Ezra rolled his eyes. “Well, maybe not six months, but …”

“Matchmaker extraordinaire!” I crowed. “You said to me on Thursday that you wished you had my confidence talking to men. Well, that’s what you got … maybe not the way you thought, but hey, it worked!” I poked him in the side. “You better name your first child after me!”

Ezra’s horrified expression had me giggling heartily.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves …” he wrapped me up in a tight hug. “But thank you, again. We’re going out for dinner tonight!”

A little pang jolted through my belly at those words, but I pasted my brightest smile on my face and winked. “I won’t wait up.”

And then I turned, busying myself with sorting out my cash tin, and straightening up my stand, and feeding another treat to a very bouncy Luci. Ezra was far too good at reading my moods. And I was suddenly overwhelmed with loneliness. The thought of him out dating, while I was delighted for him, made me want to curl up on the couch in my underwear and eat my feelings.

Which reminded me that I really needed to get myself over to my favourite market stand. The one that sold the literal best donuts on the planet. And even better, they were gluten-free. Which meant I could actually eat them.

A warm, tingly sensation washed over me. I shivered, glancing around. What kept giving me this weird, tickling feeling that I was being watched? There was no one nearby, except Humphrey potting, or whatever it was called, next door, and Ezra watching him from a chair at the back of my stall. Only a few people were browsing the earring stand across the path.

But the feeling persisted. I collected Luci from her cage, scooping her into my arms, nuzzling her soft fur and adjusting her shell bra.

“Holy …” Ezra mumbled, getting to his feet. “Who in the hot Draco Malfoy is that?”

I rolled my eyes. “You’ve just scored a date with Hottie Potter next door. You don’t need to be scouting for another wand right now!”

Ezra snorted. “One wand is enough for me. But I can still objectively objectify a sexy blond.”

I threw him a wry glance, deciding to play along. “Alright, are we talking book Draco, or movie Draco?”

Ezra leered at me. “Fanfiction Draco.”

“Holy Hell!” I leapt to my feet, scanning the path, which of course was suddenly crowded. “Where?”

Ezra chuckled, pointing. “He headed that way.”

I craned my neck, stepping out from under my gazebo. My stomach fluttered when, several stalls away, I caught a glimpse of a blond head above the crowd, set on a pair of shoulders that I could quite easily picture myself clinging to while I acted out all sorts of depraved things. Many of them straight from the smutty books I loved so much.