“Doesn’t ring a bell,” I lied. He’d told me five times already tonight.
“Will you dance with me?”
“Mmm.” I tapped my chin, and Barry rolled his eyes and trailed the backs of his fingers down my arm. “Better not.”
“Oh, come on, Harvey, what do I have to promise you?”
I bit my lip and grinned—he was always getting my big-teeth smiles, I couldn’t help it. “If you sing ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ with me, I’ll do it.”
Barry’s jaw dropped. “You think the band knows it?”
“I know they do, I sang it with Marcus last year. It’s like a dadrock rendition, but yeah, they know it. Do you?” The bartender put our glasses on the counter, and we both thanked him. I took a long sip of my soda.
“You think I don’t know One Direction? I have a sister.”
“Ah yes, of your fifty siblings, I should have known one of them would be cultured.”
“Brat,” Barry said, but he was giving his big-teeth smile too.
I was too pregnant to dance like I used to, but true to my word, I let Barry pull me to the dance floor while Josie and one of her friends sang “Islands In the Stream.” He pulled my arms around his neck and grabbed my hips, crooning (poorly, I might add) the Dolly Parton parts to me while we danced. It thrilled me to find things he was bad at—singing, bowling, washing windows, it made him more human and somehow even more likable.
I couldn’t figure out just what it was that was so likable about me to him, and I was too afraid to ask. Was it my tendency to leave clothes lying around? The puzzles? My personality, which wasn’t sunny or sparkling so much as it was a little bit reflective?
I had to assume it was the baby, his mind making me more likable as a result of being the person carrying his offspring. That’s what I told myself.
He dipped his head so close to mine, almost kissing me, and I lifted my chin.
“We should not do that,” I singsonged with his lips still hovering just next to mine.
He groaned and tipped his head back.
“But I really wanna.”
“Kissing in karaoke bars is for couples.”
“Or really friendly friends.” He tugged me closer, as close as I could be without nestling my face into the crook of his neck like I found myself wanting to do.
“This how they teach you to be friendly in Canada? Isthisthe Canadian niceness I’m always hearing about?”
“Sure. It’s my culture.” Barry spun me under his arm twice before pulling me back into him.
“Well, you can’t kiss me here,” I said, and laughed too loud at his exaggerated pout. “But you can take me home and kiss me there.” The rules made a very flimsy sense in my head; at home this wasn’t a date. At home it could mean nothing, a secret between two soon-to-be co-parents. He wouldn’t be kissing me for this whole country dance bar to see.
“Say no more,” he said, and hauled me up in his arms. I yelped as he carried me off the dance floor, giving polite “excuse us, sorry, thanks, excuse me” to everyone we passed. I laughed and wiggled enough that he set me down on my feet, and we made our way to the table.
We said quick goodbyes, claiming I was tired, even though I’m sure I looked as fresh and alive as I felt—no one would question me as pregnant as I was, but Josie winked at me as I filled a Ziploc with empanadas. When we got to his car in the parking lot, Barry pressed me against it, kissing me deeply, his tongue exploring my mouth until I pushed him away, breathless and laughing.
“Insatiable,” I swatted his shoulder.
“You have no idea.”
CHAPTER 24
BABY’S FIRST HEADLINE
There was a game Sunday, to which Jeremy and Kate accompanied me, both of them decked out in team gear same as me. As we ate the delicious free dinner, Jeremy scrolled his phone, showing me every instance where me attending a karaoke party at Podunk had made literal news. Well, not me, exactly. More like the mysterious pregnant woman on Barry Wright’s arm.
This wasn’t world news, buthockeyworld news. Because someone at Podunk posted two videos of Barry and me, first of us singing One Direction on the stage, and then another of us dancing and singing Dolly Parton at each other on the dance floor. We looked exceptionally romantic, me very pregnant, his hand on my stomach, my cheeks flushed and hair falling out of one of my braids, both of us grinning wide.
