Kiss An Alpha novel Chapter 24

I glanced over at Mason, who had surprise written all over his face. Didn't expect me to be so polite, huh? Well, joke's on you.

Actually, I'm still on this date. Joke's on me.

After the waiter left, Maria turned to me with her perfect smile. "So," she batted her crazy long eyelashes. "I was pretty surprised when I found out you wanted to take me on this date, Kieran. I mean, I've always thought you were intriguing, but I never realized that you liked me," Maria giggled. "It was a surprise for sure, but I'm really happy. You're much more of a gentleman than you let on."

I only heard half of what she said. I tuned out after "I never realized that you liked me."

I wanted to take her out? I liked her? I shot Mason a look to see that he had a big smirk on his face. That little bastard.

"...Right," I said slowly. "Right, yeah. Me too. You're, um, great."

Maria's smile widened. "You think so? Awe, you're so sweet! Actually, you know, I just remembered," oh no, "Blake's hosting one of his famous Halloween parties this year. You should come, and bring Cella and Mason with you!"

I blinked, my brain working on overdrive to formulate an excuse. "We weren't invited."

"Oh, you don't have to be. As long as you're in a good costume-Blake takes Halloween seriously, so no half-assing-you can get in."

When I made no move to respond, Cella did it for me. "We'd love to!" She said.

Maria's blue eyes glimmered with glee. "I actually haven't figured out my costume yet...oh em gee! Cella, we should totally do couples costumes! You and Mason and me and Kieran!"

I gulped. Couples?

Marcella squealed, practically beaming at Maria. "Oh, we so should!" She turned to Mason. "What do you think?"

Mason grinned nonchalantly and nodded, "I'm down for anything."

"And you?" She looked at me expectantly.

I looked up to see Mason leaning against the bathroom wall, gazing at me expectantly.

"What do you want from me?" I asked. There was no snap in my voice-I was completely deflated.

"You've been in here 'freshening up' for fifteen minutes. The girls are worried about you; Maria thinks she did something wrong," Mason said, shrugging.

"No, I mean what do you want from me," I repeated. "This whole date thing-what are you trying to get from me? You lied to me, you lied to Maria, you lied to Marcella. Is that all you do? Lie?"

Mason growled, and this time I understood where the animalistic sound came from. "Oh, because you're so perfect? You're-"

"You know what?" I snapped, throwing my hands into the air in exasperation. "I'm so sick of you playing the victim! It's fucking unfair! You're a manipulative cheating liar, and yet you always manage to make me look like the bad guy! You can't pull the whole 'you started it' thing. Not anymore. When I have a problem with someone, I take it out with that person. But you-you use everyone around you to make that person feel like shit. You're using Marcella, dating her when you clearly don't like her. You're using Maria, giving her false hope that I'm interested in her, and for what? Because you can't handle rejection? Because I poked fun at you in drama class? Grow up, Mason. Fight your own fucking battles."

To my complete surprise, Mason lowered his head in shame. "I know," his voice was hardly a whisper. "Do you really think I don't realize what I do? Do you really think I mean to do it? Do you really think I don't fucking hate myself for it every day?"