Page 149 of Hate Me

~Sebastian~

I was flying high.

In a good way—a natural way.

Even the fact that I should be wiped from the three-hour exam I’d just endured was doing nothing at all to tamper down my good mood.

I was done!

I’d sat for my last exam, handed my thesis project in, and I knew I’d knocked it out of the park. Yeah, modesty really wasn’t my thing when I knew I was killing it with something.

I could almost taste it. Graduation.

After all these years, all the setbacks, the struggle… I’d actually made it.

I’d fucking made it!

I was grinning from ear-to-ear as I strolled down the corridor.

The only thing that could possibly make it better was having Skylar or Caleb here with me to share in it.

But I knew that wouldn’t happen.

They were both former Luxe students.

Caleb was completely done with the college route and Sky had her own path to follow and return to at design school. She’d even mentioned the other night that she was starting to put her portfolio together again so she could get down to applying and all that.

I noted the café coming up on my left—the one I’d spent so long avoiding.

No more.

Now I could smile about it.

Now it wasn’t tainted.

In fact, it would be nice to venture inside there one last time, to revisit the early memories Sky and I had shared in there.

Antagonistic as fuck memories at first.

Naturally.

“Did you bruise yourself on me, beautiful? Can you still feel me deep inside?”

“Stop.”

“Can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I want more than your hate now.”

“Like what?”

“Every. Fucking. Thing.”

The first time I’d told her that I’d wanted her. Really fucking wanted her.

It had gone beyond playing and a little harmless stalking then.