Page 102 of Hyde and Seek

“A couple months. His name is Jake.” I ignored the last question.

Yeah, there’s no reason to rub it in that your god is actually a sex god.

The cute-as-a-button redhead sitting next to Melanie looked at me closer. “You really are that Piper, aren’t you? I thought so, but I wasn’t sure.”

“Yeah… Do I know you?”

“I’m Harlow Cooper. We have economics together. You always work so hard and don’t socialize, so I thought you were half robot or something.”

“Nope. I do a mean impression, though.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Anyway, what were you saying?”

“I saw your pictures in the paper and online yesterday. Well, I thought it was you. But then I figured what are the chances?” she chattered on in an equally cute-as-a-button voice.

“Pictures?” I asked at the same time as Gia and Melanie.

“Well, yeah, from the Tools for Teens thing in the city. The article was so sweet, too.”

“Article?”

“You know what, I was reading it while I was grabbing coffee. I might still have it.” She began digging through her giant purse. “Woo! Here we go!” She smiled as if she’d just found the Holy Grail.

Given the size of that bag, it’s possible the Holy Grail is in there hanging out with Jimmy Hoffa.

When she pulled out a newspaper, Melanie and Gia grabbed it before I could. “No, that’s cool guys. Not like I wanted to see. It’s only about me, no biggie.”

“So did he really stop in the middle of an interview to kiss you and ask if you were okay?” Harlow asked.

My brows went up in surprise. “Did they talk about that in the article?”

Harlow nodded. “Oh yeah. There was even something about how you two seemed to forget there were other people around.”

Oh, there was definitely a big chunk of time in the hallway where we forgot there was even a world around us.

Gia, Melanie, Harlow and the rest of the women at the table stared at me as they passed around the paper.

When it was within reach, I snatched it and studied the largest picture of Jake and me. His fist was in my hair and I was smiling up at him with my hand on his abs as he looked down at me.

We looked happy.

Also, very much in love.

Next to that was a picture of Kase and me laughing after I’d made some goofy joke. The focus of the picture, however, was Jake watching me.

If he hadn’t told me that night that he loved me, this would have.

“He seems so sweet. I guess he isn’t a badass,” Gia said.

“No, he totally is. Trust me, I’ve seen him pissed. Not at me, of course.”

Well, not much.

My phone beeped, and I saw a message from Jake.

Jake:Lunch okay?

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