Punk Piggy bounced in the theater window. “You’re so handsome, Slade. Maybe we should go on a date.”
Oh no.
Max groaned on my lap. The little girls sitting by me giggled and leaned forward in anticipation.
“I don’t date mean girls,” said Elmo. “You have to be nice if you want a kiss from a playboy.”
One of the moms snorted with laughter.
“Hey, Gilly,” I interrupted, afraid to look at Trina, “Let’s take a br—”
“Shh!” Every little kid in the room turned to me, fingers on their lips. Those librarians had trained them well.
“I am nice!” yelled Miss Piggy. “I’m just having MPS.” Then Miss Piggy launched herself at Elmo, making loud kissing noises, while the moms on the couch fell out laughing.
Max looked up at me, frowning. “What’s MPS?”
Trying to hold in laughter, I darted a glance at Trina just in time to see her turn away from me, her pale face now flushed. She hurried toward the cardboard stage and knelt down, reaching for Gilly.
“No!” Miss Piggy yelled. “We’re not done!”
“Commercial! Commercial!” hollered Elmo, whacking Trina on the head.
All the kids burst into applause, and so did the moms.
I shoved Max off my lap and hurried to the stage. Gilly looked ready to blow a gasket, as did Trina.
“I’m not done!” Gilly yell-whispered at Trina. “I have lots more words.”
Trina glanced up at me. When I saw the embarrassment in her eyes and the blush still coloring her cheeks, I was surprised by the twinge of sympathy I felt.
She turned away from me. “Please, Gillian. No more.”
Gilly danced with excitement. “Was I good, Slade?”
Great. No matter what I said, I’d piss off one of them. I glanced at Trina, whose eyes were still lowered. Whoa. She had really long eyelashes. I hadn’t noticed that before. I blinked and refocused on Gilly.
“You’re so…creative, Gilly. And you did great with the voices. But, um, maybe the others kids should have a turn.” I knelt and pried Miss Piggy out of her grip, then handed the puppet to the girl in the Snow White dress.
“Miss Piggy doesn’t love Elmo,” Max announced, appearing next to us. “She loves Kermit.”
“But Kermit’s green,” Gilly argued. “Elmo’s cuter. Miss Piggy should love him.”
Trina sighed next to me. Our eyes met, then she glanced away, her cheeks still flushed. “Story time starts at ten,” she said. “Let’s put the puppets away and pick out some books while we’re waiting.”
Gilly stomped her foot. “I hate story time. They always read boring stories.”
Max stomped his foot in solidarity. “Yeah. They never read about science. It’s always stories about lost puppies or runaway bunnies.”
I bit back a laugh. “You know, my favorite book was about a bunny that got lost.”
The kids looked at me, eyes big and curious.
“What is it?” Max asked.
“The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. You should ask your parents to read it to you.”
I felt Trina watching me. “What?” I asked, expecting a lecture about my reading taste.
She shrugged then ducked her head, avoiding my gaze. “I loved that story, too. Fourth grade read-aloud. I made my mom buy it for me because I loved it so much.”
“Oh.” I waited for her to say something else, but she busied herself putting the puppets into a plastic tub.
“How long before snack?” Max asked, tugging on my arm.
“Um,” I glanced at Trina.
She jumped up and put her hands on her hips. For someone so short, she had great legs.
Shit. What was wrong with me today?
“Didn’t you read the schedule, Slade?”
Whoa. I didn’t care what her legs looked like or how long her eyelashes were when she treated me like one of the kids.
“No, I didn’t. I was busy last night.”
“I’ll bet you were,” she muttered, kicking at the carpet with her flip-flop.
“It’s the MPS,” Gilly whispered loudly to Max. “My mom says it makes girls crabby.”
“Gilly!” Trina snapped, whipping her head around like that chick in The Exorcist. “That is a very inappropriate thing to say.”
Gilly gave us an angelic smile. “You mean like calling Slade a playboy?”
“I still don’t see why that’s a bad word,” Max said. “What’s wrong with playing?”
Why couldn’t I be working in Victoria’s Secret? I’d be surrounded by hot chicks trying on slinky underwear and—
“Snack time,” Trina announced. She reached down to grab the kids by the hands and then dragged them toward the door.