The movie we had to watch together—The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Having an eidetic memory made the latter torture, the play a sensory hell, and mass a nightmare.Thank fuck we were home.
With a relieved sigh, I dropped onto my seat, growling when Katina’s cats began weaving in and out of my legs.
To stop them, I crossed my ankles and then rolled my eyes when they curled up beside me. So close, I could feel them breathing.
At first, their mismatched heartbeats had a nerve twitching in my left eye but, once I adapted, the sensations soothed me.
When I’d settled, everyone else scrambled for their positions, but the rest of these fuckers I called family knew that this was my spot.
You only sat here if you had a death wish.
From here, I could see out of the window, into the hall, over the city, and the surrounding roofs.
Ma and Uncle Paddy might have been overseas, but the bulk of my people were here, safe,notsound, and always annoying.
“Stop sighing.” Inessa tutted beside me, simultaneously shoving her tit into my arm and dropping the extra-large bowl of popcorn on my lap, the one we both pretended I didn’t eat.
Now,thiswas bliss.
Ren hissed at her backtalking to me then gifted Inessa thecoûp de grace—a butthole-shaped salute before taking off.
As Pebbles jumped up beside Inessa and spun in a circle until she found the perfect spot, I drawled, “I’m not sighing.”
“You’re sighing.”
“Why does Katina always bring these damn cats anyway?”
“You know you love them.”
Ha!
The kids, already dressed in Christmas PJs, leaped around like the freaky ass skeleton would be loping around Christmas Town once Star finished setting up a dangling starpiñata.
“Only she’d pick a star.”
Star sniped, “I heard that, fu— ja— I mean, Eoghan. What could I do? The store only had this shape left in stock!”
“Narcissist.” I rolled my eyes as she flipped me the bird before carrying on with the task.
“Already told her that,” Troy declared. “And it isn’t in the middle.”
“Everyone’s a damn critic,” Star snarled. “If you want to center it,youdo it, Troy.”
As the pair started bickering, I told Inessa, “I’m not sure this is a wise decision.”
“Troy made the puzzle a tradition, so Star wants this to be hers.”
“She has violence in her soul, that one.”
“And you don’t?”
“Hell, they’re never with us anyway on Christmas Eve. They’re only here this year because stomach flu swarmed the Sinners’ compound.”
Inessa gagged. “Gross.”
“I hit too. I hit too,” Roman shrieked, snagging our attention.
