Page 23 of Please Hate Me

But it wasn’t Sophia waiting for me on the other side. Instead, Cameron lumbered awkwardly in the doorway, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. He didn’t speak, but his lips pressed intoa thin line as he focused on my chest. At first, I thought he was staring at my tits. Men tended to do that. But then I remembered the giant fucking mark Sebastian had left on my neck. I tossed my hair into place to cover it, blushing furiously.

“Can I help you?” I challenged.

Cameron averted his gaze like I had caught him doing something wrong. “Do you like Chinese?”

I tried to keep my confusion from creeping into my expression. “That’s not information you need.”

“I, uh, it ain’t for me…” He swallowed hard. “Sophia wants to have y’all down for dinner. Like a welcome party.”

I parted my lips to tell him I wasn’t hungry, but the growling of my stomach betrayed me. “She would have done this even if you weren’t…. You.” He bit back an awkward chuckle. “That’s just how she is… ‘course, you already know that.”

“Fine,” I mumbled. “But I’m not coming down without my boyfriend.”

Chapter 9

Sophia

Mason’s back.

Mason is in my house.

Mason is living with me again.

I love her.

I need her to stay this time.

Forcing everyone together for a meal was a gamble, and I knew that, but I figured I really didn’t have anything to lose. But for this to work, I needed Lucian to sit beside Mason. So, I carried all of our extra dining chairs to the basement, leaving only five at the table. Just in time, too—the moment I got back, the dining room began to fill with activity.

Lucian strolled in first, plopped himself into the first chair he touched, and huffed loudly. I quickly claimed the spot to his left, though I knew my haste was probably unnecessary. Lucian was still furious with Cameron, so Cam sat on my other side to give him space. Sebastian and Mason had yet to arrive, but I knew Sebastian would rather eat dinner inside a burning buildingthan sit next to Luci. Mason would have to sit there instead, setting my perfect plan in motion.

Lucian reached over the small sea of oyster pails to grab the one filled with black bean noodles.

“You ordered the vegetarian ones, right?” he asked.

“Yep, and I double-checked twice. Always do, you know that.” Cameron looked a little hurt that Lucian felt the need to ask.

Luci shrugged as he slapped a small portion of noodles onto his plate. “I thought things might have changed. You know, because you went from loving kids to abandoning your own.”

“We’re not talking like that,” I warned. “If you don’t behave, I’m going to make you wear your collar in front of everyone.”

Lucian plopped the container back down, sucking the sauce off his chopsticks.

“Bite me.”

What a disobedient dog my Luci was. I’d find it sexy if I wasn’t so desperate for this dinner to go well. Right now, I needed him to keep his mouth shut, one way or another.

“Keep it up, and I’ll get the muzzle,” I sang. “I’d love to see you try to eat while wearing that.”

That earned me a glare, but it shut him up.

“You need more on your plate,” Cameron chimed in, pointing to Lucian, who was still very obviously not in the mood.

After his overdose, I forced Lucian to get sober: no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking. I never said anything about caffeine, though, and it didn’t take long for him to replace his pills with sugar-free energy drinks. The new habit destroyed his appetite. For a while, I tried to pressure him into eating more, but eventually, I started letting it slide. Anything was better than seeing him strung out every day.

Lucian lifted a single noodle to his lips.

“You should wait for our guests,” I suggested.

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