Page 46 of On Circus Lane

He grimaces. “Sometimes it’s hard to talk when my tongue is so tired.”

She sets her glass down with an ominous click. “Are you complaining about our sex life, Theo?”

“No. Not at all,” he says quickly.

“Because I’ve never had any complaints before.”

“It’s teabagging,” I break in, trying to divert the oncoming war of words.

“It most certainly isn’t,” Georgina says. “I’veneverdownplayed my abilities to get ahead. That’s very dishonest, Tom, and certainly not me.”

I sigh. “That’s sandbagging, Georgie. Freddie isteabagging.”

“Well, not in real life. I don’t think Theo could handle them,” Freddy interjects.

“I certainly could,” Theo says indignantly. “I’m not a quitter.”

“It’s my turn,” Bee says, interrupting the incipient warfare and grabbing a card.

“Please let this be a fairly normal one,” I groan. “I don’t think I’ll ever recover from Freddy miming a prostate exam.”

“It was rather graphic,” Freddy says modestly.

Bee peers at the card myopically and then takes his glasses off and polishes them. He has another look and groans. “I’m seeing double.” He hands the card to me with a crooked smile. “Tell me the worst.”

Steven huffs, brandishing the board. “Tom guessed the teabagging, soyou’vegot to roll forward,” he insists. “Maybe now would be the time to actually use the board.”

“No need,” Bee says amiably. Before I can stop him, he launches himself forward, rolling in an ungainly tangle of limbs, knocking over the cards, and ending up splayed on the floor with his head under a radiator.

A startled silence falls for a few seconds.

“What wasthatmime?” Freddy asks, looking rather impressed.

“It was a forward roll like Steven instructed,” Bee calls, his voice echoing slightly.

Steven huffs. “No, I said,rollforward with the dice. You appear to have a problem with listening for someone with so many degrees.”

Silence falls, and then Bee bursts into infectious laughter. He sits up. His glasses are crooked and hanging off his face, and his hair is a mess, but something inside me clenches as I stare at him.

You’re it, I think. And then I quickly think,What the hell?

I remember my dad telling me that when he met my mum, he knew immediately that she was the one for him. He’d always told his children that he hoped we’d be lucky enough to have the same experience. Is this feeling what he was talking about?

I shove the odd thought away and go over to help Bee up, which takes a while as he keeps getting the giggles and subsiding back under the radiator.

After another half an hour of games, Steven makes noises about needing time with Jack. I’d sooner shag a pissed-off scorpion, but I suppose it’s up to Jack. I salute him as Steven marches him towards the bedroom, and Jack rolls his eyes.

I watch the door shut behind them and frown. Freddy wanders over. “God, I hope he doesn’t end up with that prick.”

“I know,” I say, keeping my voice low.

Sal, Ivy, and Bee are packing the games away.

I add, “He’ll be trapped in some sort of Groundhog Day similar to his parents’ marriage.” We both shudder. “I think he believes that good relationships are formed by one person being as unpleasant and domineering as they can manage and the other one going along with it.”

“Hardly surprising,” Freddy says. “I remember going home with him for Easter. His mother asked what my pension plan was, and how did I see my long-range financial forecast.” I snort, and he grins at me. “I barely followed the weather at that point, let alone some math version of my future.”

“I know. Once, we went back to his after a school party where someone had snuck in some rum.”

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