"No wonder I couldn't find it."
That's fair. I can count on one hand the number of times we've actually used that table to eat, but having both Céline and Aurora here means there won't be space at the kitchen island for everyone.
"Hey, come here," Aurora says, tugging Seven closer to brush her fingertips over the sides of his head.
Unlike me, Sev's haircut never changes. It's always a tight skin fade on the sides to reveal the Grecian laurel crown he has inked into the skin there, leaving the black hair on top longer like he's from some 1920s street gang. It suits him, though.
"I never noticed how detailed it is," Aurora muses, still running her fingers over the lines of his tattoo as he watches her face, rapt by it.
"When my hair grows out it's harder to see."
"I like it. Do you have an artist somewhere around here you use?"
"Why, Ro? You want some ink?"
She drops her hands and bites her lip. "Maybe?"
"Well, this one was done by a guy in Leeds. Same with this one." He taps the triple sevens on his neck. "I'll take you to see him sometime."
She laughs and shakes her head, and I wonder if she'll ever get used to doing whatever she pleases whenever she pleases.
Sev pulls her hand into his and grins wickedly. "Atticus just sat down for his turn, so it's the perfect time to, uh…" He jerkshis head back down the hall, and mock whispers, "Load the dicks."
He leads us out and when Aurora catches sight of Atticus through the open door to the studio, she stops in her tracks, peering around the door.
Céline chats with Atticus in the way only Céline can. Getting more words out of him than me or Sev can in a whole week sometimes.
I stand at her shoulder, and when it shakes from silent laughter, I can see why.
Céline has drenched Atticus's hair and has it all combed down over his face as she trims the long gold and copper ends. He looks a little bit like a wet mop.
Aurora covers her mouth with her hand, but not before a little sound comes out and Atticus's head snaps up. She backs into me and I haul her out of view as we hear Céline giving Atty shit for moving.
"Go, go, go," she whispers, and we all run with quiet steps down the hall.
"Hey!" Atticus shouts after us. "Have any of you seen my stress ball?"
I cringe. "Ask Seven!"
Sev gives me a glare with no real malice and I laugh.
Ellie's drawn to the sound from the other room and joins our troupe with an excited bark as we race through the dining room toward the stairs to Atty's room.
"Come on, Ellie!" Aurora encourages her. "To the cannon!"
39
MENAGE A MASKTOK
SEVEN
Iforgot how much Céline can drink.
How muchallof us can when given the opportunity to.
Eli’s laugh echoes in the dining room as he and Céline take turns jumping in to regale Aurora about the time me and Atty showed up at Céline's door coated head to toe in pastry flour.
"I could hardly tell it was them!" she says between laughs.
