Page 146 of Please Hate Me

I gestured to the boy, who had yet to look at her.

“My name’s not—”

His jaw dropped the second he focused on Mason. He picked it up, but his eyes remained wide as he tried to act unaffected by her presence. To my amusement, he was failing miserably.

“Y-you’re Mason Albright,” he stammered.

“That’s what it says on my license.” Her response seemed almost rehearsed, and I had to wonder how often people recognized her in public.

“Lucian didn’t say what you liked, so I got you a plain coffee… is that alright? I can go back.”

“N-no, it’s fantastic. Perfect, thank you.”

I rolled my eyes as Mason removed the cup from the holder and handed it to not-Aiden. He took it with the arm I wasn’t currently working on.

“That’s uh… It’s cool that you’re... you.” His face was so red that I wondered if I should call someone to have him checked out. “I’ve seen your stuff—like your face and music, not—”

“My sex tape?” She tilted her head as she pulled the folding chair beside me and sat down.

His eyes widened yet again, and I could swear they were one wrong move from falling out of his head. Mason unwrapped a straw, placing it between her lips to shoot the paper at me before stabbing it into a cup of black iced coffee and holding it to my lips.

“N-no... not that I didn’t know it existed, just—”

“Relax,” Mason scolded, “I’m just teasing.”

Not-Aiden swallowed hard and nodded as he attempted to compose himself.

“Thank you for the coffee.”

He held it up and took a drink, wincing as he swallowed. Did he react that way because it was hot, or because he couldn’t take the bitter taste of coffee?

I took the straw Mason offered and swallowed a long drink, only to find my reaction was similar, just for a different reason. I liked my coffee black and cold, just like that thing I called a heart.Thiswas sweetened with some type of vanilla syrup.

“Oh wait, that’s mine.” Mason laughed, and I wanted to kiss her.

Fuck, why did I want to kiss her?

She took a sip of my drink, smiling as she did.

“Nu-uh, put creamer in this or something.” I shook her cup for emphasis. “Rosie needs something other than caffeine and sugar. Don’t make me call Leona.”

Mason rolled her eyes before shooting a second straw paper at me and offering me the correct drink.

Conversation between the three of us flowed pretty easily for the next half an hour or so, but after hanging out for a short while, Mason left. Not-Aiden stayed silent for a while, which was fine because I was content listening to the shop music. It was Sera’s birthday, so I let her play DJ just for the day. But that was something I regretted as I recognized the voice that filled the room.

“Legacy of lifetimes, a story untold,

I don’t see a man, I watch his legends unfold.

Paparazzi ambush, but I hear your voice,

You are always with me when I don’t have a choice.”

Mason’s voice was beautiful and recognizable, but this was my least favorite song of hers. The melody was basic, and the lyrics just sounded like word garbage.

Just then, my unfortunate frat boy decided to saddle me with some word garbage of his own:

“I’m kind of surprised with how good Mason looked today.”

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