Twisted Hate: An Enemies with Benefits Romance

“Fuck.” I was going insane.
The woman seated next to me with her young daughter pinned me with a
glare before she moved them both farther down the train.
Normally, I would’ve apologized, but I was too annoyed to offer more
than an apologetic grimace.
There was only one way to get Jules off my mind. I didn’t like it, but it
was the only solution I had.
When I arrived in Hazelburg, I headed straight to Jules’s house. Was
what I was about to do a bad idea? Probably. But I’d take a bad idea over
having her live rent-free in my head for God knew how long.
I knocked on the door. It opened a minute later, revealing dark curls and
surprised green eyes.
“Hey, Josh,” Stella said. “What are you doing here?”
Shit. I’d forgotten about Jules’s roommate. Like everyone else, Stella
thought Jules and I hated each other—which we did—so it would be weird if
I said I showed up to see Jules. Unless…
“I need to talk to Jules about a case at the clinic,” I lied. “It’s urgent. Is
she here?”
If Stella suspected I was lying, she didn’t show it. Then again, she was
one of the most trusting people I knew, so it probably didn’t occur to her that
I wasn’t telling the truth.
“Yep. Come in.” She opened the door wider and motioned me inside.
“Jules is upstairs in her room.”
“Thanks.” I took the stairs two at a time until I reached Jules’s room.
I rapped my knuckles against the door and waited for her “Come in!”
before I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
Jules sat at her desk, looking more dressed down than I’d ever seen her.
Sweats, oversized T-shirt, no makeup, hair tossed up in a bun. While I
appreciated a skimpy outfit as much as the next guy, I kinda liked this version

---

of her. It was more authentic. More human.
Shock passed over her face at my appearance before she turned back to
her computer and resumed typing.
“What are you doing here?” she asked casually, like her nail marks
weren’t etched into my back from when I’d fucked her brains out a few days
ago.
I tamped down my annoyance and leaned against the dresser, folding my
arms over my chest.
I had work to do, trips to plan, and sleep to catch up on. But it’d been four
days, eleven hours, and thirty-two minutes since we’d had sex, and all of
them had been consumed by memories of cinnamon and heat and the silky
slide of her skin beneath my hands.
I didn’t know what kind of voodoo spell Jules cast on me, but I needed to
get it out of my system. If one night wasn’t enough, then I would indulge in
as many nights as necessary to rid myself of my disturbing obsession with
her.
“I have a proposition for you,” I said.
“No.” She didn’t look up from her screen.
“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.”
It was genius, if I did say so myself. The physical chemistry was there,
and neither of us had to worry about the other catching feelings. We could
just fuck until we got tired of it.
Honestly, Mensa should offer me membership for such a brilliant plan.
“Josh.” Jules closed her laptop and twisted to face me. “I would rather
burn in the fiery depths of hell than sleep with you again.”
I smirked. “We won’t be doing much sleeping, Red. Or have you
forgotten?”
I spotted the instant she remembered our night together.
Her pupils dilated, her chest rose and fell faster, and her cheeks flushed
the faintest shade of pink. The average person wouldn’t have noticed such
minor changes, but I wasn’t average. I noticed everything about her, whether
I wanted to or not.
Self-satisfaction bloomed on my lips.

---

“We won’t be doing much of anything except tolerate each other’s
presence for Ava’s sake,” she said through gritted teeth. “You’re lucky I
didn’t bite your dick off.”
“But then you wouldn’t have been able to come so hard around it.
Multiple times,” I said silkily. “That would’ve been a damn shame. Your
screams are so sweet.”
I smiled at her snarl.
“You’re a logical person. Think about it,” I reasoned. “We both have
needs, and this is the perfect way to fulfill those needs without the headache
that comes up with finding someone to hook up with. Less Todds, more
orgasms. It’s a win-win situation.”
Jules remained silent. She was thinking about it.
I pounced on the opening and went in for the kill. “But if you’re afraid
you’ll fall for me in the process, I don’t blame you.” I offered a casual shrug.
“I’m pretty irresistible.”
My smile widened when her eyes sparked. Challenges were as much her
weakness as they were mine.
“Not even in your wildest dreams.” Jules leaned back in her chair.
“Remember the last game we played? I won, you lost.”
“I don’t have dreams about you, Red. Only nightmares.”
“Could’ve fooled me, considering how hard you came the other night.”
Jules released her hair from her bun and let it cascade over her shoulders. The
movement stretched her shirt across her chest, and my eyes involuntarily
dipped to where her nipples poked through the thin material in hard, pebbled
points.
When I lifted them again, my jeans had tightened, and Jules wore a smug
smile. “If we’re going to do this, we need to set some ground rules.”
Bingo. Mission accomplished.
I savored the triumph for a minute before I inclined my head. “Agreed.
Ladies first.”
I’d learned my lesson from our wager at The Black Fox. Always set rules.
“This is a strictly physical arrangement,” Jules said. “We don’t have
claims on each other’s time outside of sex, so don’t ask me where I am or
what I’m doing when we’re not together.”
“Fine.” I had no plans to do either of those things. “We keep this between
us. Don’t tell anyone—not your friends, people at the clinic, and especially
not Ava.”

---

“Of course I won’t tell anyone.” Jules wrinkled her nose. “I hardly want
people to know I’m involved with you.”
“You could only be so lucky.”
We ran through the rest of our rules in rapid succession.
“Always use protection.”
“No sleeping over.”
“No getting jealous if the other person goes on a date with someone else.”
Fine with me. An exclusive friends-but-not-friends-with-benefits situation
was too close to an actual relationship for comfort.
“If you want to end the arrangement, be upfront about it. No ghosting or
beating around the bush. That’s fucking immature.”
“No falling in love.”
I scoffed. “Red, you’ll fall in love with me before I ever fall in love with
you.” The mere idea was absurd.
Jules was the most difficult woman I’d ever encountered. God help
whichever poor bastard ended up falling for her.
“As if.” She sniffed. “You think far too highly of your dick, Chen. It gets
the job done, but it’s not a magical rod.”
“Last rule. Never refer to my cock as a rod again.”
Some slang should be banned from the English language.
“Whatever, Joshy McRod.” Jules offered a deceivingly sweet smile. “Do
we have a deal?”
“Deal.” I grasped her outstretched hand and squeezed. She squeezed back
twice as hard. It reminded me of when we shook on our clinic truce. We were
making an awful lot of deals lately, for some reason. “Only fucking, no
feelings.”
I didn’t doubt for a second I could hold up my end of the deal. Most
people caught feelings in these types of arrangements, which was why they
never lasted long.
But if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that I would never, ever
fall in love with Jules Ambrose.

---

20

---

JULES
T
HE
TEXTBOOK
DEFINITION
OF
INSANITY
WAS
DOING
THE
SAME
THING
OVER
and over and expecting different results.
My definition of insanity was entering into a sexual arrangement with
Josh Chen. 
I blamed my hormones and law school. If I weren’t so busy, I wouldn’t
have to resort to sleeping with the enemy. Literally.
We hadn’t had sex since our pact last week, but it would happen
eventually. I was already getting antsy thinking about it. My vibrators were
fine when they were all I had, but now that regular and, as much as I hated to
admit it, great sex was an option, my body was screaming at me to make up
for years of orgasms lost during law school.
I tried to ignore the persistent buzz beneath my skin as Alex, Ava, Stella,
and I entered Hyacinth, a hot new club on 14
th
Street.
I would not think about him tonight, not around Ava. That was just
wrong.
Plus, I was paranoid she’d developed mutant mind reading powers and
could tell whenever I was thinking about her brother.
I snuck a glance at her, but she was too busy talking to Alex to notice my
guilty expression.
“This place is insane.” Stella tilted her head up to examine the giant
waterfall chandelier hanging above us. Strands of crystals dripped over three
tiers and reflected the lights flashing through the club. Music pulsed through
the room and reverberated in my bones, adding to the contagious energy
climbing up my spine.
I’d missed this, the feeling of being alive and out in the world instead of

---

cooped up in a library. Ava and Stella liked their alone time, but I thrived on
a crowd’s energy. It gave me more buzz than any caffeine or adrenaline hit. 
“Only the best to celebrate our new home.” I bumped my hip against hers.
“Can you believe it? I thought Pam would have a heart attack.”
After weeks of waiting, Stella and I had finally moved into The Mirage.
We’d picked up our keys from an irritated Pam that morning and spent the
rest of the day unpacking with help from our friends. Now, we were
celebrating with a well-deserved night of drinks and dancing at the hottest
new club in town.
Stella shook her head. “Only you would sound so happy about that.”
“Can’t help it. She makes it so easy.” I flashed a mischievous smile. “I
promise we’ll be the best tenants ever.”
“J, I swear to God, if you get us kicked out of the building…”
“I won’t. Have more faith in me. But if seeing us around raises her blood
pressure…” I shrugged. “That’s not our fault.”
Stella sighed and shook her head again.
Ava touched my arm. “Alex and I are going to grab a table. You guys
coming?” Only the roped-off VIP area contained tables, but I wasn’t
surprised Alex could finagle us access.
I was surprised he’d helped us unpack, though that was one hundred
percent Ava’s doing. He’d worn the same grumpy look he was wearing now
all day.
“Later. I’m scoping out the floor first.” I appreciated a good VIP area as
much as anybody, but I wasn’t sequestering myself on my first night out in
months. “You go ahead. I’ll meet up with you guys in a bit." I patted Alex’s
shoulder. “Smile. It’s not illegal.”
His stony expression didn’t budge.
Oh, well. I tried.
While Alex, Ava, and Stella made their way to the VIP area, I pushed my
way to the bar. I’ll do a lap of the dance floor later, see if anything interesting
was happening, then join them.
I was the one who’d suggested we go clubbing tonight, even though we
were all tired from unpacking, so I didn’t blame them if they wanted to chill.
Honestly, we should’ve stayed in, but it was my last semi-free night before
graduation. I had to do something before bar prep took over my life, and our
new apartment was as good an excuse for a celebration as any.
I placed my order for a whiskey sour and scanned the club while I waited.

---

Gold outline sketches of hyacinths snaked over the black walls while fresh
bouquets of the actual flower dotted the modular tables scattered throughout
the room. A green-haired DJ pumped out remixes from his platform
overlooking the dance floor, and servers in skimpy black uniforms circulated
with trays of shots. It was leagues above what other D.C. nightspots had to
offer, and I could see why Hyacinth was so pop—
My phone buzzed with a new text.
Annoyance and anticipation swirled in my chest when I saw who it was.