Broderick has slowed. He’s not looking at us, but he shifts a little closer to me as if he doesn’t want to miss a single word of this. I drag my thumb over Shiloh’s knuckles. Now isn’t the time or place to tell her what I realized last night, but I’ve always been a little too impulsive for my own good. “I care about you, Shiloh.” A nice, generic statement that won’t send her rabbiting away. “I have no intention of publicly claiming Broderick without you being involved.” When she still hesitates, I can’t help pressing. “Do you care about me?”

“Yes.” The word is almost lost in the sound of people walking and talking and shopping around us.

“Then what’s wrong with letting everyone know?” I speak just as softly as she is, and for once I can’t inject my voice with any bravado. As much as I don’t want to pressure her, a part of me can’t help wanting her to claim this.

To claim me.

For a moment, I think Shiloh is going to keep arguing, but she sighs and slips her hand into mine.

Maybe it should be awkward to walk down the street with the three of us, but it just feels horrifyingly right. I knew I was in over my head after last night, but this just confirms it. I’m entirely gone for Shiloh and half gone for Broderick, stubborn fool that he is. I…like him. Even when he has me climbing the walls—maybe especially when he has me climbing the walls.

We take our time, pausing to explore a few of the trinket shops before we end up in the center space with the handful of food trucks and restaurants. The intersection has picnic tables situated under carefully constructed awnings that keep out the worst of the weather and offer plenty of relief from the late-summer heat.

Shiloh extracts her hand from mine and gives us a sweet smile. “I’ll go grab some food.” She’s gone before I can offer to go with.

It’s just as well. Broderick and I have something to discuss. I sink onto the bench at the nearest table and pat the spot next to me. “Sit, husband.”

“I’m not—” He cuts himself off and sighs. “You know what? Forget it.” He sits next to me, thigh to thigh, and drapes his arm over the table behind me. “This for show, or you have something to say?”

I watch Shiloh weave through the late lunch crowd to the nearest food truck. “Both.” I take a deep breath. “Last night was a lot of fun.”

Broderick’s arm goes tense behind me. “I had fun, too.”