Page 57 of The Publicity Stunt

“Settled?”

“Mm-hm, you like me, I like you—”

“You do.” My grin is unmatched.

“I officially give you permission to kiss me.”

“Yeah?” I bring my forehead to hers, fighting the zoo of butterflies in my stomach.

“Will you?”

My lips brush against her temple. “You need to break up with your little boyfriend first.”

April makes a frustrated noise. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Whatever he is,” I cut her off. “You and me? We’re special. And I don’t want to fuck it up. If we’re going to do this, then we’re going to do it right. I don’t want any other guy thinking he has a shot with you.”

Her beautiful green eyes move over my face. “Jealous, much?” she teases, a coy smile tugging at her lips.

“You’re my person. And it just hurts when I see someone else trying to make you their person too.” A lock of her red hair peeps out from her wig and I gently tuck it back in.

She pales a little and I think I’ve royally fucked up somehow. “What if it doesn’t work out?” she asks. “What happens then? Will we still be friends?”

Oh, thank God.

“April, I like you—like, really fucking like you.” I plant a soft assuring kiss on her forehead. “Those are mere words and it’s up to you to accept them at face value or not. But when I tell you we’re never going to stop being friends, you’d better fucking believe me. Because being your friend is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. No one gets me like you do. No one geeks out with me like you do. And you’re the only one who laughs at my jokes, even though we both know I’m not funny. There’s no way I’m fucking around with that.”

Her lips inch up in a smile.

“So yes, we’ll always be friends,” I say. “No matter what happens, where you are, who you’re with, you’ll always, always, be my best friend. And that’s a fucking promise—”

She puts her hand over my mouth, clamping it shut.

Um, what the fuck? “Apmhp?” April?

Standing on her toes, she plants a kiss over the knuckles of her yellow gloves. My frown deepens. The second she lowers her hand, my question pours out. “The hell was that?”

“You know what happens when I touch somebody,” she says with a slight smile in her voice. “You wanna end up in the hospital?”

I can’t fight it. I’m smiling way harder. Rogue says that to Gambit.X-Men: The Animated Series. The nerd in me is screaming.

My instinct is to grab on to this magnificent, magnificent girl and never ever let go. But instead, I push a few wet strands off her cheeks, tuck them behind her ear, and parrot Gambit’s trademark response. “Maybe it’s worth it, no?”

Then the sky melts down entirely.

ChapterThirteen

Present Day

APRIL

Igot to Barricade Bar ten minutes early.

After making a direct beeline toward the bathroom to wash my face, which I thought would soothe my nerves, or give me the strength to climb out the bathroom window (spoiler: it didn’t), I fixed my smudged mascara, reapplied some lip gloss, and put on my big girl pants to get through this night.

Parker looks up from the menu and smiles at me. It’s the sixth one so far. I’ve been counting. Every three smiles, I smile back.

“You look beautiful,” he says.