Page 86 of Please Hate Me

Jade smiled and paused to take a sip as Sophia crashed into the chair beside me. I was worried that she would spill whatever blue liquid was in her cup, but she didn’t. The ice rattled against the plastic as she took a drink, and the scent of artificial butter flooded my nose. My mouth watered as Sophia picked up a pretzel nugget and popped it in her mouth.

Before she left, she asked me if I wanted anything, and I told her no. I had breakfast this morning, and that was all I needed until I could get home and make a salad. But I was already regretting that decision.

I swallowed my spit and tried to just focus on how Jade was doing my nails. But, as the two women with me started conversing, all I could think about was the fucking pretzels. I looked between Sophia and Jade, waiting for a lull in the conversation so I wasn’t interrupting them, but I had a feeling these two could talk to walls and be perfectly content. They went on and on, sometimes talking over each other, but never leaving any space for me to cut in.

My shoulders tensed, and I took a deep breath like I was about to jump off a diving board.

“Sophia, can I have one?” My voice was barely a whisper, but it still caught Sophia’s attention.

“Did you say something?”

Nope, I didn’t say anything. Continue your conversation and pretend that I didn’t interrupt you.

“I... did.” I cleared my throat. “Can I have a pretzel, please?”

Sophia’s eyes lit up, and her smile brightened the room. “Of course! Do you want cheese?”

No, just one pretzel is enough. I don’t even need a whole one.

“Yes, please.”

Sophia swiped a golden pretzel through the disconcertingly yellow cheese.

“Open up.”

I remained tense as I parted my lips, and Sophia popped the treat into my mouth. It was salty, creamy, a little spicy, and completely perfect. I smiled after I swallowed, and Sophia brushed my hair behind my ear.

“You’re so pretty,” she cooed.

My heart swelled, and my smile grew. Jade poked fun at us, saying something about Sophia and me needing to get a room, but I didn’t care. I was finally beside someone who might like me for me, instead of the version of me hand-crafted by my father.

Chapter 24

Mason

After we finished getting our nails done, Sophia forced me to get my own cup of pretzels. I scarfed them down, following Sophia around while she finished the rest of her beauty regime. I was a little ashamed of how quickly I consumed them, but Sophia didn’t seem to notice, and if she did, she certainly didn’t care.

Once her skin was artificially tanned and her hair was trimmed, she was ready to go home. She told me she had to get back to work, so I asked if it was urgent. She said no, for the most part, she made her own schedule. That’s when I decided to swallow my pride and push my luck.

I admitted to her that my clothes were getting too tight for me to wear much longer, and that I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. She stopped to consider me for a moment before her expression softened. For the first time since I got back, Sophia told me work could wait.

That’s how we ended up shopping in a small boutique with a large maternity section rather than going home. The shop’s décor felt very Victorian. Sage green wallpaper coated the wallswith barely noticeable vines that wound between gold-accented mirrors and butterflies pinned inside glass cases. I almost felt like I was back home in my favorite oddity shop, except this place had more clothes and less dead bugs.

I kind of wished they had other types of bugs here. I liked to look at their wings.

I wondered if Sophia had picked this shop specifically with me in mind. My knees went weak at the thought of her being so considerate of my interests.

I stole a glance up at her as she leafed through an endless rack of nearly identical button-downs. She was absolutely stunning, but her beauty wasn’t just skin deep. Sophia was the kind of woman you just felt comfortable to be around, the type of person you wanted to show off to the entire world. God, the world would love Sophia. She was everything my dad had trained me to be: outgoing, cheerful, well-spoken... but she did all of it effortlessly. She even liked all the annoying stuff—the manicures, the hair products, the clothes shopping. Thinking about that caused color to rise to my cheeks as I remembered my conversation with Lucian earlier:

“You’re in a home full of people who don’t love based on appearances.”

My heart transformed into a hummingbird as I cleared my throat.

“Hey, Sophia.” My words came out as more of a squeak than a sentence, but it still caught her attention.

She turned away from the garment she was holding to look down at me, a coy smile twisting at her lips.

“Hmm?”

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