Page 34 of The Wrong Date Deal

Piper looked at the piece she was admiring, twisting her head to the side to see the relief created by what could only have been a palette knife, and felt her heart warm at the happy little expression on Hermes’ face.

“Good point,” he said, joining Massima in leaning closer to the piece. “Quite exquisite work to get this level of detail with that style.”

Piper watched the two of them, her mind slipping back to August. She and August were friends, and Piper’s friends wantedto meet her—and Piper wanted to see her in person again. Plus, she had potentially good news about a room for Ford to share with her. That was the kind of thing best delivered in person.

She slipped out her phone quickly, hoping it wasn’t a condition of their friendship that they only talked via phone, and fired off a quick message asking August if she wanted to get coffee together again.

She wasn’t going to let the next time they saw each other be while August was meeting all of her friends—or while they were facilitating a ‘new potential roommates’ meeting between Ford and Hermes.

Chapter Eight

The nervousness of heading to Bellham’s Café was different. Last time, it had been for her first date with a stranger, her first foray into the unpredictable world of online dating, and especially anonymous online dating. This time, August didn’t understand the nerves. She and Piper had spoken almost every single day since they met. Their conversations flowed easily. She wasn’t sure what there was to be nervous about. Maybe it was that fear of being rejected again. Sure, it was platonic, but, arguably, being rejected as a friend hurt more. There was no sexual attraction muddying the waters. If someone didn’t want to be with her romantically, it hurt, but it could just be a mismatch of attraction or goals. If someone didn’t want to be her friend—especially after weeks of talking—that felt so much more personal and damaging.

She parked in a lot that was about five minutes from the café, just as she had last time, and pulled her scarf tighter as she stepped out of the car. It was bitterly cold and she didn’t doubt for a second that the forecasted snow would be on the way later. She only hoped she’d manage to get home again before it got too bad.

There weren’t many people out in such cold temperatures, and those who were hustled quickly from warm, bright interior to warm, bright interior, keeping their heads bowed against the weather while they were outside. August didn’t think twice before joining them in striding quickly towards Bellham’s. Its soft, yellow light was like a glowing beacon, calling to her, and, even with the turmoil in her stomach, she was more than happy to heed its call.

She closed the door quickly behind her and shivered as the warmth washed over her while she wiped her boots on the doormat. The memory of how she’d looked desperately around for her unknown date the first time she’d been here flooded through her. She found herself doing the same thing this time, but at least she knew who she was looking for.

It didn’t take long to spot Piper—red lipstick and matching nails popping against her light skin. They matched the beret she’d been wearing the last time they met here. This time, however, she’d swapped it out for a black knit hat with a faux fur bobble on top that looked somehow both adorable and stylish.

She smiled at August, pushing away from where she’d been waiting by the community notice board. “Pretty sure you’re who I’m meeting this time.”

August laughed. “Hm. I don’t know… Maybe we should have come up with a code word or something. Just to be sure.”

“Oh? Do you prefer ‘peaches’ or ‘kiwis’?”

August groaned and hung her head. “Ugh. Neither.”

Piper laughed and gestured towards the counter. “What are you having?”

“You know, I think it’s hot chocolate weather,” she said, relaxing now that they were here, she hadn’t been stood up, and their conversation was coming just as easily as it did by phone.

“Ooh. Good choice. It’s supposed to snow later.”

“So I heard.”

“Push notification?”

August waved her hand in midair. “Sort of. I did get one, but, mostly, it was from Ford. He loves the snow more than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Piper grinned in a way that told August she loved snow too. “Hermes will be so disappointed.”

August shot her a look as they shuffled forward in line. “Why?”

“Well, I was going to wait until we sat down to bring it up, but here I am.” She laughed and shook her head. “Without going into too many details, I mentioned what was going on with Ford, and, well, Hermes lives about fifteen minutes from where Ford works and he has a spare room. He also happens to hate snow.”

August blinked, staring at Piper and not registering a single thing the barista was saying to them. Luckily, Piper was a little more cognizant.

“Two hot chocolates, please,” she said with a grin. “Large. Thanks.”

It wasn’t until she was taking out her card that August snapped out of her daze. “Oh. I can—”

“Don’t worry about it.” Piper waved her off, swiping her card. “I’ve got this.”

“But—”

“But nothing.” She smiled and led the way to the pickup point.

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