Page 109 of The Wrong Date Deal

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.”

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