Page 94 of Go Find Less

“And you all say I don’t know how to be tactful.” He wipes the back of his hand over his mouth.

“We love you, sweetie,” Paula says as she settles in between him and Fran, “but tact isn’t even in your function manual.” He gives her an eye roll, but she looks at me. “What Seer went through was horrible.” She sips at her glass, looking nearly identical to her daughter next to her. “Honestly, if she got along with Piper, it’s probably because they have a lot of similar trauma experiences.” Frannie snorts next to her, but it’s humorless.

“Yeah, being blamed for the trauma you endured by the people who put you through it,” my sister says.

Before I can even dig into that, my watch buzzes on my wrist.

UNKNOWN NUMBER

Answer your fucking phone, Fitz.

I stare down at the screen. Clearly someone wants to get a hold of me. I push up from the couch, and Frannie eyes me.

“Be right back,” I mutter, and step out into the hall, far enough that no one can hear when Alex’s voice on the other end of the line screams over the sound of a crying baby when I answer.

“What the fuck did you do, Westfall?”

Chapter 36

Piper

Iwasn’treallypayingattention the first time I entered my apartment today. I was a woman on a mission - help Fitz cover up the one mark I’d left on him that was visible in the outfit he was wearing.

But I have every intention of figuring out what the fuck is going on when I gingerly open the door for the second time, ready to sneak in and Nancy Drew the shit out of this place.

That is, until I nearly run face-first into Dylan. And when I look up at him, eyes narrowed, he knows he’s fucked up.

Truthfully, I’ve suspected something like this may be going on since that day he showed up at the apartment unannounced. When Fitz had left and I’d walked out to see Dylan and Carla talking on the couch, and she looked defensive as hell, my radars were going off left and right. But he’d said he’d figured out what he needed to, and then left quickly, leaving Vic and Kyle to share a confused glance across the bar.

But, naive little Piper was hoping that the rigorous honesty part of the program was in full force and that if something had happened between the two of them, they’d at least tell me about it.

“Oh hey, P,” he says, trying to act casual, and I nearly laugh in his face. “I was just grabbing-”

Before he can say anything else, I point past him at the couch. “Sit.”

“Really, I’m good, I just needed-”

“Fucking sit, Anton, before I sic Bex on you.” I know it’s not much of a threat, but he must see the heat blazing in my eyes because he turns, stepping toward the couch with his head hung like a scolded puppy. “Carla Denise Montgomery.” I say it loud enough that I know she’s heard me, and I lean against the kitchen counter. A second later, her door creaks open, and Bex comes running down the hall at full force. I pick her up as she squirms against me, trying to lick at my face, sniffing at what I’m sure is Roscoe all over me.

Carla’s head peaks out around the corner, and she glances at me and smiles, before seeing Dylan on the couch. Then her smile drops, and heat floods up her face.

“Piper, we were-”

“Sit.” I make the same gesture I had at Dylan, and to her credit, she doesn’t try to argue, just plops down on the couch next to him. Bex squirms out of my arms and I let her run to Dylan, who scoops her up.

Somehow, that just makes me more mad, and I feel myself loose a string of curses in Italian under my breath before I try to take a deep breath. “How long?”

“Since Christmas,” Carla blurts, and then Dylan gives her a look I can’t quite read. I sit on one of the barstools and look at them.

“Four months? You’ve been fucking forfour monthsand didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell me?”

“We’re notfucking,” Dylan nearly sneers, and I rear back, arms crossing. Then, he puts his hand on top of Carla’s on her knee, and gives it a squeeze.

And then they share a look that makes my little romantic heart pitter patter.

Shit.

“We’ve been seeing each other, trying to figure out if this is a good idea.” Carla’s mouth twists to one side. “We didn’t want to hurt you, Piper.”

---