Twisted Hate (Twisted, #3)

by Ana Huang

But there were times, like now, when I yearned to experience that kind of unconditional love. To have someone care for me through the good, the bad, and the inevitable mistakes I made. What would it be like to be loved so deeply by someone I wouldn’t have to worry about every little move possibly driving them away?

Fake concern was a thousand times worse than no concern at all, because fake concern gave way to false hope, and false hope destroyed souls. It was one of the biggest lessons I’d learned in my early years. All the times I thought someone cared about me when they only wanted something from me, and when they got it, they tossed me aside without a second thought. Until, of course, they needed something again.

Scared that if they looked too closely, they would see the real me, and the real me wouldn’t be enough.

I was too busy worrying over my life to celebrate someone else’s, no matter how happy I was for them.

Strong. Comforting. Logical. He was everything I needed when I needed it.

Our first impressions stick with us the longest, but contrary to popular opinion, some people do change. The only problem is, they change faster than our prejudices do.

“The monsters in our imagination are often worse than those in reality.”

My heart beat fast at the prospect of what lay beyond the white wood door. Discovering a new bookstore was like discovering a new type of precious gem: exhilarating, wondrous, and a touch surreal.

“Sometimes, people change. And sometimes, they meet people who make them want to change.”

At some point, we had to let go of who a person used to be or who they could be and see them for who they really were.

I had closure, but no one told me closure was such a bitch. It clawed at my bones and ripped a bloody gash through my heart until every breath became a battle.

Because even though pain hurt like a motherfucker, it proved you were still alive, and it was only after it faded that you could finally heal.

Then again, if there was one recurring theme in my life, it was that people were never who I thought they were.

He weaponized the biggest insecurity I had and turned it against me.

He froze, his breaths heavy with regret. “There’s no letting you go, Red. It would be easier if you asked me to tear my heart out with my own fucking hands.”

But now that the moment had come, some infuriating, intangible thing prevented me from fully embracing the situation. What if he was lying again? What if I made another mistake and he walked away for good? What if he woke up one day and decided he made a mistake?

“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.”