyed by the judging look in his eyes.

“Good.” He grabbed a glove from one of the shelves and walked over to check out Dover. I turned back to my task and frowned.

“She’s a beautiful bird.” Alex had stayed leaning against the counter, so close that my elbow hit him when I went back to work.

“Yes. She is.” David’s voice sounded odd, so I tried to peek over my shoulder. Dover was sitting on his arm, but his eyes were trained on Alex. “She’s been through a lot. I’d hate to see her hurt any more.”

I turned back to the mouse I was holding and frowned. Why did he sound so angry?

“I’m sure everyone here takes very good care of her.” Alex’s voice sounded affable, but there was something odd about the way he phrased his words.

“Often people hurt things on accident.” David’s voice took on an edge. “No one plans on hurting anyone, but it happens.”

Anyone? I froze at and set down the knife I was holding. Slowly I turned around and glared at David. He was ignoring me, his gaze still glued on Alex.

“I have no intention of hurting Samantha.” Alex’s posture was relaxed, at odds with his words.

“She’s been through enough. I’ve watched her fight her way through the death of her mom and now her dad. Don’t pull her into something just for her to have to fight some more.”

“David!” I felt my mouth fall open in shock. How had the conversation turned into this?

“She’s like my sister and I’m tired of seeing her screwed over.” His eyes turned to me apologetically.

“I can understand that.” Alex stood up straight. “But I think she can take care of herself.”

“Just remember there are people, here in the real world, that love her.” My heart squeezed with David’s words. I had grown really close to everyone in the office. David had been a big help when I was applying for a master’s position. He wasn’t one for too much emotion, so to hear him say that made me want to throw my arms around him in a hug.

Alex nodded his head and David turned back to Dover. I stood there staring at them both, wondering what on Earth had happened to my life.

“Close your mouth, Sam.” David didn’t look at me, but his voice shook me out of my thoughts. I grabbed the gloves off the floor and turned back to the task at hand.

Alex’s phone rang and he walked away to answer it. I could hear him but couldn’t make out what he was saying. When I had finished cutting up the food, I split it up and went to deliver it to the birds in the building. When I got back, David was finishing up his examination of Dover. He put her back in her pen and replaced his gloves on the shelf.

“See you later?” David looked at me from where he was standing and I nodded my head.

“Yeah. Geller will be back tomorrow.”

“I know.” He turned to leave. “See you then.”

“David?” He stopped and looked at me. “I love you guys, too.”

He winked before turning and leaving the way he came. Alex was still on the phone, so I checked the time before going about cleaning. I was almost finished by the time he was done with his conversation.

“I didn’t mean to leave you with all the cleanup.” Alex took the broom out of my hand.