Spaces Between

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•Chapter Nineteen•
We All Scream For Ice Cream
(Manhattan)

I wasn't exactly sure what distracted me from the music the most—Alrekr leaning his shoulder up against mine.....or Käro coming back all of a sudden and ramming his head into the backs of my knees. He hadn't done it very hard but it was enough to knock me straight out of whatever high I had been riding between listening to the music and holding Alrekr's hand.

"Hey, lovebirds." Käro snapped, coming around in front of us. I didn't know where he had went, I hadn't watched which he went. I figured something, maybe a squirrel, had caught his wolfish attention and he went to investigate. I watched his amber eyes flicker between ours. "We need to start heading back."

My shoulders slumped, "what? We literally just got here."

"I know," Käro grumbled, "but we still need to head back."

I knew that look.

"What's wrong?"

Käro pawed the ground, "nothing. Just your annoying hind end."

My eyes narrowed on his. At the way he slightly lowered his head and the faint shift of his ears. He may have been a wolf, but I had been around him long enough to pick up on his worried look.

And trust me, with living with me, he had a lot of those.

I pushed my bottom lip out defiantly. But it was also long enough that to know that if he really didn't want me knowing something, I wouldn't ever find out. "Fine, but at least let us get food on the way back."

Käro pawed the ground again, then again. As if thinking. His massive head tilted to side as he let out a tired sigh.

"Fine."

I gave him a beaming smile and turned back to Alrekr. He shrugged, "that works."

***

After almost getting lost, and twenty minutes of me racking my memory to remember where the place I wanted to take Alrekr was. Finally, we ended up somewhere between Park and 5th Ave, at a small, family owned ice cream parlor that was probably one of my favorite places in Manhattan. One of the owners was a retired S.H.I.E.L.D agent that my dad used to work with, and he would always take me there to eat when we use to go on day trips.

Honestly, it was a miracle that the business was still up and running. The family that owned it and the food they served were amazing but with it being smack dab in the middle of Manhattan and with all of the huge chain businesses surrounding it, the place was a minnow in a shark tank.

Warren's was a single story building nestled between two much larger building. The front had a gold and pink awning and a small patio with tables to sit at outside. The inside, from what I could remember, was the same color scheme and it looked like a stereotypical 1960s ice cream parlor.

Family friendly with good ice cream.

And they allowed dogs.

The bell chime above the door twinkled as I pushed it open. I was hit with a gust of AC and I stepped in, stilling holding the door for Alrekr and Käro. The former had tried to get it for me but I had batted his hand away before he could get close. He had flicked my nose in response.