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Justine clambered into the chair on my one side, which caused a fight between her and May, who looked to be perhaps seven or eight, and wanted to sit next to ‘Gambit’s candy friend’. They settled on surrounding me from both sides.
Kit was the last to sit, and I couldn’t help noticing that she had a limp as she brought her bowl to the table to join us.
“Rook,” May hissed, tugging on my arm and drawing my attention back to her. “How are you going to eat with a mask on?”
Ah. Shit.
In this sort of proximity they would likely recognise me instantly. I tugged my mask down quickly, sticking my spoon into my chilli and hoping not to draw much attention to myself. I had never been uncomfortable with fame until this moment, yet somehow it felt… wrong right now. As if it didn’t have a place here. My fame had nothing to do with Gambit, or why I’d come, yet it still had the power to change everything about this moment.
And I realised I didn’t want it changed.
I was met with a few double takes and a long silence.
By the end of it, everyone was staring.
Finally, it was broken by May, who let out a squeak of derision. “Youbig fat liar!” She jabbed her spoon into my tummy.
I raised my eyebrows, entirely unsure of what to make of that.
“Your name isn’t Rook,” she told me. “I know for a fact it’s Danny Davis.”
I bit back a smile, finding it easier to keep my gaze on her than the rest of the stares in the room.
“You… have me there,” I said. Danny Davis was a racer I’d played in one of our earlier movies.
“Gambit’s friend is arace car driver?” Petal, the youngest, asked, eyes wide.
“No, he’s a film actor, you idiots,” Justine countered.
“He’s not!” May snapped. “And I’m not an idiot.” She turned back to me. “Do you drive cars or do you…film actor?” she spat the last two words out like they were dirty.
“I, in fact, do both,” I told her, fighting my grin.
She folded her arms and gave Justine a smugI-told-you-solook.
“Danny?” Petal asked me through a mouthful of cornbread, her eyes wide. “Did Gambit getmeanything?”
“I’m afraid not. Just Kit,” I said, and my chest tightened at the heartbroken look in her eyes. “This time, anyway. It’s uh… Kit first since she’s the oldest.”
Even if Gambit wouldn’t help me, I’d get gifts for the rest of them.
“Oh. Okay.” She nodded to herself like that made sense. “Can you tell him I miss him?”
Terra’s smile was tight as she pressed a kiss to Petal’s head. “You can tell him we all do.”
For the rest of the meal, no one mentioned my job once which I was grateful for. Terra tried, a number of times, to prod me for Gambit’s address, but I kept it to myself. I’d ask him after, but if he hadn’t given it to them, it must be for a reason.
Not a reason I could fathom.
There was life in this home that I’d never felt before, and strangely, it didn’t matter that it was small with rickety chairs and peeling wallpaper. The closest I’d ever come to existing in a place like this was in my movies.
My childhood dinners—if graced by anyone more than my mother—were cold and quiet and hosted across wide marble dining tables set by paid staff.
Even my relationships with my siblings were overshadowed by competition set on us by the expectations of elite pack parents. Ones who were far too busy to be present every day. Everything was framed by achievements and success.
You want for nothing, Rook. Do you know how many people in this world can say the same?
I’d doubted a thousand things in my life when it came to my own worth or success, but never before had I doubted the truth of those words, the pillar that held up everything I was taught. The cornerstone, the launch pad, the thing that gave me no excuses to be a failure, becauseI’d wanted for nothing.
