Page 499 of Hate Mates

“But youdidn’t,” she continues, her voice rising. Everybody on the entire beach must be able to hear her. “You didn’t do any of that. You waited until it was too late for me to doanything.So what do you want me to do now that the night is over? Most of the day’s over, too. There’snothingI can do about that, so you’re being an asshole for no reason. You know that, don’t you? That you’re being this way fornoreason, and it’s not like you told me there was a curfew or that you could hear through the walls!”

“All I’m trying to say?—”

“There was no time on the lease!” Luna’s words hit much harder than they should. She’s furious, but the tears in her eyes are spilling down her cheeks, and it’s alot. It’s much more intense than I meant it to be, which must mean something else is going on here. “I read every word of the agreement, and there weren’t any specified quiet hours! So if you wanted me to followrules, then you should have put them in the lease! That only seems?—”

Something flies out of her hand in mid-sentence as she waves her arms, and Luna’s eyes track it as it flies down to the sidewalk and breaks in half. I reach for it and miss. A shell. It’s just a shell.

“Oh,no,” she says, her voice going even higher, like whatever she dropped is priceless. “Oh, shit.” Her bottom lip wobbles and all I can think is this woman is on the brink of genuinely losing her shit. She’s beautiful but holy fuck, I did not think she’d blow up like this over asking her to just keep it down.

I swear she’s going to cry again when she looks down at the broken shell. Maybe she liked this one in particular for some reason, but it’s not the end of the world. There are hundreds of other shells on the beach. If she wanted to, Luna could turn around and find one right now. She probably wouldn’t have to walk all the way back to the ocean, either.

“Hey.” I take a step toward her, glancing again to make sure it’s just a shell, and it is. It’s a normal shell, just broken. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was up most of the night, too.” I let out a laugh that sounds ridiculous. “Just thought I’d check to see if?—”

Luna takes a sudden step back, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. She’s not letting any more tears fall, but they’re welling in her eyes. Soon there will be too many to hold back. Over what I said to her? Over the shell? Something else? It has to be something else, right?

“Really, it’s not a big deal. I thought?—”

“There weren’t any quiet hours on the lease,” Luna snaps. The sun gleams off her hair. “Send me a text of what the hours will be so I have a record.” Then she gives me the finger and stalks away without another word.

But I see her shoulders shake. I watch how she holds herself when she walks. I try to think back to what I said. What the hell did I say?

Fuck me, man.

Chapter Four

LUNA

The rest of the day is more subdued. I don’t tell my friends about running into Parker on the beach before they leave. Even though I can’t stop thinking about him standing there. He’s tall, broad shouldered and practically a model with that smile he has. I was shocked when I first saw him. I just didn’t expect a hot guy to be the landlord next door. I really thought we had cute banter too. Well before that … unfortunate breakdown of mine. I’m pretty sure I’m the one to blame and I’m still too upset about it.

I realize I shouldn’t bethisupset. I’ve replayed the conversation at least a hundred times, and I don’t think he was pissed when he saw me. Maybe a little annoyed. Maybe a little put out that I kept him up all night with the music and my friends’ voices. They’ve never been the quietest people, although I had no idea he could hear anything. Swear to God. If we’d known we were bothering him, it never would have happened.

I know my heart shouldn’t be pounding when I think of Parker’s eyes as he stood next to his truck, his arms crossed over his chest and thisexpressionon his face, like?—

Like he was glad I walked up because he was thinking about me. I guess he was only thinking about how the single party I’ve had in the condo since I moved in got a little out of hand. There might have been some guys over at one point—friends of Hazel’s who she’d met in college. I couldn’t remember their names, but people’s names haven’t seemed important since my mom died. Almost nothing has seemed important since my mom died, honestly, but the way Parker talked to me?—

It’s just he didn’t have to wait. He could have said something. Him waiting… something about it. It makes me so unreasonably upset.

And yeah, I know that doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t know if I’m fine. I don’t know how anything could be truly fine when my mom isn’t here anymore. When I can’t call her or text her or leave her a voicemail about my terrible days. When I can’t feel better the second she calls me back.

“We’ll be here whenever you need us,” Hazel says into my ear, her arms tight around me on the steps of the condo. “I can stay a few more days if you want. A week. However long, really. I don’t mind.” I know she can't though. Not unless she wants to lose her job. The sentiment is sweet though.

“I’m good,” I promise her. “I’m…better. But if I start to feel—” I’m already starting to feel crushed by the sadness that might not ever let go of me. “If I need you, I’ll call.”

“Swear.”

“I swear,” I promise her, and hug her a little tighter. “Drive safe.”

“I will.” Hazel kisses my cheek, and then she’s gone. I stay on the steps to wave to her as her car disappears around the corner.

Then I just breathe in the quiet. I can hear the ocean from here, like everybody else. It’s always there, making that sound, day and night, but when you have four friends in your house, it’s hard to hear anything else.

I glance over at Parker’s place and feel…

A little guilty.

Notveryguilty, because if he wanted it to be completely quiet all night or on the weekends, he could have said so. That’s a very standard practice for landlords. They’re supposed to put that kind of information in the lease so nobody has to have a confrontation.

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