Page 49 of Please Hate Me

“How old are you?” I asked, trying to ignore the flock of butterflies in my stomach.

Mason finished what remained of my ice cream just as fast as she did hers. She set the cup down before turning around and leaning back onto the table, lacing her hands over her stomach. The long twilight shadows accentuated her soft features: pouty lips, button nose, porcelain skin, and a perfect dusting of freckles across her cheeks. Mason was beautiful, but it didn’t seem like she knew it. Something about her humility made her more approachable, so I joined her in laying on the table. Stray splinters of wood poked into my shirt, and I hoped the same wasn’t happening to her.

“I’ll be twenty-four on October thirteenth… How old are you?”

Too old to be sleeping with a twenty-three-year-old.

“I’ll be forty on Halloween.”

Mason scrunched her nose. Not like I’d do any different in her shoes.

“You’re old enough to be my dad.”

“Not quite,” I laughed, hoping to break the tension.

“And you’re aScorpio.“ She spat my zodiac sign like an insult.

And just like that, I found common ground.

“Hey, at least I’m not a Libra. Y’all can’t make a decision to save your life.”

“I’d rather be indecisive than hoard secrets like Scorpios do… so tell me, what areyouhiding?”

All the oxygen disappeared from my lungs. Her smile told me it was a joke, but it hit too close to home.

“No secrets. I’m an open book.”

Mason eased into my lie. “I can tell. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have told a perfect stranger about your relationship drama… but I’ll keep an eye on you.”

She winked, her smile growing a little larger as she did. I had a feeling that if I caught her when she was well-rested or in a good mood, she’d be a handful. It was a good thing she wasn’t interested in me—I wasn’t sure I had enough energy for a partner like that.

“So, I know you like books, horror movies, video games, and ice cream, and that you hate Scorpios. What else do you like?”

“I don’t hate Scorpios. That’s reserved for male Aries and female Taurus,” she clarified. “But I really like the stars.”

I blinked twice before focusing on the sky. More and more tiny twinkling lights were appearing, and I pointed up at them.

“Those stars?”

She nodded. “I’ve spent most of my life traveling, either for work or because of my mom forcing me to move in the middle of the night. There wasn’t much I could depend on for stability. Cities, languages, and places change. The stars never do.”

She fell silent, gazing longingly at the sky she’d found a home in, and I tried desperately not to fall in love.

Chapter 15

Mason

I didn’t even realize I had fallen asleep on Cameron until the gravel driveway of the farmhouse crunched under his all-too-massive truck tires. My body was heavy, and the world was blurry as I rubbed my tired eyes.

I looked around with a stretch. The last time I went inside the home, I was so preoccupied with running inside that I didn’t stop to look at the massive exterior: white siding, black shutters, and more land than I’d ever know what to do with. The front door was such a bright shade of red that not even the moonlight could wash it out.

How did Sophia and Lucian even afford a place like this?

“Is the house yours?” I asked, and Cameron jumped.

“You scared the daylights out of me—I thought you were asleep.”

I looked down, hoping to avoid eye contact, and found his jacket on my lap. Apparently, he’d covered me with it so I wouldn’t get cold on the ride home. Cameron was a complete and utter gentleman. It was no surprise that someone like himwouldn’t want a life with me, especially because I told him I didn’t want one with him first. But his earnest kindness made it hard not to dream of a future beyond this shared roof that would disappear in a few months.

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