Welcome to the A to Z Challenge! I am excited to share with you some meet cutes (and maybe some sexy scenes) throughout the month of April! Richard is going to be chiming in with a few of his characters from his Hallmark story, too! Here is the last installment, but stay tuned! I might continue a few of the most popular stories.

– Jayden

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The Zoo is my favorite place. The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where I live, is free. So I go most days. It’s a great place to walk around, and I get to see all the animals. 

My favorites are:

• Alpaca
• Bald Eagle
• California Sea Lion
• Degu
• Eastern Screech Owl
• Fennec Fox
• Giant Panda
• Harbor Seal
• Indigo Bunting
• Japanese Koi
• Komodo Dragon
• Lion
• Maned Wolf
• Naked Mole Rat
• Orangutan
• Przewalski’s Horse
• Red Wolf
• Sand Cat
• Tiger
• Vietnamese Mossy Frog
• Whooping Crane
• Yellow-breasted Chat

Today, I’m at the California Sea Lion exhibit. They’re lounging around in the summer heat, taking a dip to cool off periodically. They look so lazy, but when they get into the water, they can be so active. Just like me. Active when I’m not overheating.

I take my water bottle out of my bag and take a long drink. Before I realize it, I’ve drunk the whole thing. Crap. The water bottle refilling station isn’t close to here. I sigh and resign myself to heading over to the Seal Rock Cafe. At least it’s close.

As I stand up to head over, I bump into someone. I immediately feel a coolness come over my flushed skin as his water dumps all over my shirt.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” he exclaims.

I look down at the water seeping along my shirt, and then I start laughing. “I was kind of hot!”

I can see the relief on his face. “It’s just water. I’m so sorry.” 

“No, no,” I say, “I wasn’t looking where I was going when I got up.

“Still, I should have been paying better attention, too.”

“Can I buy you another water?” I ask. “I was just going up to the cafe.”

He hesitates, glances over his shoulder, and then says, “Yeah, let’s do that.”

We head in the direction of the cafe, and I can’t help but wonder if he was looking for someone when he glanced over his shoulder… but dare I ask?

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Do you believe that the National Zoo doesn’t have animals for Q, U, or Z on their website? No Zebras! Crazy! What a fun way to end the A to Z Blog Challenge! If you joined in, drop your link in the comments. I’m hoping to go back and visit a lot of blogs in May!