Page 87 of Knot Convenient

I smiled and held up my caramel apple. “Hey, as long as there’s fair food involved, I think you’re very cool.”

Holding me close, Noah chuckled, and then we were off to devour our meal. We hadn’t even been on a ride yet, and I was already having the time of my life.

Chapter 38

Summer

“These games are rigged, I swear!” Tobias groaned as he threw the ball for what was probably the hundredth time.

I had learned something new about my pack mates.

They were abysmal at fair games.

Noah, Emmett, and Tobias had all taken turns on various games, including Hook-a-duck and basketball in attempts to win me a giant stuffed animal. Needless to say, it wasn’t going well.

“It’s okay,” I soothed, rubbing my hand over Tobias’s back. “I don’t need a giant stuffed animal. And I mean, they are rigged to be damn near impossible, so…”

He shook his head. “You’re our mate. It’s our job to win you a giant stuffed animal.”

Their determination was actually rather adorable. They had systematically gone through the entire fair, trying stalls that offered those big, oversized stuffed animals and made several attempts to win. They had managed to procure a few small stuffed bears, which Milo was very fond of. Even while he was still in the baby carrier on Marshall’s chest, he clutched one of the bears, happily chewing on its ear.

“It’s impossible. It has to be!” Tobias said, glowering at the game. He was trying to throw a ball into a bucket… not overly difficult in principle, but in practice, it seemed highly unlikely he’d manage it.

I had made the fatal mistake of expressing interest in one of the stalls. Hanging from the ceiling were several giant stuffed creatures that vaguely looked like ducks. I wanted a closer look, but they were hanging up and difficult to see.

My guys had taken my interest as a sign that I needed the giant stuffed duck-like thing.

It was undeniably cute.

“Goosifer is tormenting me,” Tobias growled, looking up at the stuffed animal with displeasure.

I took a bite of my funnel cake and laughed. “He’s not alive. He can’t taunt you. Also, Goosifer?”

Tobias shrugged. “Goose Lucifer. Goosifer.”

I chuckled, dusting off powdered sugar from my fingers. “Okay, that’s amazing. But Goosifer can stay right where he is. There’s no need to⁠—”

“I will not be defeated by a stuffed fu—I mean, duck. Obviously.”

Next to me, Marshall shook his head, sighing like a tired dad. “Give that ball here,” he said, holding out his hand. He was the only one who hadn't given any of the games a stab yet, having been distracted watching over Milo. He had insisted he was perfectly content on baby duty, that he was actually quite happy to be wearing the carrier.

Tobias gave him a disbelieving look but handed it over all the same. “You’ll see, totally impossible. I think⁠—”

His words were cut off as Marshall, with one hand, threw the ball and landed it perfectly in the hole without any bounce. The rest of our pack watched with mouths agape, hardly even blinking. Milo giggled.

“How?!” Noah asked.

Marshall shrugged. “I just threw the ball.”

He said it like it was so simple, and unlike the rest of our pack, he’d been holding a baby while doing it.

“Well done!” The girl behind the counter beamed at Marshall before grabbing her little ladder and climbing up to grab the goose.

From a distance, the stuffed goose had seemed to be an adequate size… Up close, he was a monstrosity.

“Here you go,” she said cheerily, holding out the gigantic stuffed creature to Marshall, who just shook his head and looked at me.

“It’s hers,” he said.