Page 25 of The Wrong Date Deal

Meilíng stood up, watching August with narrowed eyes. “You know what I mean. And, at lunch on Thursday, I will haveplentyof questions.”

“Oh, I think I need to cut our lunch down to fifteen minutes. I have a meeting.”

“Cancel it.”

August laughed in surprise. “That’s not very professional.”

“It wouldn’t be if it were a real meeting, but I know you, August. I’ll see you for a nice, long lunch on Thursday.” She shot a pointed look over her shoulder as she left August’s office.

August shook her head, but she couldn’t stop herself from smiling. Meilíng really did know her well. Although, plenty of people had told her she was a lousy liar, so maybe it wasn’t all that surprising Meilíng could see through what had, admittedly, been a lousy lie.

An email popped up on her computer screen. A meeting invite from Meilíng. For lunch. On Thursday. One whole hour. As if they needed to make it official.

August laughed as she confirmed that she’d be attending.

Shaking off the conversation with Meilíng—and mostly unconcerned about the questions she’d face on Thursday since there was nothing weird going on—she finished up her working day with her mind slipping back to Ford.

The second she clocked out, she texted him, warning him that she was going to be near his place. He wouldn’t ask why by text and, if he asked in person, she’d admit she was only there for him, but, for the time being, they could both pretend she just happened to be over by his apartment for something unrelated.

She headed out of the office, feeling antsy as she stood in the elevator with five other people who were done for the day. Usually, she enjoyed work enough to not feel the need to flee the building as soon as clocking out time rolled around—even if, some days, it was still nice to be done for the day—but she found herself willing the elevator to go faster, for people not to request other floors, for the doors to open faster and everyone move out of the way.

It didn’t make any sense. Ford would be fine. He’d just have been busy. But there was a part of her that worried, a fear that gripped her heart, and she couldn’t shake it.

She understood that it was the guilt of knowing Ford wouldn’t ask for help even if he did need it. Sure, he’d show up at her place, but he was always looking to trade peace for food, like he needed to do something for her if he was going to be there. She wasn’t sure how to stop him feeling that way and she hated that. Their parents had a lot to answer for, making him think that, if he was going to do culinary school, he had to do it all alone.

The traffic wasn’t great as she drove from her office to Ford’s apartment, but she gripped the wheel and inched her way closer to his place. And, when the guilt and the worry felt like they were eating her alive, without really considering why, she told her phone to call Piper.

“Hey, what’s up?” Piper’s voice called cheerfully from the car speakers when the call connected.

“Hey,” August said back, ridiculously surprised as it finally hit that she really had just called Piper.

“Are you okay?” Piper asked, concerned, and August heard the sound of a door snapping shut.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. I’m not sure why I called.”

“That’s okay. You can call whenever you like.” She hesitated. “Did you… have a date?”

“Ha. No. I just left work. I’m on the way to Ford’s place.”

“Ah, okay.” Her voice relaxed, and August couldn’t help but wonder what she’d been imagining. “How’s he doing?”

“I don’t… know,” August admitted, feeling a little weird doing so. Maybe Ford wasn’t the only one their parents had messed up with the idea that you had to handle everything yourself.

Piper hummed. “You’re worried about him?”

“Yeah. I shouldn’t be. He’ll be totally fine, and he’s an adult, and I know he’s probably just busy, but…”

“But you’re his sister and you care.”

“Yeah.” It felt nice to open up a little, to get the fear off her chest and out of her head, where it just bounced around, amplifying itself. But she also felt a little silly, and like she shouldn’t say too much.

“What has he done that’s scaring you?”

“Scaringmight be a bit strong.”

Piper breathed a laugh. “Okay, what’s he done that’s mildly bothering you?”

August laughed. “Fair play. Maybe I am scared, but I’m just overreacting.”

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