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To all the women who smile when they want to scream. I got you, darling. Sit back And watch it all burn.
"Because your jealousy is the only way to get your attention, Peach. I did what I had to."
That's what Peach does. She bites, and she fights. She will drag your sanity out of you before she ends you. "Gentle," I murmur. "Let's not do this. No push and pull. Please, just tonight. Be sweet to me, and I'll leave the side of me you hate behind."
"I don’t want us to fight this anymore. I don't want to have to show you that you like me through jealousy. You're worth so much more to me."
I'm dying to kiss her. That's all I've ever wanted. She's the only woman I'd move heaven and earth for a chance to kiss.
All I see is a flash of fiery red hair. It can’t be missed even in the dark night. As I lose consciousness and am pushed into the wild waters below, my last hope is for one thing only. That the world one day learns my murderer was Penelope Sanderson-Menacci.
Penelope Peach Sanderson-Menacci. One of my best friends with a stupid nickname that reduces her to a part of her body. A name that caught on since high school and that I, of course, use without shame. Because calling her my love, baby, queen of my life, doesn’t exactly scream friends since elementary school, does it?
Penelope Sanderson-Menacci. You’ll be the end of me one day, and I can’t wait.
"Good g—" "Don't you let those words out of your fucking mouth if you want your balls attached to your body by the time we get there." "I love it when you fight me, Trouble." He chuckles, putting an arm around my shoulders as we walk together. "It makes me feel like we're already a couple."
"I would choose you. Even if you weren't worth it. And you would have nothing to prove. I would choose you among a million other people. And anyone would be the luckiest person on this planet if you chose them in return."
“But here’s the issue.” I put a hand on his chest. “I’m not giving it to you. In fact”—I push onto my toes. My mouth can’t reach his ear, but it still drives my point—“I wouldn’t give you anything until you’re on your knees, begging for it like a good boy.”
He inhales, and I barely catch the words he breathes out. "Fuck it." His hand in my hair pulls me to him, and his lips press against mine with the strength of a hurricane.
Isn't the world just so much better when I know there's one less man in it who made Peach feel terrible?
"Peach, baby, it's no secret I don't fuck anyone else." He laughs proudly before adding, "And I know you haven’t been fucking anyone because my word is law at SFU. And the law says stay away from what belongs to Wren Hunter."
"Oh God…oh God…" "Wait to come again before you call me your god. Wait"—he presses his whole body against mine, and the edge of the desk pushes against my lower stomach—"until I show you"—he presses some more, stroking my clit at the same slow pace —"what I can make your body do for me."
I can’t help it. Men exist, and I feel the need to challenge them for their audacity of breathing the same air as me.
I don't put myself second just to feel how much someone can complete me. I won't ever hope for a knight in shining armor or a villain in a dark cloak to steal me away and give me the world. I want to build my own world and relish my success with pride. I want to bask in everything I've achieved and know that I didn't have to sacrifice anything for a man. Especially one I've now learned can go to extents I didn't think him capable.
"I’m going to take so much pleasure destroying that friendship you tried so hard to preserve." Thrust. "I’m going to fuck you so hard, put you at my mercy, have a hold on you so tight, that the word friend will never cross your mind again when you think of me."
"I love your fire, Peach," he says as he pulls my panties down my legs. "But I'll have to admit, taming it feels like nothing else I've experienced before."
"No," he says tightly. "You never heard it, that's the difference. Because how could someone who believes so strongly, they're not deserving of love ever see how desperately in love with you I am. For heaven's sake, I've followed you around my entire life. I'm a lost puppy, always eagerly waiting for a drop of your attention."
"Because there has never been anyone else in my heart but you, Peach. You take all the space in there with your attitude and sassy mouth. You left no one else a chance because no one has your eyes full of challenge, your soft hair, your perfect skin. No one has two crooked lower canines like you, three freckles that make an equilateral triangle on their right shoulder. No one makes my heart beat. And I don't mean they make my heart skip a beat, or make my heart palpitate. I mean that when I'm not around you, I don't feel my fucking pulse, do you understand that? I feel dead unless I can hear
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"I'm crazy when it comes to you. But I accepted that a long time ago. Because why wouldn't I be crazy? When you've been through one-sided love for so long, no wonder you start breaking into their fucking room at night and killing for them. You shove Scrabble tiles down people's throat when they hurt your obsession. I.L.U. I love you. Because fuck, I love you."
“You’re into someone who will always choose me. And if you had a chance before, it’s over. Because I now also know I will choose him.”
“Jealousy is so pretty on you,” he finally says to cut the silence. “This wasn’t jealousy,” I assure him. “It was me finally being in touch with myself. It was me finally understanding that you didn’t have to stick by me all those years. You chose to. Because you love me. And all that hope you had? It was because your soul knew it was linked to mine. You were just facing a seriously stupid girl.”
“I love you, Wren Hunter.” The smile that spreads on his face is more breathtaking than I’ve ever seen before. "I think," I add right away, panic suddenly rebounding and coursing through me before I can stop it. He laughs softly, shaking his head. "You were doing so good."
"You're sick," I say in the most loving way I ever have to him. "Your obsession with me. It's…it's sick," I repeat. He nods, almost proud of himself. "I know. You're an illness inside me, and I never want to be cured."
"I love you, Wren. No matter what, no matter in what form, friendship or more, I will always love every single part of you."
"You’re the kind of trouble I should have warned my heart and sanity about, Peach." "And you’re the kind of trouble who will never control all of me."
"I think between making our deal and having me beg for orgasms, you forgot who I was, Wren. You lost yourself along the way. Take this as a lesson to know your place when it comes to me."
I now understand all those women who fall in love with serial killers. If Peach was arrested, I, too, would send her letters telling her how much I love her.
"Men should be more careful of the women who take their shit silently. They suffer and smile through injustice. They suffer and watch men enjoy their tears. They suffer and suffer and suffer. And one day…boom."
"Never forget that women who fight back get nothing out of it. They stand their ground against fear, threats, manipulation, not for themselves, but for all the other women around them.
"Prove it," she sneers. "Crawl to the woman who owns you, Wren." My heart can barely beat anymore. My jaw drops open, and I lick my lips. She thinks this is going to deter me? I would crawl all the way to hell to save her, only to realize she's the one ruling the darkest depths of it. I would kiss the ground of the kingdom she rules. I would kneel beside her throne for the rest of my life if it meant she allowed me to be hers.
I drop to the floor, putting my palms flat in front of me, and as I crawl to the woman I've loved my entire life, I realize that my dick has never been harder. Kneeling in front of her, I let her grip my hair with one hand as she spreads her legs.
"I would kill them all over again for you. And a hundred more. If you want to do it yourself, I’ll hide every single body you leave behind. And if you get caught, I'll take the blame. If your wish is to kill, I'll hand you the knife. If you need to hide from the law, I'll hide you. And if what you desire is to have me at your feet, I’ll kneel."
"Tell me, if I can make a queen beg…does that make me a god?"
"I can wait. I can have a maybe. I waited my entire life for you to become my girlfriend. You'll become my fiancée whenever you're ready."
"Now," I breathe out. "I want it now." His eyebrows raise so high they practically disappear below his hairline. "Now?" "Now," I repeat. "I'm done making you wait. I'm done making myself miss out on the most beautiful things in life. You, Wren Hunter, your love, is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Now put the pretty ring around my finger."
