Page 43 of The Wrong Date Deal

“So,” she said, curling her legs up under her as she sat and sipped her drink. “Opening lines…”

“Like, in books or movies?” August asked, avoiding her gaze.

“No,” Piper laughed. “You know what I mean.”

“Ugh. I do. And even a reply doesn’t make me think I’m any better at it than I already thought.”

“You did fine with me.”

“You spoke first. So you have the opening line.”

She bobbed her head from side to side, allowing that. “Fair. I guess.” She pulled her phone out. “Here.”

August stared at the phone she was being handed. It was an awful lot of trust to just hand someone your private messages on a dating app. “Should I…?”

“Yeah. Go ahead.”

She was so relaxed about the whole thing that it confused August. She’d always considered herself a fairly confident person, but she had nothing on the chill Piper had about this whole thing.

She looked down at the messages. It didn’t take long to realize that Piper’s approach was to lunge in like they were already beyond the awkward introductory phase. She zeroed in on something interesting on their profile and jumped right into a conversation about it. It wasn’t something August was unfamiliar with, she’d just never thought to do it with strangers. Sure, she’d read their profiles and comment on things, but it was always so stilted and awkward. However, Piper’s approach was like… how August would text her. Piper just acted like whoever she was messaging was someone she already had an existing dynamic with.

And it worked.

People replied in kind. They weren’t awkward and uncomfortable and floundering for conversation. They matched Piper’s energy and it succeeded.

Well, not all of them, of course. There were a few that didn’t match the energy, and those that completely bypassed it in a bidto more overtly hit on her, or—like with August’s recent reply—those who jumped straight to wanting to meet. But, the general trend was a lot better than what August had been experiencing.

“Not too bad, right?” Piper asked when August finally handed her phone back.

“Yeah, no.” August shook her head. “You’re very good at that.”

She laughed. “Thanks. Think you can handle doing something similar?”

“Maybe?”

“Is that a question?”

“Probably?”

She laughed again. “Okay. We’ll practice.”

“Come again,” August said, her voice flat. “We haven’t been matched.”

In truth, August was still curious why they hadn’t. In real life, they got along so well. She couldn’t imagine what was in their profiles that wasn’t coding them as compatible. And she couldn’t deny that she was desperately curious to know what was in Piper’s profile. Perhaps she could have looked when Piper handed her phone over, but she was supposed to be looking at opening lines, doing anything else felt like it was overstepping.

Piper grinned at her and grabbed one of the remotes off the coffee table. After a couple of taps, music started filtering into the room from speakers that were clearly arranged by someone who understood music and sound dynamics better than the average person.

“This playlist is called ‘Queer Bangers’,” Piper said as she put the remote down. “It’ll help loosen you up.”

“You say that but…”

“I’m very good with music. Trust me.”

“I do,” August said, and she meant it, but she simply stared at Piper.

She’d never gone through the whole ‘practice flirting’ phase with her friends. That wasn’t something they did. And it didn’t feel easier just because she was an adult now. If anything, it felt worse. Far more awkward to need practice as an adult. Teenagers were understandable, they were still figuring out life and adulthood and everything that came with it. And, with how many messages August had sent and continued to send in her life, the fact that she needed to practice with a friend felt mortifying.

But, worse, would be sitting down to another meal with Meilíng and having to admit she was doing no better in her dating life.

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