Page 85 of The Publicity Stunt
“I don’t like where you’re going with this.”
“The mood has been killed,” April says, trying to wiggle off my lap. But I hold her in place, smashing my mouth against hers.
“Let me help with that,” I mumble and she laughs. “Roomie.”
ChapterNineteen
Present Day
APRIL
“That’s a lot of denim,” Holly says.
She isn’t wrong. It is a lot of denim. Denim overalls, a denim crop top, and even a denim bandanna over my head. “I think I pull it off, no?”
“You look like a Levi’s store.”
I roll my eyes and drag my suitcase into the living room. I set my purse down on the couch and walk toward the kitchen to get a bottle of water.
“Oh, my God, what is that?” Holly gasps, her hand clutching her chest.
My eyes widen in shock. “Wh-what?”
“That.” She snatches the bottle from my hand and points a finger right at my mouth. “You’re smiling.”
I smack her hand away and take back the bottle, my mouth twisting into something that isn’t a smile. “Hilarious.”
She leans against the white marble of the kitchen island and teases. “Been spending a lot of time with a certain friend?”
I shoot her a look. After our night on the rooftop, Parker offered to drop me home. The entire ride back, he didn’t utter a single word to me. Not even a “good night.” He just gave me a stiff nod and rode away. Like the whole thing was nothing but a mistake. Was it? It didn’t seem like it last night. For years, I imagined what it would be like to be with him again. Would it be weird? Would it be like the very first time?
After two hours of restlessness, I fell out of bed around three in the morning and took a quick shower. Didn’t help. But, fortunately, I don’t have the time to obsess over every single detail from last night. More pressing matters await me. Such as Tony’s Los Angeles PR event.
I pull the bottle from Holly’s hand and walk back into the living room. “I’m also breathing. Standing. Talking. Might as well get all that out of the way too.”
She gives me another teasing smile and follows me out.
When I told Holly about my slip-up, all she did was give me a nonchalant shrug and say, ‘Good for you, sis.’ Like Parker and I having sex on some abandoned Brooklyn rooftop was not a question of if, but rather when.
“Is Parker coming too?” she asks.
“No, Hol, he isn’t.”
“Huh. Shame.”
“It’s a work trip. AGQinterview for Tony, couple of meet-and-greets, and—” I take out my phone and open my inbox, scrolling through the freshly arrived fifteen new emails. “A red-carpet premiere for some spy thriller. I should probably watch it on the flight. I need to give Tony a few talking points in case he gets bombarded by the press. What?” I look up at Holly, at the slow, scheming smile creeping across her lips.
“Nothing.”
“That smile is not nothing.”
“Just that you could’ve invited Parker along. It’s the weekend. I doubt he has any work on set if everyone else is coming with you.”
This time my eye roll is more genuine. “Doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a life of his own.”
“Irrelevant.” She plonks down on the couch. “As far as Parker’s concerned, a life without his darling April should be nonexistent.”
“Stop it.”
