A/N: votes pretty please 😀

The rest of the day, I rotated between working on school assignments and catching glimpses at Jake Reynolds, the new hot intern.  I mostly hung out at the coffee shop, hoping he would come back for another drink, but he was a no-show for the rest of the day.  I was able to snake around, mostly unnoticed, catching glances at Jake throughout the day.

Around 5:00, Owen found me, messenger bag draped over his shoulder, ready to take me home.  Thank goodness I was allowed to stay with him most of the time.  Relieved I wouldn't have to deal with Claire any more that day, I chatted away on the way home.  I guess I was more talkative than usual, because Owen gave me a look and laughed.

"You're chatty today," he observed as we pulled into the long, dirt driveway.  I blushed a little, wishing I wasn't so obvious.

I shrugged.  "I guess I had a good day," I told him simply.

Owen parked the car and turned off the ignition.  We both stepped and he grinned at me conspiratorially.  "It wouldn't have anything to do with Jake Reynolds, would it?"

I was stunned into silence, opening and closing my mouth without saying anything.  He laughed at me and started walking towards the porch.

"What?" I asked, sounding pathetic, I'm sure.  "He seems nice."

"Mmmmhmmm," he said knowingly as he unlocked the door.  We both dropped our bags by the couch and collapsed.

"What?" I asked him.

"Oh, he just mentioned that he met you at the coffee shop," he told me.  "And that you were adorable."

Adorable?  He thought I was adorable?  I felt like such a kid.  Of course he wouldn't be interested in me.  He was in college and I was barely a sophomore in high school.  He just thought I was a cute little kid.

I let out an annoyed sound, feeling rebuffed.  "I was just trying to be nice."

"No, I'm glad you met him," Owen told me, putting his feet up on the coffee table.  "Just don't let him in on too many secrets."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering if I'd blabbed too much about their plans to expand the sanctuary.

"He's just an intern," he reminded me.  "He doesn't have the same clearance as Claire and me.  We've let you in on a few secrets, but they need to stay between us, alright?"

I nodded in understanding.  I was used to having to stay tight-lipped.  Not many other teenagers had access to such vital information.  No other teenagers had such close contact with dinosaurs on a near-daily basis.

"Claire and I are going to the sanctuary tomorrow," he told me.  "You wanna come or stay here?"

That was a dumb question.  "Go with you of course," I told him.

"That's what I figured," he replied.  "There's no Wifi at the sanctuary, so can you work on your school assignments tonight?  Get it out of the way?"

The thought of more schoolwork sounded exhausting, but if it meant getting to spend a day at the sanctuary, I would do it.  I nodded and grabbed my backpack, dragging it over to my corner.  Owen had a beer and then started on some dinner as I knocked out my world history assignment.

The next day, we drove over to Claire's to pick her up.  The sanctuary was about an hour away, so I stuck my earbuds in and pulled up my playlist.  Otherwise, it would be listening to Owen and Claire argue the whole way there.

Finally, we pulled into the complex.  Heavy doors and mounds of security awaited us as we parked in the lot.  I'd dressed for the day, yoga pants and tennis shoes.  I braided my hair and put on a little makeup, hoping Jake might be there.  I smiled as another SUV pulled in with Dr. Malcolm.  Jake was in the passenger seat.

We stood in a small circle near the entrance, going over the plans for the day.  We needed to report on the nature in the proposed expansion area, with a plan for how to relocate any wildlife that called it home.

I was the record keeper, in essence.  The morning would be spent hiking, photographing and recording all the species we found, as well as the plants.  Some greenery might be poisonous to some of the dinosaurs and would need to be removed.

"Another squirrel," Claire reported, which I recorded in my notebook.  We'd been walking for over an hour now, and I had quite a list going.  Catching and moving all these creatures would be quite a huge task.

"Maybe we should stop for a rest," Owen suggested, looking at his watch.

"Fine," Claire said, obviously wanting to continue.  She had a way of pushing and getting on people's nerves.  I myself was grateful for the break, finding a tree stump to sit down and chug some water.  I pulled out a granola bar and opened it.  I noticed Jake didn't seem to have anything to eat.  Amateur mistake.  I pulled out another bar and tossed it to him.

"Thanks," he told me.  "No coffee bar here, I guess."

I shook my head and took a bite of my bar.  The hike was going well and we were making good progress.  As we came across a small rabbit burrow hole I thought of my two eggs back at Owen's house.  How long would it be until they hatched?  How could I tell?  What would I do to feed them once they were out?

I must have looked like I was concentrating because Jake asked, "Penny for your thoughts?"

I flushed again in embarrassment.  At this point, he probably thought that was all I was capable of.  "Oh," I tried to say dismissively, shrugging, "Just thinking about how the dinosaurs babies might do out here.  If you were a dinosaur, where'd you make your nest?"

He took a look around.  "Hopefully somewhere off the ground," he said.  "Away from predators."

I felt like such an idiot.  Of course I should try moving the eggs off the forest floor.  Any sort of animal could get to them.  Suddenly I couldn't wait to be home, checking on my babies.

"Do you think this will be a good enough home for them?" I asked.

He nodded and took a sip of his water.  "I think it'll be great," he said.  "They need more room."

From the distance, we heard the roar of a large dinosaur, most likely a T-Rex.  "Think they want a latte?"

I laughed at his joke just as Owen got up to move us all along.  I began to trudge along, counting down the hours to when I could get home to my dinosaur eggs.