Page 51 of The Wrong Date Deal

Piper looked at Massima. She looked genuinely excited and apologetic. Maybe, on some level, this was her way of making amends for pushing the notion that they were interested in each other. She’d had a night to think about it and realized just how wrong that had been. And, now, she really was just excited to make another friend.

That was nice. Piper shouldn’t have been trying to avoid that.

And she wasn’t. Not really. She was merely attempting to avoid immediately texting and inviting over the person she’d been…romancingin her dreams. But, if she wanted things to be normal, she had to act like they were normal. And texting August was normal.

She sighed. “Fine. I’ll text her and ask if she wants to hang out on Friday. But, not here. It’s less pressure if we do it on neutral ground rather than bring her here and ambush her with everyone.”

Massima laughed. “There’s not that many of us.”

“Maybe not, but you know what I’m talking about. We’ll do it somewhere… public, somewhere she can easily leave if she needs to.”

“I don’t think she’s going to feel the need to escape, but sure, whatever you want.” She clasped her hands together. “I’m so excited. I’m going to tell Hermes about it immediately.”

“We don’t even know if it’s happening yet. Don’t you want to wait?”

“Absolutely not.”

Piper nodded slowly, looking down at her phone.Absolutely not.Everyone was getting right on this whole thing. So… no time like the present to text the person you’d been dreaming about. Right?

Chapter Twelve

Meilíng caught August on the way out of their office building. Her heels clicked rapidly as she ran across the marble floor and announced her impending arrival even before she called August’s name.

“Everything okay?” August asked, slightly concerned. She’d known Meilíng could run in heels, but she hadn’t been expecting it across the marble lobby of their company’s building.

Meilíng smiled. “Everything’s great.” She looped her arm through August’s. “Let’s get coffee.”

“I don’t think I have time, sorry.”

“Just a quick one?”

August laughed. “You know, sure.”

“Great.” She led them towards the exit. “What’s got you so busy on a Tuesday night?”

August scrunched her nose up. “A date.”

“That’s great!” She paused at the look on August’s face. “Why don’t you look excited?”

“Eh. I don’t know.”

“You don’t like the person you’re meeting?”

“How could I dislike them? I don’t even know them.”

“I knew I liked Noah before we met.”

August laughed. “Yes, well, as we’ve covered, you two are very much exceptions to the rules.”

“Come on,” Meilíng said. “I’ll drive.”

“I need to—”

“I’ll bring you back to your car as soon as you’re done with your coffee.”

August shot her a grateful smile and let herself be led towards the familiar sleek, black sedan.

As soon as they were inside, Meilíng shot her a look. “So, what’s the problem with the date?”

---