Page 24 of The Publicity Stunt

Ignoring her, I grab April’s hand and drag her out to my front yard. She squeals.

“We’ll be back in a bit!” We take a few more steps to the very center of the lawn and I connect my earphones into the iPod.

“What’s happening?” April frantically asks. I put each of the earphones into our ears. The confusion on her face grows. “Parker, what are you doing?”

I set the volume to the highest level and hit play.

The instrumental beginning of Frankie Valli’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” starts to play and I shove the iPod into my front pocket.

April narrows her eyes. “What are you—”

I put my arms around her waist, shuffle-stepping us to the left and, believe it or not, fucking start singing. “You’re just too good to be true. Can’t take my eyes offa you …” I twirl her around. Her blue dress foams around her like a whirlpool.

A short burst of laughter leaves April’s lips and it’s the highlight of my night. I twirl her again. Her earphone falls out but, boy, do I keep singing.

“Whatever this is—” she starts to say.

Another twirl.

“I don’t ever want it to stop,” she finishes.

Laughing and giving up on getting the lyrics right, we keep swaying to the music. Mom leans against the doorframe with her hand clutching her chest and a very sappy smile slathered across her face. I roll my eyes and turn us the other way.

April wraps her arms around me in a soft hug and rests her cheek against my chest. “Thank you,” she whispers.

Smiling, I pull her close. “Don’t thank me yet, Chere. We still have to dance to ‘Cha Cha Slide.’”

She laughs again and I rest my chin on the top of her head, whispering the rest of the wrong lyrics into her hair.

“I’m sorry,” she quietly adds.

“For what?” My fingers run over her braid. “I’m having so much fun right now.”

April slowly lifts her head back up, glassy-eyed. “For forcing you to kiss me. Nothing even happened with Tyler.”

My mouth opens but I’m not sure what to say. I hate that she’s worried about that right now, and at the same time, a small part of me relishes her sadness. She’s thinking about our kiss too. No matter the reason.

“It was still practice.” I shrug. “If not for Tyler, for someone else, then.”

That makes her smile a little. “You’re not mad I stole your first kiss for nothing?”

“No, Chere.”

She angles her chin up, looking at me as I hold her in my arms. Ironically enough, the urge to lower my head and brush my lips against hers increases tenfold.

“Are you sure?” she asks again.

I breathe in through my nose, squashing the thought before I do something stupid. “Are you mad I stole your first kiss?”

“Not mad, just a little disappointed.”

What? I don’t even try to hide the hurt on my face. Disappointed? I prefer mad to fucking disappointment. Was my kiss really that bad?

Seeing my pained expression, April places a hand on my shoulder. “No, not like that,” she hurries to add. “I’m disappointed that neither of us are going to have our first kiss with … I don’t know, someone who isn’t you or me.”

My shock doesn’t waver. She makes a clicking sound with her tongue and shrugs. “Not like that, Parker. Didn’t you think your first kiss would be with someone who’s a possible girlfriend, or at least, a crush?” April starts getting all flustered and it takes everything to not smile. “Plus, I forced you to kiss me. That can’t be fun.”

My face contorts, trying to keep in a laugh, and she swats my arm. “Don’t laugh!”