Page 20 of Never Been Worse

Customers and employees at the burger bar spoke to Fan Magazine as well, telling us the couple seemed completely in love and didn’t seem to notice anyone around them. Reports say they were laughing and holding hands the entire night, and now there are whispers of wedding bells in the future.

We, for one, are happy to see Harper happy and even happier to see yet another man of Atlas Oaks fall in love.”

“Wow,” I whisper after reading the article. “Leo reallyis good at his job.” The article has everything I could ever have wished for: putting rumors to rest, canceling out the bad press Clarissa has been spreading by making it seem childish, planting a seed of history with Wes and me, and, of course, making us seem like a real couple.

“Uh, Harp, I think the magazine could have just posted that picture and nothing else, and it would have been a slam dunk,” Ava says, and I look at her with confusion.

“What?” I ask, my gaze bouncing from Ava to the phone and then handing it back to her. She stares at the photo again, sighing with joy. I roll my eyes when I realize what she was insinuating. “You’re insane. It’s just good journalism, Ava. That’s all.”

“What do you think your first kiss is going to be like?” Jules asks, and I freeze in place.

“What?”

“Well, I mean…eventually, you’ll have to kiss. You’re getting married,after all.”

I feel it building again, that all-consuming panic that has come in waves since the arrest, though I can’t quite pinpoint the source of it this time.

I shake my head in disagreement. “No, we don’t. Why would we have to do any of that?”

Ava rolls her eyes, and Jules bites her lip.

“Jesus, Harp. What are you going to do when they say you can kiss the bride? Put a hand out and shake on it? Plus, I’m sure there will be situations over your fake marriage where you’ll have to kiss him.” Ava’s face goes contemplative as she takes in me and my new panic. “You do know that, right?”

“I…I didn’t really think about it if I’m being honest.”

I grab the drink Jules made me and down the rest of it.

“Atta girl,” Ava says, clapping, but I ignore her.

“I’m going to kiss him for the first time in front of fifty people.” The panic builds even further with the mere idea of it.

“You should practice,” Ava says, like it’s some idea shejustcame up with, but I can almost guarantee she’s been sitting on it for a second. The woman can’t lie to save her soul.

“Practice?”

“It’s actually not a bad idea,” Jules says with a shrug. “That way, if and when you have to do it for a camera, it’s not awkward.”

“How does one practice kissing?” I ask, confused.

“Well, you see, you have two willing participants, both of whom have a set of lips,” Ava starts, and I roll my eyes.

“You’re so annoying,” I groan.

“I think she’s asking how, when her wedding is in less than a week and they don’t exactly live together,” Jules says.

“He’s herhusband,” Ava says, throwing her hands in the air like it’s obvious.

“Not for real!” I shout, suddenly feeling like I can’t breathe. “And not yet! I can’t kiss him for the first time in front of cameras, you guys. What if I’m terrible? What if I kiss him, and he goes,oof, no thanks, and calls it all off? That would be so embarrassing!” Ava lets out a snort, and Jules rolls her lips in, trying to fight a laugh. “I’m serious,you guys!”

With that, Ava stands and reaches for her keys. “Then let’s go find Prince Charming.”

“What?” I ask, confusion now added to my panic.

“Let’s go to Wes’s house, and you kiss him. Practice before the cameras.”

“I can’t?—”

“Why not?” Jules asks, usually the voice of reason of the two. “It’s better than worrying about it for an entire week.”She’s right there, I think. “Come on. Let’s go,” she says with a clap of her hands.

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