Page 105 of Please Hate Me

My heart stopped.

“You’re lying.” He had to be. Mason and I were dating. You only dated people you loved.

Why wouldn’t she love me?

“You know what? Let’s pretend you’re right.” Cameron’s laughter was an ugly sound. “It’s not like I was there, and you weren’t.”

My breathing grew shallow as my jaw started to hurt. He was throwing my words from yesterday back in my face. Was he trying to piss me off, just as I’d done to him?

Cameron turned away from me just as my fists clenched. I was seeing red, contemplating which methods I’d use to wipe Cameron’s meaningless existence from this Earth. He was a perfect match for the false prophet of the Sons of Christ. Rather than bringing in a substitute reverend, Saint Samael’s locked its doors for eight entire months while Cameron was in France. Speaking of which, he’d lied to me about his ability to speak French. All of this was highly suspicious. What other proof did I need to declare my case closed?

Cotton crew socks softened his steps, but just as he started to walk, he stopped. Cameron looked over his shoulder, not even giving me the decency of his full attention.

“By the way, I talked to her this morning. If a time ever came where she was forced to pick between us or you… Let’s just say, you don’t wanna ask her to do that.”

My fingernails dug into my palms, causing a dull, warm pain. Wasthatwhy she didn’t wake me up this morning? Was she too busy settling for Lucian and Cameron to remember I existed?

Cameron started to walk away again, and I was glad he did. I wasn’t sure how much more of him I could take before I snapped, and I’d hate for the children to witness something so brutal. But he was really testing my patience, trying to leave before I was finished with him.

“Where are you going?”

He halted, but didn’t look back. “I promised I’d make breakfast.Oneof us actually likes Mason enough to make sure she’s taken care of.”

Chapter 29

Mason

Sunlight beat into my back through the impossibly tall kitchen windows, making the heat ever-so-slightly uncomfortable as I sat crammed between Leona and Sebastian at the breakfast table. Lucian was directly across from me, with his kids on either side. Sophia and Cameron completed the crowded circle: Sophia next to Juniper and Cameron next to Jasper.

The sheer amount of people at the table forced me to be hypervigilant about what I was putting in my body, so instead of tucking into the eggs, pancakes, and the mysterious lumpy yellow stuff in the center bowl, I filled my plate with the mixed fruit. I picked out some strawberries, grapes, and pineapple, doing my best to avoid the honeydew and cantaloupe. That wasn’t for health reasons—they were just fucking gross.

I had really hoped to talk to Cameron before the chaos of the day set in, but he wasn’t much for conversation today. He blamed it on his nicotine withdrawals; apparently, they made him unpleasant to be around, and he didn’t want to snap at me. Frankly, I didn’t care if he did. I just wanted to apologizefor running from him last night. But his level of consideration caused a warm, fuzzy knot to appear in my chest, one that stole my words and made me want to blush like a schoolgirl any time we made eye contact.

“Mason, you need to have something else on your plate.” Leona’s mothering brought me back to reality.

Her accent was still just as thick as it had been when I left. She and Lucian were both born in Columbia. They moved to the States once their parents got divorced; at the time, Lucian was four, but Leona was almost an adult. Lucian mostly learned to speak in America, so he very much sounded like a native. But Leona, much like me, would always carry her heritage on her tongue.

“The baby is hungry,” she explained, tapping on the edge of my plate with her fork.

I cringed at the sharp sound of metal on porcelain but did my best to be normal for once.

“The baby likes fruit,” I replied, gingerly spearing a chunk of pineapple. Leona shot me a stern look as I popped the sweet fruit into my mouth.

“The baby needs more than fruit. You need to feed her so she can grow.”

Leona’s attention shifted to Lucian, and she called something across the table in Spanish. Lucian wiped his mouth, took a swig of his coffee, and responded in the same manner. I looked up at Sebastian as he picked at his eggs, wondering if he could understand them. Intelligent as he was, I’d be surprised if he hadn’t picked up a few phrases from his father and siblings. But I also knew Seb’s mom didn’t speak a word of Spanish, so maybe she didn’t want her son knowing the language either.

“Mason,” Lucian called, interrupting my thoughts. “Put food on your plate, or she’s going to do it for you.”

My stomach flipped. That was too much pressure. I didn’t want to eat too much, and I didn’t want Leona to be disappointed if I couldn’t eat everything she gave me.

“Uh, no? I’m an adult.” I tried to sound irritated instead of anxious as I looked at Seb, silently pleading for help.

He seemed conflicted, glancing at me and then shifting his gaze across the table. What was he looking at?

I tried to follow his gaze, but all I saw was Cameron gently wiping some of the mysterious yellow stuff from Jasper’s shirt. After a moment, Seb turned back to me and worked a hand into my hair.

“She’s right. You need to eat more.”

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