Page 46 of The Wrong Date Deal

Piper laughed warmly. “You’re her gay awakening.”

“I don’t know if I’d say that.”

“I would. And I’d be right. Took a so-called straight girl and showed her exactly what she was missing.”

“You really are overselling it,” August protested. “We were just teenagers figuring it out, you know?”

She shrugged. “Maybe, but still. Is she the one you’ve had an…interestingtime on a table with?”

August choked on her laugh. “She is not.”

“Wow. Just all the girls in all the places, huh?”

“Definitely not.”

“Hmm. That sounds like excuses to me.”

August opened her mouth to point out she hadn’t made a single excuse, but the moment was cut short by the front door of the apartment bursting open and letting in a bright flood of lights that changed the mood in the room.

Massima paused in the doorway. “Oh. Sorry. Hi. Who are you?”

Piper laughed, leaning back from August and seeming perfectly at ease. “Hey, Massima.”

“Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“We’re not.” Piper turned the music off and smiled at Massima. “It just happened to get a little darker while we were sitting here, but it’s only dark if you just came in from the hallway.”

Massima hummed like she didn’t agree. “Sure. Well, I’m putting the lights on, so you two vampires can guard your eyes.”

August and Piper both laughed a little harder than they should and earned a look from Massima, who was still watching August curiously.

“Massima, this is August. August, Massima,” Piper said, gesturing between the two of them.

And, suddenly, Massima’s whole expression shifted. “Well, hello. I’m getting to meet you first? Hermes is going to be so jealous!”

August shot Piper a look, but she simply shook her head fondly.

“He'll meet her soon enough,” she told Massima.

“Should I invite him over now?” Massima started pulling her phone out and August stood up quickly.

“I should probably get going. The snow’s calmed down and I’m giving my brother a ride to work. Don’t want him running all over the city in this weather.”

“Oh,” Massima said, seeming a little disappointed. “Well, that’s very sweet of you. The roads are clear, but it is still pretty cold.”

“Indeed.”

“But you’re welcome over whenever you like. You know, if, when you drop him off, you want to come back over, that would be cool.”

August laughed a little uncomfortably. “That’s very sweet of you, but I should probably go home.”

“Okay, well, if you change your mind, we’ll be here all night.”

“I thought you were going out tonight?” Piper asked her.

Massima waved a hand. “Nah. We canceled because of the weather, but I’d have canceled either way if I knew August was coming over.”

August shifted from side to side. “I don’t know what Piper’s said, but I’m really not that interesting. Don’t ever feel like you need to cancel your plans to hang out with me.”

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