Page 102 of The Wrong Date Deal

August laughed, not looking away from her face. “For sure.”

“Ah. Shame.” She stepped closer, crowding August up against the wall. Her hands wrapped around August’s sides and slid up until her fingers were brushing the curve of August’s breasts. “But, just so you know, I’m wet too.”

August groaned. “Point well and truly taken about openness.”

Piper laughed and stepped back, heading back to the apartment door. “At least it’s a good story.”

“One you’re planning on telling strangers at your doctor’s office?”

“No.” She hesitated in the doorway, looking August over. “One I’m only planning on telling my wrong date conspirator.”

August laughed. “I can get on board with that.”

“Good, because, by the time we finally get some alone time, I’ll have been thinking about ita lot.And I’ll have plenty to say.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Piper hesitated by the kitchen entrance, just out of sight. Her parents would tell her off for eavesdropping, but they’d have to catch her first.

“I really am grateful for what you’re doing,” August said, her voice filled with emotion.

“It’s nothing,” Hermes said, his usual sarcastic, spiky edge softened.

“No. It’s something and it matters, and I know you didn’t have to.”

Hermes sighed slowly. “I came here for freedom, to be myself, and not have to deal with… transphobes who couldn’t accept me. It’s bad enough when you run into those people in life. It’s especially bad when they’re your family and you spend every day growing up wishing you didn’t exist because theycouldn’t just accept who you are. I guess the only thing I can be grateful for is the dual citizenship they gave me.”

“Shit,” August breathed. “Hermes, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Well, it’s not, butI’mokay. It meant, though, that I landed here with nothing and nobody, fresh off years of my parents wanting me to be somebody else, and my family constantly trying to replace me with siblings’ friends who they liked better.” He paused and Piper could imagine the look on his face. “I was in a shitty place when I met Piper, a really dark place, honestly. And she helped save me. She became my friend and told me her parents wanted me to move into their spare room until I could afford a place of my own. She was a lifeline when I was couch surfing, and, honestly, bed-hopping just to have a place to stay. I didn’t like myself much back then.”

“You were doing what you had to in order to survive.”

“Yes. But then Piper and her family took me in. They became this family I’d never had before and they accepted me. Her dad came with me to the doctor’s office to get on T. Her mom would introduce me as her son when people came over to the house. The Suttons were this whole world of things I’d spent my life dreaming of and thought I’d never get.”

“The world you’d always deserved.”

Hermes laughed. “Even to this day, I feel unworthy of the love and care they give me, but I understand your point. And I know Ford’s situation isn’t quite as dire, and you’d have moved to accommodate him, but this is a tiny opportunity to… repay what I’ve been given.”

“You don’t have to repay having parents who love you. God knows you waited long enough for it.”

Piper couldn’t see either of their expressions, but she could imagine exactly how they’d both look. She could hear the emotions in both their voices, and she knew this thing was going to be okay. August and Ford belonged in their family too now.

Hermes hummed. “Piper hasn’t gone into too much detail, but I kind of get the impression your parents aren’t all that great, either. And you both deserve a family that loves you and gives you a soft place to land.”

August laughed, the sound a little choked up. “They’re not as bad as yours. They’re just… very into self-sufficiency, I guess? This idea that we shouldn’t be relying on other people, and that we only deserve support to do the things they want us to. Ford being in culinary school isn’t good enough for them, so he’s on his own.”

“Yeah, well, screw them. Culinary school is amazing.”

“Yeah,” she breathed. “He’s really great and it’s going to be so good for him to have a safe place to live while he studies.”

There was a pause before Hermes said, “This is a safe place for you too, August. I know you don’t need it in the same way, and I know I can be a little… reluctant to changes I think are going to cost me my family, but you’re in now. You’re safe.”

“I promise I’m okay. I don’t need—”

He laughed a little. “I know better than most that families who have conditions on love and support mess everyone up. You seem remarkably well-adjusted, but you talk about Ford like a parent. You carry this heavy burden with you that you should never have been given. It’s okay to take some time to breathe.”

Piper felt herself getting choked up. She’d known since she met him that Hermes was a good guy, but here he was, warming up to August and letting her in, letting her know it wasn’t just Piper who cared for her. She was oddly proud of both of them—and unbelievably grateful to know them.

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