Page 381 of Hate Mates

I nodded.

The car ride there was quiet and not nearly as long as I had expected it to be.

Jason turned to face me before we pulled up to the door.

“There will be press out there, they are going to snap a lot of photos and ask a ton of unnecessary questions. You don’t have to answer them. Just stay close to me and Max.”

“Okay,” I replied. I had dealt with the press before.

We stopped and got out of the car. Jason wasn’t exaggerating, cameras were flashing from every direction I tried to turn to.

Max quickly came around the car and they squeezed me between the two of them.

“Just look straight ahead and keep walking. I’ve got your back,” Max whispered in my ear.

I nodded.

I did exactly as he said. Although Jason kinda drifted in front of us as flashes from the camera went off in our faces, I just stuck close to Max.

Jason stopped just inside the door and pulled me off to the side.

“That wasn’t so bad,” he smiled.

“Not for you, that was insane out there,” I replied.

“That’s nothing. You want me to attend those fan conventions, just imagine that but with fans obsessed with me.”

“Are you trying to talk me out of it?”

“No, I just want you to know what you are getting yourself into.”

I nodded, “thanks for the heads up. But we will have Max there to help out.”

“We will.”

We moved around the room as Jason mingled with this person and that person. Max stuck close to his side while I took notes on my phone about the people he was meeting.

Jason grabbed two drinks from the waiter and handed one to me.

“Oh no, I’m not thirty.”

“Just drink, you look too tense,” he demanded.

I took the drink and sipped on it while we continued to walk around.

“He’s just trying to make you feel more comfortable. You do look like you are out of place, and you shouldn’t. You belong here,” Max whispered to me.

“I don’t think I belong here, but I get what you are saying.”

Jason kept glancing at me every so often. Probably checking on how much of the drink I had left.

“Oh! Jason!” a woman said making her way to us. Max moved to almost stand in front of Jason.

“Hello Liza,” Jason sighed.

“I am so glad I ran into you! How are you doing since the you know,” she whispered the last part.

“Divorce isn’t a dirty word Liza. I’m fine.”

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