Twisted Hate (Twisted, #3)

by Ana Huang

Did you really think so little of me that you thought I’d judge you for things you were manipulated into doing? That I wouldn’t have been on your side and took that fucker down with you?

The less I looked at her, the less likely I was to cave like a cheap umbrella during a thunderstorm.

Despite everything that happened between us, the thought of Jules hurt made it so fucking hard to breathe.

“Ninety-nine percent of people in this world are idiots,” he said. “I regret to inform you that you’re one of them.”

“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.”

“You kicked me out of your house last week.” Fresh hurt strangled my lungs. “You fucked me, then you tossed me aside just like everyone else.” He’d been angry, and rightfully so. But the memory of his words…the look in his eyes… He weaponized the biggest insecurity I had and turned it against me.

“Everyone I trusted has lied to me. But you…I told you things I’ve never told anyone. Things that hurt to admit even to myself. Your betrayal hit harder than any of the others combined, but that was my mistake. Thinking it was a betrayal when you were also the only person who’s ever told me the truth of your own accord. You didn’t wait until you were caught, even though you probably could’ve kept it a secret forever and I would’ve never found out. And I…” His voice cracked. “I was an idiot. And I’m sorry. And I lo—”

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.”

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.”

“But trust me, Jules. Any man would be an idiot to let you go if there was even a chance with you.”

I didn’t deserve it. I just had to get out of my own way.

“I told you it wasn’t a date.” “And I told you I don’t share. Not when it comes to you.” Josh’s eyes burned into mine. “I don’t give a fuck if he’s a multi-millionaire and plastered on every magazine in the world. He could be the King of fucking England, but he’ll never give you what I’m willing to give you.” The goosebumps multiplied. “What’s that?” “Everything.”

“My heart. My soul. My dignity. What do you want me to do, Jules?” His voice splintered into something jagged and painful. “Do you want me to fucking beg? Say the word, and I’ll be on my knees.”

I was terrified—of being hurt, of not being enough, and of actually being loved when I didn’t deserve it.

“Twelve days, eight hours, and nine minutes. I spent every second thinking of you.” Josh’s lips brushed against mine as he spoke. “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.”

“Twelve days, twelve orgasms.” He pushed up my skirt, his breath warm against the sensitive skin of my thighs. “That seems fair, don’t you think?” A small fire kindled in my lower belly. “What—” My question died an ignoble death when he pushed my panties aside and ran his tongue over my clit.

I pushed one finger inside her while I kept my thumb on her clit. “I’m very good with anatomy.”

She felt so fucking good. Tight and wet and made for me, like she was the jigsaw puzzle I’d been missing all my life.

“That’s it.” I rubbed my thumb over her cheek and leaned down to kiss her. Hard. “Good girl,” I whispered. “I love hearing you scream for me.”

Jules gave a helpless shrug. “I never found the right time to tell you I was banging your brother.”

I scowled at him. So this was how I was going to die. Betrayed by my best friend again and stabbed to death by my sister. Julius Caesar had nothing on me in terms of a shitty death.

“Yeah.” My face softened. “I love her, Ave. We may still fight and argue sometimes, but at the end of the day…she’s it.” I would take a thousand fights with Jules over a thousand easy days with anyone else. Because I didn’t want easy. I wanted her.

“Hi.” She smiled up at me, and it should be fucking illegal how that one tiny thing made my chest swell.

But it wasn’t just the bungee jump. It was the fact I was experiencing it with Jules. No one and nothing could make me feel as alive as she did.