Page 44 of The Publicity Stunt
I push April off my body and she falls back, pulling her top down, red in the cheeks.
Holly’s eyes bounce between the two of us a few times, before settling on me. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“Hol—” April says.
“Ew, are you two dating?” Holly says the word like it’s slowly killing her from the inside.
“No!” April shrieks, pausing to look at me. “I mean … we were just …”
“Kissing,” I finish for her. “We were just kissing.” My tone is cold.
“Oh, God,” Holly mutters, grimacing. “I need to wash my eyes with bleach.”
“Please don’t tell Mom,” April pleads, and Holly shoots her a look that screamsReally?andGrosssimultaneously.
“She’s calling us down for dinner,” Holly says.
A digression. Good.
“Do you want to stay for dinner?” April casually asks me as if we didn’t just have our tongues down each other’s throats.
We were just kissing.
“Actually,” Holly butts in. “We have a ‘no dogs at the dinner table’ policy in this house.”
“Holly!” April chastises, jaw dropped in shock.
Holly just shrugs. It baffles me how the same set of parents raised such different daughters. One’s a fucking sunflower who wears unicorn hats and offers to bring my mom cookies every time she comes over. And the other is a thorny, withering rose who probably drinks demon blood in her free time.
“That’s all right. I need to get back anyway,” I tell April. “It’s already pretty late.”
If she’s even a little disappointed, she doesn’t make it appear so. I get off the bed and pick up my jacket. “Also, word of advice, Hollister?” Holly’s brown eyes narrow to slits. Hollister. She hates that nickname. “Pink’s not your color.” I point to her PJs. “It doesn’t mesh with all the black in your soul.”
Her nostrils flare. “I don’t remember asking for your expert opinion.”
“Yet here you are, still listening.”
Her eyes flick to April. “Downstairs, now,” she says, and after giving me a long, cold once-over, proceeds to walk out.
“You should test out the pepper spray on your sister. Check if it works.” I’m trying to sound unaffected by what just happened, but the slight wobble in my voice betrays me.
“Parker?”
“Yeah?”
She picks up her hat and toys with the tassels, briefly lifting her bold green eyes to my face. For a slight moment I think she’s going to grab my collar, pull my mouth down to hers, and finish what she started. There’s not a single doubt in my mind.
“Are you mad at me?” she asks.
Oh. “No. Why?”
“You seem like it,” she murmurs.
“I’m not mad, April.” But I’m definitely frustrated. I don’t want tojustkiss her.
“You sure?” she asks.
“Yeah, April. It’s just a kiss. It isn’t something we haven’t done before, right?”
