Rory inclined his head. “Mate.”
“Kin.” His voice lowered and he caught my hand for a moment before I twisted away.
He fell into step with us but kept veering closer to me. I glanced around and people were looking at us. Knowing smiles hidden behind their hot chocolates.
Did everyone have to assume a man and woman were together if they stood near one another? Or maybe they would because he kept brushing his pinkie along mine. And maybe I wanted to curl mine around his. Okay, maybe our pinkies actually tangled twice.
“Want a pretzel?”
“Me?”
August’s lips quirked up on one side. “Lucky Charms has bought Ivy about three different versions of bread.”
“My girl loves sweet breads,” Rory replied with a smirk.
“And his girl loves eating them.” Ivy tugged Rory down and gave him a kiss.
“Aye, that she does.”
I slanted them a look. The easy way they were together, the baby they had between them, the way they both checked on Rhiannon even though she’d been sleeping effortlessly through the noise of the crowds. Goddess, I wanted that.
More every day.
My pinky tangled with August’s again and I accidentally moved in closer to him. Suddenly, he dropped his arm over my shoulders and dragged me in close. “Or are you hoping I’ll go stand in that super long fried dough line?”
“Honey, would you please?” I drilled my knuckle into his ribs like I always used to. Back before we knew what skin on skin felt like.
His gaze dropped to my lips and the teasing honey felt far too real. I slipped away from him and shoved my hands into my pockets again. “But a pretzel would be fine, honestly. Don’t go to any trouble.”
“You want fried dough, you’ll get fried dough. Be right back.”
He cut through the crowd with his long legs. I really needed to stop staring at him.
“He needs a strong woman.”
“Yeah?” I asked absently. Was that what he needed? Should I step aside when he found that particular kind of woman?
My stomach twisted.
Would I even be able to? What if we had a baby together? Would there be split custody, and he or she would have two mommies?
“Yeah, he’d need one so he wouldn’t mow them down. He gets something in his head and he just won’t change his mind.”
I glanced at Ivy. “He’s not that rigid.”
“No? You used to mention that he’d never bend.”
“I just don’t think I understood him before.”
“Right. Seems reasonable.”
Before I could decipher what the heck that meant, there was a startled shout and…was that a quack?
All at once, the semi-orderly lines at the various vendor tables and booths surged forward and people started scattering.
“Where do these things keep coming from?”
I craned my neck to see who’d said that. Then people jumped out of the way and a half dozen ducks appeared. Two of them were fully grown with one quacking maniacally as they cut a swath through the crowd. They obviously were getting confused with all the people and the maze of tables.