Twisted Hate: An Enemies with Benefits Romance

It can’t be. But no matter how much I stared, the image remained the
same. 
My blood iced over. 
It was a picture of a painting. Brown and green splashed across the
canvas in a way that was reminiscent of vomit, and tiny yellow spots added
nonsensical detail on the edges.
The art was hideous, but that didn’t bother me as much as where I’d seen
it before. 
The item Max wanted me to steal was the painting in Josh’s room.

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41

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JULES
“Y
OU
OKAY
, 
HUN
?” B
ARBS
EYED
ME
WITH
CONCERN
. “Y
OU
’
VE
BEEN
unusually quiet all day.”
“Yep. Just stressed about the bar.” I forced a smile and refilled my coffee
mug. I shouldn’t be drinking caffeine this late in the day, but I wouldn’t be
able to sleep regardless. Max’s directive to steal Josh’s painting had kept me
up every night since I received his text three days ago.
“I’m sure you’ll do great.” Barbs opened the fridge and handed me a
Saran-wrapped plate of apple pie. “Here. Pie always makes things better.”
My smile was more genuine this time. “Thanks, Barbs.”
“Anytime, hun.” Barbs winked and left, her mug of beloved Earl Grey tea
in hand.
I sipped my coffee and grimaced at the bitter taste. I loved a lot of things
about the clinic, but its coffee wasn’t one of them. 
While I choked down the drink, I stared at my dark phone and waited for
it to light up with another text from Max. It never did.
He’d been clear. I had one week to steal Josh’s painting or it was game
over for me.
Three days had already passed, which meant I had four days left.
My next sip went down the wrong pipe. I erupted into a fit of coughs,
shaking so hard some of the liquid splashed out of my cup and scalded my
hand.
“Fuck!” I wheezed. I placed the remaining coffee on the counter and ran
my hand under cold water, all while coughing my lungs out.
“Everything okay?” 
I jumped at the sound of Josh’s voice behind me. I knocked over the mug

---

in the process and spilled the rest of my drink down the front of my dress.
“Fuck!” I repeated, more emphatically this time.
I reached for the paper towels, but Josh beat me to it. He yanked a
handful off the dispenser and mopped up the coffee running down my leg
while I tried to salvage my ruined outfit. 
It wasn’t happening. The stain had already settled deep into the fibers and
turned a substantial portion of the blue skirt a deep, ugly shade of brown. I
finally gave up and tossed the paper towel into the trash with a small scream
of frustration. 
“I guess that answered my question.” Josh eyed me with concern and the
tiniest hint of amusement. “Bad day?”
“How’d you guess?” 
“My deductive powers are one of my many impressive talents,” he
quipped. “Coffee spill aside, you’ve been distracted all day.” 
“Stressed about the bar.” I mumbled my go-to excuse. To be fair, I was
stressed about the exam. It just wasn’t my main stressor.
My stomach cramped with guilt.
I’d spent the past three days brainstorming over how to extricate myself
from my Max dilemma, but I couldn’t think of a feasible solution that didn’t
involve revealing the truth about my past. 
Perhaps my friends wouldn’t judge me, but I was terrified of how Josh
would react. For years, he’d thought I was a horrible person, or at least a
horrible influence. The last thing I wanted was to prove his initial
impressions of me right when we were finally making progress in our
relationship.
“Well, if you need a study partner, I happen to know a devastatingly
handsome and intelligent one.” Josh paused. “I’m talking about myself, by
the way.” 
Despite my tension, a small laugh rustled my throat. “Of course you are. I
appreciate the offer, but you’ll distract more than you help.”
“Understandable. My looks have distracted many a student. It’s one of the
pitfalls of having this, I’m afraid.” He waved a hand in front of his admittedly
spectacular face.
“It is uniquely hideous.” I patted his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’m sure
they weren’t judging. People are much more open-minded these days.” 
His chuckle settled on my skin like a rich velvet blanket. “God, I want to
fuck you so bad right now.”

---

I wasn’t a prude by any means, but heat cascaded down my neck at
hearing him state that so directly in the middle of the clinic kitchen.
“Josh.”
“Yes?” He lifted one eyebrow. “You need to get out of that dress soon
anyway. What better—”
“Am I interrupting something?” Ellie’s voice cut into our conversation.
We hadn’t even noticed her arrival. 
I immediately stepped back and winced when the hard kitchen counter
dug into my lower spine.
“I was helping Jules with her spill.” He gestured at my dress without
missing a beat. His features were a mask of professional civility, but the
devilish gleam in his eyes remained.
“Oh, wow, that sucks.” Ellie wrinkled her nose. “I hope it’s not a new
dress.”
“It’s not. Hot date?” I quickly switched subjects.
The office closed in ten minutes, and Ellie had already changed out of her
business-appropriate blazer and pants into a dress and heels.
Pink stained her cheeks. “I’m, ah, going to the movies with Marshall.”
I hid a smile. She’d finally gotten over her crush on Josh and switched her
attention to Marshall. I wasn’t sure whether my and Marshall’s kiss spurred
that along—we always found people more desirable when other people found
them desirable—but I was happy to see she’d moved on.
For entirely unselfish reasons, of course.
“Speaking of which, I should head out. I just came to grab my charger.
Left it here during lunch. Good night!” Ellie plucked her phone charger from
the outlet near the microwave and rushed off.
“We should head out too, but at different times so people don’t get
suspicious.” Josh’s eyes sparkled with playfulness. “Meet you on our corner
in twenty.” 
“We don’t have a corner,” I pointed out.
“We do now.” Josh’s dimple made a glorious appearance. “Twenty-third
and Mayberry. Twenty minutes, Red. Be there.”
He left before I could argue.
I shook my head, but I closed out my desk with deliberate slowness until
the office emptied and Barbs and I were the only people left. 
“C’mon, hun, I’m not getting any younger.” She motioned me out the
door with an impatient hand. “And you’re too young to spend a minute

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longer in the office than you have to.”
“You always tell me what I want to hear.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” She waved. “Good night.”
“Night.”
It took me only five minutes to walk to Twenty-Third and Mayberry. As
promised, Josh waited for me on the corner. He leaned against the light pole
with his hands tucked in his pockets, but he tapped his watch when he saw
me. 
“Nineteen minutes. Almost late, Red.”
“Good thing I wasn’t,” I said, too distracted to come up with a witty
response. All I could focus on was how to bring up his painting without
arousing suspicion. 
Maybe I could convince him to get rid of it? It was still deception,
because I knew the painting was valuable and he didn’t, but it was better than
stealing from him.
“So, I was shopping online the other day and came across some nice art,”
I said casually. “Better than that monstrosity you have in your bedroom.” 
“Monstrosity?” Josh placed a hand over his heart. “Red, I’m offended.
That painting is the epitome of taste. I bet it would fetch a pretty penny if I
put it up for auction.”
If only he knew how right he was.
“And yet, you bought it for cheap at an estate sale.” I forced myself to
inject lighthearted snark into my tone. “So excuse me if I don’t believe you.” 
“Not everyone knows the value of what they throw away.” Josh wrapped
an arm around my waist. “One day, you’ll grow to love it as much as I do.”
My heartbeat drowned out the echo of our footsteps. “You don’t really
love it, do you?” 
He gave me a strange look. “Not in the sense that I’ll run into a burning
building to save it, but I have a soft spot for it. Reminds me of art camp.”
Surprise coasted through me. “You went to art camp?” 
“Yeah, for one summer when I was eight.” Josh winced. “Figured out that
art is, uh, not my strongest suit, so I switched to basketball.”
“Wow.” Suddenly, it all made sense. “No wonder you love terrible art. It
reminds you of you!” 
I laughed when Josh slapped my ass in retaliation. 
“I can’t believe you admitted you’re not the best at something,” I said as
we arrived at his house. “Remind me to mark it down in my calendar. It’s

---

truly a historic moment.”
“Funny.” He unlocked the front door and waited for me to enter first
before following me inside. “Don’t spread it around because I don’t let just
anyone see my weaknesses. My lack of artistic talent is a very sensitive
topic.”
“Is that so?” I smiled despite myself. “I feel special.” 
“You should. Even though you can be fucking exasperating and a pain in
my ass—”
My smile disappeared. “Hey!”
“You’re one of the few people I trust.” His face softened as he looped his
arms around my waist and pulled me closer. “Never thought I’d say that,
considering our history. But even when we couldn’t stand each other, I could
always count on you to be honest with me. After what happened with
Michael and Alex…” His throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “That means
more than you know.” 
Our earlier lightheartedness grew heavy with poignance.