Page 158 of Please Hate Me

“Mason, you’ve been in there fifteen minutes. What the fuck are you doing?” Lucian barked, the door handle shaking as he did.

His sudden appearance almost caused me to jump out of my skin.

“I’m almost done!” I squeaked.

The knob jiggled again. “Unless your water broke, there’s no reason for you to take fifteen minutes!”

I rushed to the sink, turned the water on, and washed my hands, using extra soap for good measure. The smell of teakwood tickled my nose, and just as I deemed my hands were clean enough, the door opened.

Lucian stood in the entryway, bobby pin in hand. He stared me down for a moment. I smiled at his reflection, and he returned the gesture. He shut the door behind him before strolling forward and pulling me against his body. His slender arms wrapped around me as he buried his face in my hair, kissing the top of my head as he inhaled.

But I couldn’t stop thinking about my dad. I was so excited that I barely registered Lucian’s actions.

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked, resting his chin on my head.

Fun wasn’t the right word for it. I finally had a place where I felt like I belonged.

“I never want to leave.”

“And you’ll never have to,” he mumbled as he pulled away.

His left hand dropped to my stomach, and I stared at his barren ring finger.

Lucian desperately wanted to be married by twenty-three. Had that changed? Did he still want to get married? If he did…. Maybe if I was really good… Would he want to—?

My face reddened as I squeaked.

“What?” Lucian laughed, slowly shaking his head.

“N-nothing. She moved in a weird way.” That was all I could think of to hide my daydream.

He pressed his palm to my stomach just a little harder, slowly moving it up and down.

“I didn’t feel anything.”

“That’s because she’s on my spine?”

Lucian smirked and he let go of me before leaning forward and pressing his hands against the mirror.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone is nervous,” he taunted. “Tell me, kitten, what’s got your cheeks so flushed?”

He dropped one hand from the mirror and ran a thumb across my face. My breathing became frenzied as I leaned against the counter, needing space between us before my knees went too weak for me to stand.

“I’ve gotta say, I love this new shy side of you.” He chuckled. “You used to have no problem telling me to fuck off, and now all it takes is a little teasing to turn your cheeks rosy.”

“I’ll still tell you to fuck off.”

And I would... just, maybe not right now.

Tonight, I had been painfully reminded of how much Iactuallyliked Lucian. I liked him so much that the idea of marrying him kept popping into my head when he was around... Which was crazy, considering we’d only been dating for approximately a month. But I chalked it up to my hormones.

And it didn’t help that Lucian was fuckinghot.

He cupped my chin, squeezing my cheeks slightly as he turned my face from side to side. Then, he pulled my nose to his.

“Do it, then. Tell me to fuck off.”

My heart rattled as I contemplated it. But I had never responded well to being told what to do—not by Lucian, at least.

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