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“I watched him,” John-Henry said. “He put it in the deck the right way.”
“It’s all bullshit.”
Auggie did a quiet (very quiet) whoop and applauded, and the others followed. North even leaned forward to grab Shaw from behind, and it was somewhere between a hug and a half-Nelson.
“Very smooth,” Jem said as he took the cards back.
Shaw looked so happy Auggie honestly thought he might cry.
“John can do that,” Emery said.
“No, I can’t,” John-Henry said with a grin. “But I wish I could.”
“Do your thing.”
“That’s not exactly the same.”
“I’ll get the watermelon.”
“The watermelon?” Auggie asked.
But Emery was already moving into the kitchen, and when he came back, he had a whole watermelon. He moved the coffee table into the center of the room, set the watermelon on top of it, and waved John-Henry forward.
“This is not a card trick,” John-Henry said, “and I’m apologizing in advance because this is just something we’d do when we were kids and we got bored. And I’m realizing right now that I need to explain that this was before smartphones. No comments from the peanut gallery, please.”
Auggie mimed zipping his lips.
“Stop stalling,” Emery said, “and start showing off.”
For whatever reason, that made John-Henry grin. He accepted a single card from Jem, held it between two fingers, and flicked. It spun through the air with startling accuracy, but it glanced off the watermelon.
John-Henry shrugged and spread his hands. “Like I said—”
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” North said, “do it again.”
So, John-Henry accepted another card. That one went wide, cartwheeling wildly to the left. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Theo said, “One more; you’ve got this.”
John-Henry’s grin went for rueful, but he accepted a third card. He sent it flying, and it sliced right into the watermelon and stuck there, the card quivering.
The cheers went up before Auggie could open his mouth. John-Henry was laughing, and his face was flushed as Emery pulled him in for a kiss.
Auggie didn’t realize he was looking for Theo until their eyes had locked. Theo was still smiling, and something about the crinkle of his eyes, something about the wry set of his mouth, answered a question that Auggie hadn’t even known he was asking.
“I don’t know a single card trick,” Theo said, easing himself up from the couch, “but if you’ve got balls, I can do a little juggling.”
“More than a little,” Auggie said. “He’s really good.”
Shaw made a noise like that had somehow been adorable, and North rolled his eyes, and Tean clutched Jem’s hand, and suddenly Auggie’s face was hot.
John-Henry said, “Be right back,” and headed toward the garage.
“If you’ve got balls,” North said. “Eight gay dudes and not one of you lazy motherfuckers made a joke.”
“Oh, question,” Shaw said, “As North’s body succumbs to the ravages of age—this is a question for the senior members of the group—is it normal for them to get all stretched out and saggy and wrinkly?”
“Open your mouth,” Theo said to Auggie. “See what happens.”
