The Wrong Date Deal

Chapter Twenty-Four

A ugust felt a million emotions crashing over her as she climbed into her car at the end of the night. The day had been full of moving, decorating, assembling, and unpacking items. They could have been done faster, but they’d all been having such a great time. There were so many breaks for food and drinks, so many conversations, and so much laughter. It was everything August could have hoped for and more. It was a million things she hadn’t thought to dream up.

The last time her parents had helped her move was when she’d moved into her college dorm. When Ford moved into his last apartment, they’d been on vacation in The Bahamas. He hadn’t even considered asking if they’d help him move into Hermes’ place.

August hadn’t thought that Piper’s parents might show up instead and welcome them into this loving, hectic family. Not once had she imagined a world in which they’d finish unpacking, collapse on the sofa, turn on a movie, and just hang out together, nobody desperate to escape. And not once had she dreamed of a world in which April would pull out a camera, insist the entire group—including August—squeeze into the shot, and take a new family photo together. She was planning on putting it up in her house, and, if Piper’s comments were correct, sending a framed copy to each of them.

Sure, there were pictures of August’s family together, but they hadn’t felt like April’s photo since she was a child. Even then, she wasn’t certain they were the same.

In one day, Piper, her friends, and family had somehow shown August that she and Ford weren’t alone anymore. She still wasn’t sure how to wrap her head around that.

She also couldn’t quite wrap her head around the fact that Piper was climbing into her passenger seat, heading home with August, while her parents drove Massima and Shea home without her.

She watched August, smiling softly and saying nothing, as August started the car and they were locked into the quiet, dark space together.

Part of August had been expecting things to be hot and heavy and rushed when they finally got a second alone, but then they’d had that moment in the bathroom where something seemed to slot into place and things became… bigger, more, emotionally intense. Of course, she’d already known that what was going on with Piper wasn’t simply a physical thing, or a quick fling she’d move on from, but the way they’d kissed in the bathroom, the promise that, no matter what happened, August and Ford were part of the family now… Well, that had changed things and she could feel the way it had settled into both of them.

She pulled out of Hermes’ and Ford’s parking lot, heading in the opposite direction from Piper’s parents’ car, and, still without breaking the quiet between them, Piper reached over, her fingers finding the back of August’s neck again. Her silky, light touch was the right side of ticklish, sending jolts of excitement and longing through August’s skin and into her core.

They rounded a corner and Piper used the momentum to inch closer to August across the center console. Her fingers danced to the side of August’s throat and down to her collarbone, slipping just inside her shirt.

Everything about it felt heightened by the fact that they weren’t speaking, by the night, and by the glow of city lights outside the car. August’s heart pounded, something deeply emotional and hungry taking root in her stomach and chest.

It wasn’t going to just be hot and heavy when she and Piper got a moment alone, it was going to be meaningful and romantic.

They made it back to August’s parking lot without Piper taking her hand off August’s skin. August cut the motor and turned to look at her. It was dark but not so dark that she couldn’t see the way Piper’s pupils were blown in the streetlights, the way she was drinking in August’s presence.

Piper tilted her head in the direction of August’s building, a sweet smile playing across her face—a question, a promise, a need.

August nodded and immediately regretted it when Piper dropped her hand to exit the vehicle.

There was no physical way for them to get out without breaking the touch—and they weren’t staying in the car all night—but August still missed the contact.

Piper clearly did too. She hustled to press herself up against August’s back as they walked towards the door, and, while some of that could have been due to the cool temperature, August knew it wasn’t just to share heat.

Piper’s hands teased over August’s hips as she unlocked the door to let them into the building. The whole process was slowed by Piper squeezing and stroking, sending August’s brain offline completely with her touch. August’s breath hitched but she managed to recover enough from fumbling the keys to get them into the building and up to her apartment.

When they made it through the front door and August had shut the rest of the world out, she turned, sweeping Piper up into a tender kiss.

Piper went willingly, sinking into the moment, her arms wrapping around August’s neck to hold her close.

They still hadn’t spoken, but the small hums and sighs Piper made shot straight into August’s stomach, and felt like they said a million things.

August pressed her into the wall beside the door, dropping her keys in the general direction of the side table and missing entirely. She ran her hands down Piper’s sides, feeling her body hidden under the folds of soft flannel, and kept going until she reached Piper’s thighs. She wrapped her hands around them, bent her own knees slightly, and, without breaking the kiss, lifted Piper up.

Piper gasped in surprise but pressed her mouth eagerly back to August’s, one hand caressing August’s cheek.

“August,” she finally breathed, the sound needy and beautiful.

August adjusted her grasp, taking full hold of Piper’s weight, and walked them across the apartment to her bedroom. Piper moaned as August lowered her onto the bed and climbed on above her.

Their gazes locked, taking each other in, and August knew she’d never seen anything so beautiful.

Piper reached for the hem of August’s shirt, pulling it up, her eyes following its movement as more and more of August’s stomach was revealed. August bent closer to her, allowing Piper to pull the shirt up over her head and drop it off the side of the bed. She knelt back up, loving the way Piper’s gaze danced across her bare skin, and started unbuttoning Piper’s shirt. It would have been easy to pull the thing off over her head, but August liked this better, revealing her one painstaking button at a time.

Piper splayed her hands out on August’s stomach and her hips started moving under August, seeking her. August’s stomach clenched deliciously. Piper was the sexiest person she’d ever met.

As August got Piper’s shirt open, she was intrigued to find pretty white lace underneath. She shot a look at Piper, who smirked and raised her eyebrows before pushing herself into a sitting position to pull August into another consuming kiss. August slipped Piper’s shirt off, and both their fingers fumbled for the other’s bra clasp, pulling them off simultaneously, and moaning when they pressed deeper into the kiss, no fabric between their upper bodies.

With some obvious reluctance, Piper broke the kiss, her hands dropping to grip the tops of August’s thighs. “Can we take these pants off?”

August grinned. “Absolutely.”

She stepped off the bed, immediately yanking her jeans open and stripping them off along with her underwear. Her eyes were glued to Piper as she fell back on the bed, thrusting her hips up to wriggle out of her own pants without standing up. She dropped them off the bed, her underwear going with them, and August was momentarily frozen at the image of her naked and perfect, pressed into soft pillows and blankets as she looked at August with desperate need.

“August,” she moaned in a demanding tone when August lingered for too long.

August smiled and crawled back onto the bed, fully ready to give her everything she needed.

Piper spread her legs, making space for August between them, and August couldn’t resist leaning in to press a lingering kiss on her clit before crawling up her body to capture her lips again.

She loved the way Piper writhed under her and the way she wrapped her arms and legs around August, holding their bodies close together as they kissed. Her teeth capturing August’s lip, her tongue tracing over it before slipping into August’s mouth, the sounds she made… all of it was mesmerizing and magnetic. August couldn’t get enough of all the places their bodies were pressed together, all the places she could feel Piper’s skin against hers. She’d been waiting for this her whole life.

The longer they kissed, the more her hips moved against Piper, seeking friction, and the more both of them moaned and panted.

One of her hands traced down the soft curves of Piper’s body, teasing her, and caused Piper to break their kisses to gasp, “Please, August, I need you.”

August moved to smile against Piper’s throat, kissing and licking her way down to Piper’s breasts and lavishing them with attention. She loved how vocal Piper was, and how clear what she enjoyed was.

She moved further down her body, kissing her lower abdomen before she paused, keeping her face low, as she looked up to meet Piper’s eyes. “Can I taste you?” she whispered.

Piper’s whole body bucked, her head falling backwards in a moan, her hips gyrating, seemingly of their own volition. “Yes, please. I need it.”

August lowered herself into position and kept her eyes on Piper’s face as she leaned in agonizingly slowly and, finally, when Piper’s whole body was begging for it, she licked her tongue through Piper’s folds.

The moan Piper let out was completely obscene and absolutely the hottest thing August had ever heard.

She wrapped her hands around Piper’s thighs, keeping her legs spread, as she kissed and sucked on Piper’s clit, her rhythm slow and deliberate, drawing it out. Piper gasped and cursed and muttered indecipherable things, urging August on.

August loved the way her body moved, the way her hips bucked, trying to get impossibly closer to August’s mouth, and the way her hands flexed and tensed, gripping August’s sheets so tightly she could tear them. Every part of her was beautiful and perfect, and August luxuriated in feeling her getting closer and closer.

“Oh, my god,” Piper gasped as August sped up, all of her muscles going taut. “I don’t think I’m going to last—”

She broke off with a loud moan and one of her hands gripped August’s head as she twitched and came on August’s mouth.

August worked her through it, pulling back only when Piper’s body relaxed back into the bed. She pressed soft, wet kisses to her thighs as she waited for Piper to come down from her orgasm. And, when Piper finally met her gaze, her eyes focusing again, August smiled, pressed another quick kiss to her clit, and crawled up the bed, holding herself over Piper again.

Piper let out a breathless laugh before wrapping her legs around August’s waist and pulling her in for another heated kiss. “Wow,” she breathed. “That was amazing. You’re very good with your mouth.”

August laughed with her, moving to kiss her neck again with messy, open-mouth kisses. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Piper hummed, sounding entirely blissed out. “And now I need you to sit on my face.”

August laughed again. “Are you sure?”

“Completely.”

“I’ve, uh, never done that before, just so you know.”

Piper paused, maneuvering the pair of them so she could look August in the eye while keeping her legs wrapped around August’s body. “Do you want to do that with me?”

“Yes. Please. If you want to?”

Piper smiled radiantly. “Absolutely. I’m so ready. August, please sit on my face.”

◆◆◆

August woke early the next morning and her heart soared at the sight of Piper sleeping beside her—brown hair splayed in a wild halo around her head, bare shoulders peeking out above the quilt.

Měilíng was never going to let her live down the fact that the first person she’d met on Hummingbird Dating was actually the one for her—even if they hadn’t matched on the app.

Maybe she didn’t really want to live it down, though. She’d been so convinced it wouldn’t be easy, that the hundredth person she met was unlikely to be for her, let alone the first. Now that she was getting to do this thing with Piper, she had no interest in forgetting even a second of it.

Her movements were slow and measured as she pressed a kiss into Piper’s shoulder before slipping out of the bed and heading for the kitchen to make them breakfast. For a moment, she wondered whether it was too cliché to make pancakes. Then, she realized she didn’t care. She wanted to be cliché. She wanted to wake up early and make Piper pancakes. She wanted to just— finally —be happy and relaxed.

Piper appeared right as she was pouring the first round of batter into the pan, looking snuggly but far too put together for someone who’d just rolled out of bed. She looked exactly like a model with artfully rumpled hair.

August blushed as she took in the fact that Piper was wearing her old college sweater and a pair of cute, striped pajama shorts she’d pulled from August’s closet that only just peeked out the bottom of the oversized sweater. After everything they’d done last night, she wasn’t sure why that was the sight that had her blushing, but there was something so intimate about it that it messed with August’s insides. It was something safe, and shared, and about being known. It was something she’d been missing and secretly dreaming of for a long time. But, she was now realizing, she’d almost given up on getting it. She’d been questioning whether it really existed or was simply something that showed up in the media but never in real life.

Piper smiled at her as she moved over to grip the hem of August’s shirt and pull her into a tender, meaningful kiss. “Good morning.”

August couldn’t have resisted smiling back even if she’d had any interest in trying. “Hi.”

“Sleep well?” she asked as she moved to the end of the counter space and hoisted herself up to sit on it.

August’s heart could hardly handle the adorable sight of Piper in her socks and August’s clothes, sitting on the counter. It was such a gentle intimacy that she’d never had before, but she could not get enough of it.

Of course, perhaps that was just Piper. Either way, August wanted all of it—all of her.

She hummed, checking the pancakes. “Very well, thank you.”

“I wonder why,” Piper shot back, wiggling her eyebrows.

August laughed. “Oh, and you didn’t sleep well?”

“I slept perfectly, thank you.”

August grinned, opening her mouth to answer before switching to a confused expression as someone knocked on the door of her apartment.

Piper shot her a questioning look as August frowned. To be knocking on the apartment door, whoever it was had to be inside the building. None of her neighbors had ever knocked on her door before.

She shrugged, handing Piper the spatula, and went to answer.

If she’d been given a thousand guesses for who was at her door, her parents would not have been one of them. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d been to her apartment—she was suddenly cognizant of the artistic painting of a woman’s naked body she had in her bedroom. As if it showed anything too racy. As if her parents had any need to go in there.

“Are you going to invite us in?” her mother asked with a laugh.

“Sure,” August said slowly. “Why are you here?”

Her mom glanced over her shoulder at August as she led the way to the kitchen. “Oh, are we not welcome?”

Not really. Not now.

“It’s fine,” August said, cursing the voice inside of her that forced her to say that. The anxiety coursing through her body was so different from how she’d felt around Piper’s parents yesterday. Of course, it was different, these were her parents, but still, she couldn’t help noticing the difference.

“Oh,” her father said as they both paused in the kitchen. “You didn’t mention you had company.”

August squeezed past them, still struck by how beautiful Piper looked sitting on the counter. There were two new pancakes in the pan and she was smiling serenely at August.

“Well,” August said, not looking away from Piper, “I didn’t tell her I was having company either, but, then, I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Really, August,” her mom said, shaking her head and helping herself to a seat. “It’s like you don’t want us visiting.”

She watched her parents pull out food for themselves—breakfast sandwiches from a coffee place. In August’s kitchen. “Why are you here on a Saturday morning?”

“We’d have brought you something but we figured you’d have food here.”

“Mm, do you have coffee on the go?” her dad asked between bites of his sandwich.

“No.” She’d been planning to make some for Piper, but she’d been waiting for the pancakes to be ready first.

Her mom eyed Piper, lingering on her bare legs and the fact that she was sitting on the counter. She’d always been so annoyed with August and Ford whenever they’d tried to sit on cabinets as kids. Perhaps that was part of why August enjoyed Piper sitting there so much, it was symbolic of the different life she’d built for herself.

“Is your friend leaving soon?” her mom asked.

Piper smiled widely. “No. Are you?”

She said it so sweetly that it didn't seem like an insult, just as if Piper hadn’t picked up on the undercurrent of the question. August knew her better than that, though. Piper was far too intelligent and perceptive to have missed exactly what was going on. Having someone on her side made August’s stomach swoop. Of course, she’d always had Ford, but she’d been so focused on supporting him that she’d never wanted him to step in to support her.

Now, though, here was Piper doing it all of her own volition. No stakes in the game that could backfire and hurt her, just doing it because she cared about August and was willing to put herself in the fire to stand by August’s side.

Maybe it wasn’t as dramatic as all that. It was just an impromptu visit from August’s parents. But, with all the changes in her life lately—and Ford’s—August was beginning to realize a lot of things she’d never let in before. It was that part of her that knew this wasn’t an innocuous Saturday morning visit.

Hell, her parents had shown up, uninvited, with food for themselves and nothing for August, and helped themselves to her dining table and her coffee. Maybe coffee wasn’t a huge deal, and maybe she owed them that, but she didn’t want people she felt contractually obliged to helping themselves to her otherwise peaceful morning.

She frowned. She hadn’t gone into Hummingbird Dating thinking it was going to change her life, but, here they were, a few months later, and meeting Piper had changed everything—including how she thought about her dynamic with her parents.

“Don’t scowl, August,” her mom said. “Your face will get stuck like that.”

Piper laughed, jumping off the counter to tend to the pancakes.

“Sorry, dear,” her mom said, faux sweet voice making August’s insides bristle. She’d never liked that voice, but it was particularly irritating when she directed it towards Piper. “Could you give us a moment to talk to our daughter in private?”

“She’s fine,” August said, one hand finding Piper’s hip in a weird bid to physically protect her from the spiky speech being directed her way. “We’re in the middle of trying to have breakfast.”

Her mom sighed. “It’ll only be a minute, and we don’t need everyone knowing family business.”

That was it, wasn’t it? Family business , as August’s family meant it, was something private and shameful, something you had to keep under wraps from other people. It was control. But, just yesterday, August had seen it didn’t have to be like that. The version of a family she’d always wished could be hers existed, and she’d been welcomed into it. Piper’s family business was love and care and opening your hearts to all the people you could. Piper’s parents had welcomed August from the second she’d stepped in the door. Her parents were trying to force Piper out of a room she’d gotten to before them.

“Piper’s not going to go spilling whatever it is you want to talk about,” August said coolly.

She understood the need for boundaries, for privacy, but she also knew her parents were doing this for control, and she didn’t want to keep giving that up to them.

She really couldn’t remember the last time they’d been here—had they ever actually been to this apartment before? She wasn’t sure. She’d long since given up thinking about her parents visiting her, or remembering their visits.

Either way, this wasn’t their space, Ford was safe, and something had finally switched inside of August. Maybe she still wanted a relationship with them, but she was experiencing better, seeing it was possible, finally opening up, and realizing that shutting everyone out was not the sign of success her parents acted like it was. So, if they were doing this, if they were having a relationship, she wanted some say in how.

Her parents both sighed. A weird, passive-aggressive control method they’d been using since she and Ford were kids. The manipulative disapproval that made them rush to save the situation, to please their parents, to get back in their good books.

Piper stayed standing at the stove, making pancakes like she was entirely unbothered by the tension in the room, but she took August’s free hand behind her back, August’s body shielding the touch from her parents, and she squeezed gently, reassuringly.

“Your brother has moved,” her dad said eventually, his eyes flicking over and over again to the coffee machine.

“Right,” August said.

“Does this mean he’s finally come to his senses?”

“What?”

Her mom scowled despite her earlier warning and looked pointedly at August. “If he’s moving out of that god-awful place, he must have a reason. The most likely being that he’s drop—that he’s realized his talents lie elsewhere.”

“He really is a very talented boy,” her dad said. “Could have gone to an Ivy League school, you know? Instead, he’s off at some culinary school.”

August wasn’t sure who he was asking. Ford had no interest in the Ivy League and he never had. But, there he was, at one of the most prestigious culinary institutes in the country and his parents were… embarrassed?

“Ford’s happy where he is,” she said plainly. “And he’s still there. Didn’t you ask him about that?”

Her mom rolled her eyes. “Your brother is having a little… moment.”

August wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but she did know that was why they were here. Ford wasn’t giving them the information they wanted. Maybe she wasn’t the only one going through some changes lately.

“We’re just worried about him,” her dad said. “He’s our son and we should know the changes in his life.”

Ford wouldn’t give them his new address. Putting the pieces together wasn’t difficult. August was practiced in conversing with them.

She couldn’t blame Ford. He was finally getting some peace, some safety. He deserved to keep that from people who knew he’d been struggling and were glad of it if he was doing something they didn’t approve of.

“You can ask him for the details,” August said, poking the bear.

Her mother looked at her as she took a breath. “How’s work? How’s that promotion?”

There was no promotion. There had been a couple of years ago, and August was happy where she was now. But, since she wasn’t the chief of the company her parents thought she should be pushing higher. In truth, she’d likely have to change companies to go higher, but she didn’t want to do that until she’d gotten everything she could out of her current role, until she was ready to go higher.

“Work is great, Mom,” she said, concentrating on Piper’s hand in hers.

“I hope you’ve been working hard. Though, make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Bad sleep ruins productivity. If people think you can’t handle things on your own, you’ll never get anything better.” She glanced at Piper again. “And I trust you don’t have pancakes every day. They aren’t the healthiest breakfast you could be eating.”

August eyed the remnants of the breakfast sandwiches on the table. “Right.”

Her dad shot her a look. “It’s Saturday, August. You know we don’t have these every day. We’re looking after our arteries into old age.”

August hummed. “Yes. Your arteries. Just what I was hoping to discuss before breakfast.”

“Well, lucky for you, we need to be going,” her mom said, standing up. “We’ve got lots to be doing. So, if you can just give us your brother’s new address, we’ll be on our way.”

August stared at her. “If Ford isn’t giving it to you, I’m not going against him.”

“I’m sure he just forgot.”

“So, you came to me instead of reminding him?”

“He texted to say the address we had for him was no longer accurate and that he’d moved. He was obviously trying to tell us and just got busy with moving.”

“Text him and ask for it.”

“Really, August,” her dad huffed. “Just give us the address and be done with it.”

“He’s our son,” her mom added. “We need to know where he is for emergencies.”

Hermes had commented on August acting like a parent to Ford. She’d known he was right and that it was a little odd, but she hadn’t been expecting their actual parents to come to her for information on Ford like August was his mother and he was a little kid who needed her to handle correspondence with adults.

“There are plenty of people who know where he is and can help in emergencies.” August pressed Piper’s hand into her lower back, using her as an anchor. “I can’t give out his details without his permission.”

“Even to his own mother?”

August shrugged. “Sorry, he’s an adult.”

Both her parents narrowed their eyes, obviously trying to figure out whether she was purposely throwing their own words back at them. Ford being an adult was always their excuse for why he didn’t need their help.

“Tell your brother to text us,” her mom said coldly. “His new address.”

“Have some fruit with your breakfast,” her dad added, and the two of them left the room.

August followed, ensuring they left the apartment, and she locked the door behind them, listening for the sound of the elevator to know they’d left her floor.

She sagged against the wall as Piper appeared from the kitchen. “Pancakes are done.”

August laughed weakly. “Sorry about that. I really was trying to make you breakfast.”

Piper’s expression softened and she shook her head. “I’m glad I could be here for you.” She nodded at the door. “They’re a little intense, huh?”

August held her hands out to Piper, pulling her in close when Piper took them. She sucked in a grounding breath, her face on Piper’s shoulder, smelling the scent of her mingled with August’s own laundry detergent. “You did great holding your own.”

Piper laughed, running one hand through August’s hair. “Your weird parents aren’t going to intimidate me or scare me off.”

“No?”

“Definitely not.” She pulled back to look at August. “What I said yesterday about you being in with my family? I meant it. And I meant everything that statement implies about us. You know, it’s still early days, but I’m in this thing. It feels right and I want to do all of this with you—the good parental interactions and the bad ones, helping our friends and family move, taking a million pictures that end up in my parents’ house, lazy Saturday mornings with pancakes, late night dates… All of it. I’m in this with you, August.”

August smiled softly, her heart pounding. When you’d never really had someone with you in all of the moments—good and bad—it was hard to know just how badly you wanted that, but, seeing Piper before her, meaning all of it, standing with her, refusing to be intimidated away by her parents, well, there were no words for how it felt. It was the release of a ball of tension August hadn’t realized she’d been carrying.

She brushed the hair out of Piper’s face. “I’m in this with you too. All of it.”

Piper’s grin was luminous. “I’ve never been so glad to have met the wrong person.”

August laughed, pulling her into a hug that lifted her off the ground. “The wrong person who ended up being the right one.”

Piper giggled as August carried her back towards the kitchen, kicking her legs slightly. “I’m just saying, I think Hummingbird was in the wrong for never matching us, but at least the universe rectified that for us.”

August nodded, pausing to turn and press her briefly into the wall, kissing her. Their lips fit together like they were made for each other—soft, wanting, something like an oath being sealed between the two of them.

She brushed their noses together as she pulled back. “So, pancakes?” she asked, moving again and keeping Piper in her arms.

“Mm, yes.” Piper laughed. “Unless you need more distraction and want to give me the live-action account of what you’ve done on a table…?”

August laughed, putting Piper down but keeping an arm wrapped around her as she moved to make the coffee. “Pancakes first, then I’ll show you that.”

Piper bounced up on her tiptoes, pressing another kiss to August’s lips. “Can’t wait.”