Chapter Fifteen
P iper hurried to slip through the front entrance of the sleek, glass apartment building before it locked behind somebody who had just left. It wasn’t until she arrived at a wooden door, brass numbers glinting in the hall lights, that she fully realized where she’d brought herself.
She knocked hurriedly and was unsurprised when Shea eventually opened the door wrapped in a brightly decorated satin robe.
“Good evening, Piper,” Shea said, slightly amused. “What can I do for you at this late hour?”
Piper didn’t answer immediately, but she did stride into the apartment and flop down on the bright orange armchair when Shea stood aside and gestured her in.
“Ah,” Shea sighed, stifling a smirk and twisting herself up onto the adjacent couch. “August.”
Piper blinked at her. “What?”
“The reason you’re here: August.”
“How could you possibly know that?”
Shea laughed. “Because this isn’t the first time we’ve ever met?”
Piper rolled her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Oh, seriously? Seriously, yes. You’re hung up on her, you’re slightly furious but not in a way that suggests something bad happened to you, and you’ve shown up here late at night. The easier option would have been going home, but you’re not yet ready to have this conversation with Massima, which means you know she’s going to be insufferably happy for you.”
Piper’s lips puckered. “And yet, maybe that would have been easier than this.”
Shea laughed. “Nah. You know I’m going to give it to you straight and let you process what you need to so that you’re ready to face Massima’s joy and Hermes’... fear? Stress? Whatever it is he feels when he’s worried about losing you.”
“You know, there are people charging a fortune as mediums who do a worse job at this than you do.”
“And there are plenty that are better. It’s easy to be good when the person you’re reading is one of your best friends.” She paused. “So. August. You want to jump her bones, right?”
Piper spluttered. “Shea!”
“What? Like I’m wrong?”
As Piper stared at her, already horrified, a woman emerged from the direction of Shea’s bedroom, smiling slightly.
“Shea, I’m just going to pop out and give you two a minute. I’ll be back in ten.”
Shea smiled. “Can you pick up some more condoms for the—”
“What did you think I was going for?” the woman asked in a sultry, slightly purring voice.
Piper was ready to die on the spot. She wasn’t precious about her dating life or sex, but she was having a moment and had managed to interrupt Shea having sex. Or trying to. Fantastic.
Shea winked at the woman and stared openly at her butt as she slipped quickly out of the apartment.
Piper shook her head once they were alone. “You could have just told me to leave.”
Shea smiled. “No need. We were having a little refreshment break anyway. Plus, now we get to restock the condoms and have more fun with my toys.”
“I’m delighted for you. But you really could have told me to come back tomorrow.”
“And leave you to struggle with your feelings all alone? What kind of friend would that make me?”
Piper sucked in a long, slow breath. “That’s the thing. I’m not particularly struggling.”
“Okay. Great. So, why the face?”
Piper grimaced. “Because I’m not struggling.”
“I’m going to need more of an explanation than that, Pipes.”
“Well, the struggle, I guess, is what everyone else is going to think.”
“I don’t think anyone’s going to be surprised.” She frowned in confusion.
“Exactly. Like you said, the second I tell Massima, she’s going to act like I’m getting married. The second Hermes knows, he’s going to worry about being forgotten. And, the second everyone else knows, it’s like it’s a big deal, a done thing.”
“And you don’t want it to be?”
Why were feelings so very complicated? She sometimes wished she could just spill the contents of her thoughts all over the table for everyone to see. They could pick through them and understand exactly what she was thinking and feeling. Then, nobody would be confused, and she wouldn’t be left stuck trying to explain things she didn’t have the words to explain.
“I don’t know,” she eventually muttered.
Shea studied her for a moment. “You’re hoping for a friends-with-benefits kind of situation?”
“No.”
Shea’s eyes flashed wide for a second and Piper knew she was being ridiculous but this conversation was the reason she’d come to Shea.
“So,” Shea said, her voice measured, “you’re hoping for…?”
Piper sighed. “I don’t know that I’m hoping for anything. I don’t know how she feels.”
“Like shit, you don’t.”
“Thank you for that.” She rolled her eyes. “We haven’t had a conversation about it, we’re each other’s… I don’t know, emergency call for bad dates?”
Shea studied Piper through narrowed eyes, clearly trying to piece together what she felt she was missing. “I don’t think you need to have a conversation for it to be obvious she’s into you, but, also, the fact that you made that deal and didn’t think it was going to lead you here is, frankly, baffling.”
“Excuse me?”
“You went on a date, met August, had immediate chemistry, found out she wasn’t your date, made a pact to stay in touch, and thought you weren’t going to fall for her? What planet are you living on?”
Piper stared at her. “And you just… thought that the whole time?”
“Obviously.”
“Why wouldn’t you say something?” Piper winced at how high her voice came out.
“Because I didn’t think I needed to. How could you possibly not know that?”
Piper flailed her arms helplessly. “It wasn’t romantic chemistry.”
“Sure it wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Piper. You’ve been on more than enough dates to know that chemistry is not easy to come by. You meet her and it’s immediately like sparks flying? How was that ever not going to be sexual chemistry?”
“Friendship chemistry is a thing,” she insisted desperately.
“Agreed. We have it in spades. Have you ever, once in your life, flirted with me like you do with August?”
“I don’t flirt with her…”
Shea laughed. “You so do. And she flirts with you.”
“You haven’t even met her.”
“Met you, though. And heard enough about her from you.” She looked over her glasses at Piper. “Have you ever spoken to me like that?”
“Well… no.”
“Exactly. Because we have platonic chemistry. Believe me, if there was anything remotely sexual between us, I’d have addressed it long ago.”
Piper laughed, honestly a little flattered but also glad there wasn’t that tension between the two of them. She loved Shea too much as a friend. The idea of them doing anything more than that felt oddly incestuous.
And wasn’t that the point?
Not once had anything with August felt like that. Sure, there was the obvious flirting and dancing and tension they’d had tonight, but there hadn’t been one conversation, one single moment where she’d felt like the idea of being with August was uncomfortable.
“Ah,” Shea said, grinning widely. “The penny just dropped, huh?”
Piper scowled. “I’d be annoyed with you, but I guess I chose to come here.”
She laughed. “You did. And this is why. Because I’m not going to bullshit you when you’re clearly into the woman and she’s into you. You know, though, I am curious what prompted tonight’s visit specifically?”
“The fact that I didn’t know you were in the middle of having sex.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be having more sex when you leave.”
“So glad to know that,” Piper deadpanned.
Shea laughed. “You’re only jealous because you’re not having sex tonight.”
“Neither of you is my type, actually.”
“Oh, I know. We’re not named August .”
Piper frowned. “I’m not attracted to her name. Though, it is a nice name.”
“Oh, I’m sure she’s hot as hell. Looking forward to putting a face to the name on Friday, but that wasn’t my point.”
Piper shook the comment off, lingering on the idea of Friday happening at all. “What if she cancels?”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because… she might.”
“Because of whatever happened tonight?” Her eyes gleamed. “Wait. Did you actually sleep together tonight?”
“No! No. We did not.”
Everything about her expression and her body language was suspicious. “But you almost did?”
“Eh…” Piper bit her cheek briefly. “No?”
“That’s a question, not a statement.” She was far too excited.
“Is it?”
“Yes. And you’re being evasive. Tell me how you almost slept together.”
“I don’t know that we did.”
“Piper,” she sighed. “You’re being frustrating. Spill it out. You’ll feel better once you do. It’s literally why you’re here.”
Piper sighed. It was exactly why she was there. Why did it still have to be so difficult? “She was on a date. It wasn’t going well.”
“Is she okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, she’s totally fine. The… chemistry just wasn’t there, I guess.”
Shea laughed. “Cool. Where was the date?”
“Um… That dance studio on 59th?”
Shea’s expression flashed in a way Piper didn’t understand. “Rumba class?”
She narrowed her eyes. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Pipes, come on. I enjoy sex and lots of it. You think I haven’t met most other women on dating apps around here who are looking for the same thing?”
Piper scrubbed a hand over her face. “You’ve had sex with the person August was on a date with tonight.”
“Yeah,” she said, bright and straightforward. “She’s great in bed, actually. But you know what they say about dancing and sex.”
“I know what you say about it.”
“Mm. Exactly. But, I’m guessing August didn’t sleep with her. Mostly because she wants to sleep with you.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Pretty sure we do.”
“That’s beside the point.” Piper cleared her throat. “I met up with her after the class. We went back to her place. And we… danced together.”
“You’re not sixteen, so I’m assuming that’s not a euphemism?”
Piper breathed a laugh. “It is not.”
She grinned, slightly suggestively. “The rumba’s a pretty sexy dance.”
Piper really, really didn’t need to be told that. Not after tonight. “It is.”
“Ah,” she said, her grin getting wider. “So, you two went back to her place, were sexy dancing together, and… what’s the end of this? Why aren’t you over there having sex right now?”
“Her brother walked in.”
“Oh. Awkward.”
“Indeed. But, it would have been either way. We haven’t talked about being together or being into each other. We’re friends. What, were we just going to have sex and then…”
“Be together? Yeah, that’s a legit way to do that. People do it all the time.” She shook her head. “Why are you being so weird about this? You’ve dated before.”
“Ugh. I don’t know.”
“Is it because you like her so much ?”
Piper stared at Shea, scowling. Eventually, she sighed. “Fine. Yes. It’s because I like her and… honestly? I think I’d given up on the idea that I was going to meet someone I genuinely clicked with.”
Shea’s expression dropped. “What? But you’ve still been going on dates and stuff.”
“Yeah. I know. It was like… I wanted to believe it was possible. It was happening for other people. Maybe it could happen for me someday. But, you know, I’ve been on a lot of dates and it wasn’t happening. You can only go on so many before it seems like the universe is trying to send you a sign.”
“Pipes,” she said softly. “I had no idea you felt like that.”
Piper shook her head. “It’s fine. I was fine. I enjoyed the process, you know? The dates were fun or interesting. Or some of them were just good stories to tell other people, but at least that’s a fun story.”
“And then August. Who you weren’t even supposed to be on a date with.”
Piper laughed, the sound a little hollow. “Indeed. How ironic, right? I literally have another date this weekend with someone who isn’t her.”
“Are you going to cancel?”
“I don’t know.” Piper huffed a breath. “I want to. It feels unfair to go through with it if I already know I’m not into it. But… if she’s not interested, I have to get over her somehow.”
Shea scoffed. “She’s so into you we shouldn’t even be having this conversation.”
“That’s just what you think because you’re a good friend and you want it to be true for me.”
“That’s not it at all.” She laughed. “Like, I love you, Pipes, but that’s not what my deductions are based on.”
“You haven’t even met her!”
Shea folded her arms and shot a deadpan look at Piper. “So, if I tell you this after we all meet her on Friday, will you believe me then?”
“Maybe?”
“Yeah, that sounded believable.”
“Sorry,” Piper groaned. “I just… I don’t know what to do with this. But after Massima walked in on us, and her brother, and the level of… tension, I guess, that there could have been tonight, I’ll be surprised if she even shows up on Friday.”
“She’ll show.”
“Maybe. But there’s a lot of time between now and then.”
“Just text her tomorrow like everything is fine. Be normal. And everything will be okay.”
“That’s your suggestion? Just act like tonight didn’t happen?”
Shea threw her hands out in front of her. “I didn’t say that. And, honestly? My advice would be to call her about how you feel right now—”
“I don’t think that’s an over-the-phone kind of conversation.”
“Okay, then show up at her place, throw rocks at her window, and scale the building up to her balcony.”
“Very helpful.”
“It’s known to make an impression.”
“It’ll be known for getting me arrested if I try that.”
Shea laughed. “Okay. Well, you asked for my opinion and I gave it. You wouldn’t be here if you wanted a mundane suggestion.”
“I might have been looking for realistic, actually,” Piper corrected seriously.
“Realistic, romantic—close enough.”
“I thought you hated romance?”
“Nah. It’s fine in the right circumstances.”
Piper nodded. “Noted.”
“And this is the right circumstance. You’re both into each other and looking for something more than a fling. There could not be a better circumstance for it.”
“Then why did you say to act normal until Friday?”
“Because I know you and that’s what you’re actually most likely to do.”
Piper rolled her eyes knowing Shea wasn’t wrong. “And then, when Friday rolls around?”
“Introduce her to your friends, relax a little around each other, and slip away together when the moment arises.”
Piper watched her pensively. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It can be. You’re just complicating it unnecessarily.”
“No, I’m thinking through all the ways it could go wrong.”
“And I told you it’s not going to.”
The door to the apartment opened again and the woman returned, a bag in hand. It was probably good timing. Piper and Shea didn’t need to spend the whole night going back and forth over the same thing.
Piper was glad she’d come, though. Shea had given her almost exactly the conversation she’d needed—even if the idea of what came next with August terrified her. It was going to terrify her either way, but at least she had someone else’s input on the matter, and that person wasn’t likely to be swayed by romantic dreams.
Piper stood up, nodding to Shea and her date for the night. “My apologies for interrupting. Shea, I’ll see you later. Have a good night, both.”
Shea laughed, the sound clearly more designed for her date than Piper. “Oh, we definitely will.”
Piper pursed her lips, nodded sharply, and made a quick exit from the apartment.