Twisted Hate: An Enemies with Benefits Romance

clubbing? In Eldorra?” 
“We’ll be in disguise.”
I stared at Jules, unsure if she was joking. She stared back with one
hundred percent seriousness.
“Disguise,” I repeated. “I hate to break it to you, Red, but a wig and
sunglasses aren’t gonna be enough to disguise the most famous woman in the
country.”
“We’re not wearing sunglasses,” she scoffed. “No one wears sunglasses
at night except douchebags. No, we hired a makeup artist to transform our
faces.” 

---

“Are you fucking with me? How the fuck is a makeup artist supposed to
transform your face?”
“A skilled MUA can do a lot,” Jules said primly. “Clearly, you’ve never
watched any before and after makeup transformations on YouTube.”
I rubbed my face. The conversation was getting more surreal by the
minute. “No, I haven’t, because I don’t wear makeup.”
“So? You’re not an astronaut but that doesn’t stop you from watching
videos about rocket launches.”
“Yeah, because rockets are cool.”
“So’s makeup.”
“Not to me.”
She rolled her shoulders in a shrug. “You’ve always lacked taste.”
“I’m fucking you, aren’t I? What does that say about you?” 
Jules stretched her arms over her head and yawned. “That I’m a lovely,
generous human being who’ll throw you a pity fuck when no one else will—”
A squeal cut off her words when I lifted her and delivered a sharp smack
on her ass before sitting her on my lap. Her back pressed against my torso,
and I reached around to spread her thighs.
“Don’t make me spank your pussy next, Red.” I rubbed my thumb over
her still-swollen clit in warning. “I won’t be as gentle.”
A shiver rolled through Jules’s body, but she sank against me and fell
quiet as I caressed her.
Yes, this was supposed to be sex only, but I would be an asshole if I
kicked her out without some post-sex downtime, right?
I smoothed my palm up her thighs, over her stomach and to her breasts. It
was more comforting than it was sexual, and I loved how fucking soft she
was. Soft and warm and perfectly tailored for me, her curves fitting my hands
like pieces of a puzzle I never wanted to finish solving.
“What are you doing tonight while we’re out?” She made a small,
contented noise as I gently squeezed and kneaded her breasts.
“Grab a drink. Explore the city.” I had no clue. “I’ll figure something
out.”
“Alex will be staying behind too.”
My hand stilled before I dropped it to my side. “Don’t see what that has
to do with me.” The lightness of my tone contrasted with the sudden stiffness
in my shoulders.
A sigh floated from Jules’s throat to my ears. “All I’m saying is, it’s

---

painful watching you guys avoid each other. I can’t imagine it’s fun for you
to hold onto your grudge either. Being angry at someone is exhausting, and
it’s been almost two years. Maybe…” Her voice softened, taking on a far-off
quality, and I wondered if she was talking about herself as much as she was
me. “Maybe it’s time to forgive, even if you don’t forget.”
I leaned my head against the headboard and closed my eyes. “Maybe.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. It was that I didn’t know how to. Every
time I tried, the past reared its ugly head and dragged me back.
How could I let go of something that refused to let go of me?
“It would be—”
A knock on the door cut her off. “Josh?” Ava’s voice drifted into my
room.
Jules shot up straight and twisted her head to look at me. We stared at
each other with wide eyes.
“Can I come in? I think you have my backpack,” Ava said. “It has my
laptop.”
Fuck. My gaze strayed to my black backpack. We’d bought the same one
during a holiday sale a few years ago.
I gently extricated myself from Jules, climbed off the bed and unzipped it.
Yep, there was Ava’s laptop sitting snug in between her notebook and a blue
folder. Double fuck.
I must’ve grabbed hers by mistake at the airport.
I gestured at Jules to get into the bathroom, but she sat frozen on my bed,
looking like a wax mannequin of herself.
“Can you get it later?” I called out. My heart slammed against my chest.
“I’m, uh, busy.”
I would open the door and hand Ava’s backpack to her, but there was no
way to do so without her seeing the bed.
“I need my laptop. I have to get some work done before the bachelorette
tonight.”