Page 38 of Please Hate Me

“Jealousy isn’t a good look for you.”

“I’m notjealous!”

What would I even have to be jealous of? The fact that there was a chance Sophia never left Mason’s thoughts? Or maybe the fact that my boyfriend, who doesn’tdeserveto have a child of his own, made one with my ex. Fuck, he might even be talking about the fact that he was dating the former love of my life.

“I just have no interest in making sure your bitch is taken care of.”

“Please do not refer to Mason as my bitch, it’s incredibly disrespectful.”

“Good! Mason deserves to be disrespected! She isn’t a holy figure. She isn’t even a good person. Why the fuck would Irespecther?”

“Remember when you got Ashley pregnant, and something happened with Dad’s side of the family in Columbia? You and Sophia had to drop everything to go, but Ash wasn’t cleared to travel, so I stayed with her.”

“Abuelo died, it was a funeral… you should have been there too.”

But family never mattered to Sebastian. All he ever cared about was work, school, and apparently Mason-fucking-Albright.

“Not the point,” he continued. “You asked me to make sure she ate and took her prenatal vitamins. I also helped her clean up around your apartment.”

Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t fuck Ashley for me while he was playing husband. Seb and I always had the same taste in women, probably because of his innate need to copy me.

“Dude, it’s not the same.”

“Oh yeah? How is it different?”

Because Mason’s my ex?

“Becauseyoudidn’t get her pregnant.”

“No, your boyfriend—”

And that was when I ended the call. For me, refusing to listen to Sebastian defend his relationship with Mason was an act of self-care.

I was content to drive home in silence, but my phone started ringing again. My gaze darted to the Bluetooth display just long enough to see my sister’s name. Part of me wanted to let her go to voicemail, but she currently had my kids. I had a feeling Sebastian told her to call me, but I couldn’t risk ignoring her if it was an emergency. So, I took a deep breath before tapping a button on my steering wheel to answer the call.

“Hi, Leona—”

“Why didn’t you tell me Mason was home?”

I ran a hand down my face as I tried to focus on the road instead of the impending lecture from my sister. Her love for Mason was no secret. She’d saved Mason’s ungrateful ass more times than I could count over the years.

“Because I want her to go back to France,” I grumbled.

“Oh, that’s not true. You’ve always been crazy about her.”

“Itistrue. I want her gone.” And if she could just hurry up and leave, I’d be happy.

“Stop being grumpy just because you’re in love.”

Hearing it a second time didn’t make it any more palatable, true or not.

“She broke my heart. Aren’t you supposed to take my side? You know, as my big sister.”

Even as I said that, I knew where Leona’s allegiance laid. To this day, if you asked Leona who her first baby was, she didn’t name either of her own sons; according to her, it was Mason. Which was fitting, I guess, considering how much Leo did to take care of Mason from the ages of eleven to seventeen.

”Iamtaking your side!” she gasped. “I know you read articles about her. And, when I went to one of her concerts, do you remember what you asked me the next day?”

“Here we go again,” I muttered under my breath.

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