Twisted Hate (Twisted, #3)

by Ana Huang

I couldn’t tell whether the soft reminder was mocking or not, but it made my stomach flip. Maybe he had poisoned the cupcake.

Only a few things in life were certain: death, taxes, and the fact that Josh Chen and I would never be friends.

Bed. Singular. As in, there was only one. And I had to share it with Jules Ambrose. Kill me now.

“Oh, Red. You’re about to find out just how untrue that is,” he said softly. He moved so fast I didn’t get the chance to draw another breath before he yanked me against him and crushed his mouth against mine. And my world as I knew it shattered into a million pieces.

“You’re my personal hell, Red.” He gave my hair another sharp tug. “And God help me, I don’t want to fucking leave.”

“I propose we form a mutually beneficial arrangement,” I continued, ignoring her flat rejection. “As much as it pains me to admit, you weren’t terrible in bed, and I know I’m not terrible in bed. We’re both too busy to date or deal with the online dating scene. Therefore, we should enter a friends with benefits agreement. Minus the friends part.”

But if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I would never, ever fall in love with Jules Ambrose.

“I didn’t defend you. I called out an asshole for being an asshole.” He slid a sidelong glance at me. “Besides, I’m the only one who gets to be a jerk to you.”

“I want you.” I didn’t need to dress the truth up with flowery language; it was powerful enough on its own. “We’re not dating other people, Red. I don’t give a fuck what the original terms of our arrangement were. Do you want to know why?”

“Because you’re mine,” I said against her mouth. “Let another man touch you, Jules, and you’ll find out just how easily I can take a man’s life as I can save one.”

Now, she was beautiful in a way that made me want to drown in her, to let her fill every inch of my soul until she fucking consumed me. It didn’t matter if it killed me, because in a world where I was surrounded by death, she was the only thing that made me feel alive.

I once read somewhere that the opposite of love wasn’t hate, it was indifference. The flames of hate and passion burned in equal measure. I couldn’t pinpoint the specific moment my feelings toward Josh changed. I didn’t even know what my current feelings toward him were, exactly. All I knew was, he set me ablaze, and I never wanted the fire to go out.

“Who?” My calm voice belied the violence brewing in my stomach. “Who did this to you?”

“I don’t know what you did to me, Red. But somehow, I went from wanting to kill you…to willing to kill for you.”

“Because you’re it for me. Whether it’s today, tomorrow, a year, or decades from now, that’ll never change.” Josh’s lips brushed against my skin before he pulled back, his face taut with emotion. “I’m human, Red. I’ve made mistakes in the past, and I’ll make many more in the future. But one mistake I’ll never make is letting you go, not when there’s even a sliver of a chance left for us. Because the possibility of you is better than the reality of anyone else.”

“I thought I knew what I wanted before. Becoming a doctor, chasing the next high. Being the most popular, most liked person in the room. I thought those things would make me happy, and they did. Temporarily. But you…” He rested his forehead against mine. “You’re the only thing that could make me happy forever.”

“In case it’s not clear, I fucking love you, Jules Ambrose, even when you drive me crazy. Especially when you drive me crazy.”