Page 110 of The Wrong Date Deal

Piper giggled as August carried her back towards the kitchen, kicking her legs slightly. “I’m just saying, I think Hummingbird was in the wrong for never matching us, but at least the universe rectified that for us.”

August nodded, pausing to turn and press her briefly into the wall, kissing her. Their lips fit together like they were made for each other—soft, wanting, something like an oath being sealed between the two of them.

She brushed their noses together as she pulled back. “So, pancakes?” she asked, moving again and keeping Piper in her arms.

“Mm, yes.” Piper laughed. “Unless you need more distraction and want to give me the live-action account of what you’ve done on a table…?”

August laughed, putting Piper down but keeping an arm wrapped around her as she moved to make the coffee. “Pancakes first, then I’ll show you that.”

Piper bounced up on her tiptoes, pressing another kiss to August’s lips. “Can’t wait.”

Epilogue

“Oh, my gosh,” Massima gushed, clasping her hands to her chest as she practically jumped into Piper’s path. “Are you ready?”

Piper let out a nervous laugh. “Yes. And also no.”

She glanced around Bellham’s Café taking stock of the decorations, where everyone was, if there were enough string lights… just every tiny detail. Thishadto be perfect.

Ford paused beside the two of them and held up an armful of placards. “You want these lining the path to the counter, right?”

Piper bit her lip, hesitating. She’d been planning this thing for so long now, but what if it was too much? What if it wasn’t enough? Was it even possible to give August everything she deserved? Piper didn’t think so, but she’d spent every day of the last year trying her best to give August the world. Today was nodifferent on that front, but today was also bigger stakes, a bigger event, something they’d remember for the rest of their lives.

“Yes,” Hermes said, stepping up to direct Ford. “Piper’s having a momentary breakdown over the idea of your sister turning her down, even though that’sliterally never going to happen.So, why don’t you and I take control over arranging these?”

Piper sent him a grateful, terrified look.

She didn’t really think August would turn her down—she wouldn’t be proposing if she thought it was even remotely possible, and they’d spoken at length about their life plans and desire to get married, and, and, and… she was still terrified that she was doing it wrong or that Augustmightsay no. Because, it turned out, actually proposing was a little bit terrifying and a lot exciting.

She wanted to marry August so badly. She wanted to spend her life with August, and she knew August felt the same way, but there was something about putting yourself out there that was always a little nerve-wracking, even when it was with exactly the right person. Not to mention the fact that she’d decided to do it in front of her parents and all of their friends.

Initially, she’d thought she’d do it just the two of them, but, then, she’d come to understand how much it mattered to have their friends there, how much August needed to see that their friends and Piper’s parents loved and supported both of them in the big moments and the small ones. August had come a long way over the last year, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still haunted by the weird dynamic her own biological family had. So, Piper had decided to do this together, to have their loved ones witness the proposal, to have August surrounded by her loud, loving, chaotic chosen family as Piper asked her that most important question.

“We’re here!” her parents yelled, bursting through the front door of Bellham’s Café.

“Hi,” Piper breathed, grinning at the fact that they were both dressed to the nines.

Her mom had gone for a black, floor-length gown with purple flowers all over it. Her dad, however, had gone for a suit that was clearly patterned, but, up close, revealed itself to be covered in butterflies.

“This place is adorable,” April said, pulling Piper into a tight hug. “I can’t believe we’re finally visiting the place where you and August first met! How magical.”

Piper nodded, glancing over to the counter. She and August had been frequent patrons over the last year, and, when she’d been thinking about where to propose, she couldn’t think of a better spot. Luckily, the owners were more than interested when she reached out and asked if they’d be willing to close early one night to allow her to take over the place and propose.

“Do you like my suit?” her dad asked, gesturing to himself as he stuck a leg out to model it better.

Piper grinned. “It’s beautiful.”

“And symbolic,” he said, winking. “Over the past year, August has been like a beautiful butterfly emerging from her chrysalis.”

“Oh.” Piper smiled softly at her dad, a lump in her throat. “That’s really beautiful, Dad. Thank you.”

He grinned widely and pulled her into a hug.

It meant the world to her how much her parents had taken to August and how they parented her. Piper hadn’t seen August’s parents since that Saturday morning when they’d burst into her apartment and demanded Ford’s new address but it had stuck with her.

The day her parents met August, they’d asked about her job, but they’d asked questions about what she does, whethershe likes it, if she has a good work-life balance. When August’s parents had asked about her job, they’d only cared if she was getting another promotion. Piper’s parentssawAugust, they loved her as a whole person, and August had told her more than once what that meant to her. Piper had seen it helping to transform August over the last year, but to have her parents see it too, that was really special.

“Ah, how are our boys?” April said, spotting Hermes and Ford still setting up the placards.

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