Page 34 of Rogue Wave

What the fuck was that?

“Uh…Hazel,” I said before pausing. “Why do you have a salamander-dragon-looking thing in your bathtub?”

She giggled, and despite the weird situation, I felt that laugh in my chest. “That’s an axolotl, not a salamander dragon.”

“A what?” I asked, not sure I’d heard her correctly.

“An axolotl,” she replied, walking over next to me. “I brought him home because we weren’t expecting him for another two days, and our exhibit isn’t quite ready for him yet. So, he’s staying with me until tomorrow.”

“Why do you have floating Ziploc bags in there?” I asked after noticing five or six of them.

“Oh, those are ice packs.” Her answer was so matter-of-fact, as though everyone should know this. “They’re in Ziploc bags so they don’t contaminate the water.”

“So why is he in your tub?” I asked because that seemed weird to me, but I also didn’t know anything about these creatures.

“I’m trying to fix Bernie’s tank that we transported him in because the thermometer isn’t working, and I didn’t want him to overheat. So, I stuck him in there with a bubbler while I go get some new equipment.”

“Bernie?” I repeated.

“That’s his name,” she said with a smile.

“You named the salamander-dragon Bernie?”

“All our creatures have names, Hank.” She smiled and rolled her eyes at me, as though I was silly for not knowing that. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get to the store quickly. I need a new temperature regulator and some ammonium chloride to make sure Bernie’s pH levels are perfect in his tank, which was where I was headed right before you were initiated into the killer wasp club.”

That was my cue to leave, but I still stood there staring at the whatever-the-hell-it-was-called in the bathtub.

I stroked my beard, as if that would help make this situation make sense.

“Thanks for the help,” I told her, and I watched her gaze go from my beard to my neck and down to my still-bare chest.

The look in her eyes wasn’t that of a medical assessment. It was full of desire and want.

Yeah, I needed to get out of here, for both our sakes.

Dougie and I had just stepped into the Angry Crab Bar. It wasn’t a dive bar, per se, but it wasn’t a classy establishment either. It was a sports bar that had decent food and several pool tables and darts in the back.

Dougie had sent me a text requesting that instead of our usual drinks on the porch, we go out for a drink tonight and get some food to celebrate me “not dying from a wasp massacre.”

I relented only because my hands were still a little sore and I hadn’t felt like cooking.

“You came!” Hazel yelled from the back, a huge smile plastered on her face as she and her friend Vivi stood by one of the pool tables just beyond the bar.

“I did,” Dougie replied to Hazel, and I turned and shot him a look.

“Just a guys’ night out for once, eh?” I asked, throwing his words back at him, which clearly had been a lie.

He’d picked this place on purpose.

“Hazel may have mentioned that she was coming here tonight.” Dougie shrugged, trying to play this off casually, but I knew better. “I thought it’d be fun to join her.”

“You mean join her and Vivi,” I teased, watching as his cheeks grew a little pink, but his lip also twitched, which was all the proof I needed.

He definitely seemed to have a thing for her but hadn’t made a move yet.

“Let’s go say hi to the ladies,” Dougie said, interrupting my thoughts. “Hazel thinks you hate her. If we don’t go over there and at least say hi, you’re kind of proving her right.”

“You just want to go talk to her friend,” I shot back.