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“I said keep it.” Viggo sets the container of chokladbiskvier in my hands. “And I meant it.”
“Thanks, Viggo.”
He pats my shoulder gently as he clocks Ren. “Sure thing, sis. Now, if you’ll excuse me. Unlike you, Ren’s gonna need to cough up some dough.”
I smile, opening the container’s lid to take a peek. The chokladbiskvier look beautiful, a glossy chocolate glaze covering the chocolate buttercream and almond meringue biscuit beneath. They smell incredible, too, just the way they have every time my mom’s made them.
“All right!” Ren calls inside one hand, offering Viggo a thick wad of cash with the other. “Let’s get seated and get started.”
We’ve done this so many times, we tend to start without preamble. Reading an entire Shakespeare play is a full evening commitment, and Ren always starts us, seven sharp so we won’t run late.
I glance around, hoping for some sign of Sebastian. He promised Ren he’d be here.
He promised me, too.
Sighing, I stick the chokladbiskvier in the fridge to keep them away from grabby hands—also known as Tyler—and quickly finish my toast Skagen while they start reading. I throw back a gulp of water, then dart over to my seat right before my first line and let myself fall into the familiar comfort of reading Beatrice’s lines—a feisty, prickly heroine who I’ve always admired, whose snappy dialogue I’ve loved reading, for years.
As Benedick’s first line is about to come up, Ren lifts his eyebrows at one of his high school theater friends, Gabe. Gabe nods and glances down at his script, making me think he and Ren had a quick chat beforehand about being backup if Sebastian didn’t show.
Mitch says his lines as Leonato, a larger role than he normally prefers to read, but one he already seems to be thoroughly enjoying, leaning into Millie who holds their shared script perched on her lap. After Gabe’s quick repartee with Mitch as Leonato and Tyler, who’s reading the Prince, I throw in my first jab at Benedick, whose next joke lands flat because Leonato and the Prince have moved on to another conversation.
“‘I wonder,’” I tell Benedick—well, Gabe—just as I hear the door open, “‘that you will still be talking, Signior Benedick, nobody marks you.’”
Gabe opens his mouth, but before he can speak, Sebastian steps inside on a cool night breeze. “‘What, my dear Lady Disdain!’” Perfect, piercing sarcasm laces his voice. The door slams shut behind him. “‘Are you yet living?’”
22
ZIGGY
Playlist: “Bad Things,” Meiko
“You were perfection,” Millie says, squeezing my arm.
I smile. “Well, thanks, but look who’s talking.”
“Oh, psh.” She waves a hand, laughing softly as Mitch helps her ease one arm into her cardigan, then the other. “I was no such thing.”
“You were!” I tell her, handing her a container of leftovers consisting solely of Viggo’s baked goods. Millie has a serious sweet tooth. “I’ve never heard a better Margaret.”
“Flatterer,” she says, winking. “Goodnight, honey. See you next month.”
“Goodnight, Millie.” I hug her, then hug Mitch. “Goodnight, Mitch. Drive safe, okay?”
I hold the door open, waving as those two, the last of the club members to leave, make their way to their car.
A laugh I haven’t heard in a week, rough and low, makes me startle as I turn and shut the door behind me.
Sebastian stands in the kitchen, those beautifully inked arms elbow deep in sudsy water, working his way through a sinkful of pots and pans.
Ren’s deep, booming laugh, like Dad’s, echoes in the space and Sebastian’s rough laugh blends with his. It makes me smile reflexively.
“I’m not lying,” my brother says hoarsely. “I swear!”
“That is some next-level nerd shit,” Sebastian tells him.
Ren sighs happily, wiping his eyes. “Oh, Christ, I’m crying.”
I bite my lip and push off the door. “Having fun, you two?”
