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TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā š
ššš ššš:I applied makeup, brushed my hair, and wore my favorite white cotton sundress with yellow daisies at the bottom. It was both pretty and comfortable, and it showed off just enough cleavage to intrigue. Liam had loved it. Whenever I wore it, we ended up at his place and my dress ended up on the floor.Iād considered throwing the outfit away after we broke up because heād loved it, but I thought better of it. I refused to let him ruin the good things for me, whether it was a dress or mint chocolate ice cream, which he used to buy me whenever I had my period cravings.I figured looking good couldnāt hurt if I was angling for an unannounced evening moviethon with Alex.I couldnāt think of any good ideas to make him sad without being a total bitch, so Iād chosen the neutral option of sad movies. They worked on everyone. Yes, even men.I saw Josh cry once at the end of Titanic, though he claimed it was allergies and threatened to toss my
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 7
šššš ššš:I silently cursed Josh as I carried Ava upstairs. That asshole always put me in situations I didnāt want to be in.Case in point: sleeping in the same room as his sister.Iām sure he would be even less happy about it than I was, but I hadnāt set up the guest roomāI never had guests, not if I could help itāand it was pouring outside, so I couldnāt bring her home without both of us getting drenched. I couldāve left her on the couch, but she wouldāve been damn uncomfortable.I kicked open the door to my room and set her on the bed. She didnāt stir.My eyes lingered on her form, noticing details I had no business noticing. Her dark hair fanned out beneath her like a blanket of black silk long enough for me to wrap my fist around, and her skirt rode up, baring an inch more thigh than modest. Her skin looked smoother than silk, and I had to clench my hands to refrain from touching her.My mind flashed back to earlier in the night. Her ski
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā š
ššš ššš:Something smelled delicious,like spice and heat. I wanted to wrap it around me like a blanket.I snuggled closer to the source, enjoying the strong, solid warmth beneath my cheek. I didnāt want to wake up, but Iād promised Bridget I would volunteer at a local pet shelter with her this morning, before my afternoon shift at the gallery.I allowed myself one more minute of cozinessāhad my bed always been this big and softābefore I opened my eyes and yawned.Weird. My room looked different. No photograph prints papering the walls, no vase of sunflowers by the bed. And did my bed just move by itself?My eyes latched onto the broad expanse of bare skin beneath me, and my stomach dropped. I looked up, upāstraight into a pair of familiar green eyes. Eyes that stared back at me with no hint of the humor from last night.He flicked his gaze down. I followed itā¦and realized, to my abject horror, that I was touching Alex Volkovās dick. Unintention
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā š
ššš ššš:OPERATION EMOTION:PHASE DISGUSTāYou already brought me welcome-to-the-neighborhood cookies.ā Alex stared at the basket on the dining table.āThese arenāt welcome cookies.ā I pushed the basket toward him. āThese are an experiment. I tried a new recipe and wanted to see what you think.āHe made an impatient noise. āI donāt have time for this. I have a conference call in half an hour.āāIt wonāt take you half an hour to eat one cookie.āYes, I had finagled an invitation inside Alexās house again, this time for the second phase of OE. Neither Alex nor I mentioned his, er, morning wood situation a few days earlier. I didnāt know about him, but Iād prefer if we forgot about that morning altogether.āFine.ā He peered at the confections with suspicion. āWhat flavor?āAsparagus, raisins, and garlic brittle.Iād picked the most disgusting ingredient mixture I could think of because this was, after all, Phase Disgust. Part of me felt bad becaus
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā šš
ššš ššš:The experiment is a failure,but at least itās over.ā I sucked down the rest of my cranberry vodka. Iād nursed it for so long all the ice had melted and it tasted like fruity water. āThank God.āāToo bad.ā Bridget looked disappointed. āI was looking forward to seeing Alex lose his cool.āāHe still can. The experiment isnāt over yet.ā Jules wagged her finger in the air.Unease crawled down my neck. āYes, it is. We decided on four phases: sadness, disgust, happiness, and fear.āāThere are five phases.ā Julesās hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. āThe last is jealousy, or did you forget?āāI never agreed to that!āWe were at The Crypt, Thayerās most popular off-campus bar, for one last hurrah before classes started Monday. Students had started trickling back, and the bar was way more packed than earlier this summer.āBut itās the best one,ā Jules argued. āDonātāāāAva.āI stiffened at the sound of my name said in that voice. The voice that used
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā šš
šššš ššš:Thayer Universityāsannual alumni charity gala was the event of the season, but while it did raise money for the latest cause du jour, it wasnāt really about charity. It was about ego.I attended every year.Not because I wanted to be a philanthropist or reminisce about my college days, but because the gala was a fountain of information. Thayer counted the most powerful people in the world amongst its alumni, and they all congregated in the ballroom of the Z Hotel D.C. every August. It was the perfect opportunity to network and gather intel.āā¦pass the bill, but itāll get killed in Congressā¦āI pretended to listen while Colton, an old classmate who now worked in government affairs for a major software company, droned on about the latest piece of tech legislation.He rarely had anything interesting to say, but his father was high up in the FBI, so I kept him in my orbit in case I needed him in the future.It was always about the long gam
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 12
AVA POV:He was furious.He was alive with it, pulsing with it. One hand clutched the steering wheel, knuckles white, while the other rested on the gearshift, flexing and unflexing like he wanted to strangle someone. The glow from passing streetlights illuminated the beautifully carved planes of his face as we sped down the dark streets, throwing into sharp relief the tense set of his mouth and the way his brows bunched over his eyes.When I told him about the incident with Liam outside The Crypt, I almost disintegrated from the force of his fury.āIām okay,ā I said, wrapping my arms around my torso. My voice sounded scratchy and unsure. āReally.āThat only made him more furious.āIf youād attended Krav Maga lessons like Iād asked, he wouldnāt have been able to corner you like that.ā Alexās voice was soft. Deadly. I remembered his face when heād pounded Liamās face into a pulp, and a shiver skated down my spine. I wasnāt scared of Alex hurting me, b
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVEĀ Ā Ā 13
AVA POV:I agonizedfor days over whether to shoot Alex in a studio or outdoors.I took all of my photoshoots seriously, but this one felt different. More intimate. Moreā¦life-changing, like it had the power to make or break me, and not just because I might submit it as part of my portfolio for the WYP fellowship.I would have Alex Volkov all to myself for two hours, and I wouldnāt squander a single second.I eventually chose to shoot him in a studio. I booked the space in the universityās photography building and waited, pulse thumping, for him to arrive.I was more nervous than I should be, but maybe that had something to do with the wildly inappropriate dream Iād had last night. One that featured me, Alex, and positions that would make an acrobatās jaw drop.Even now, I flushed at the memory.To stave off the onslaught of unbidden, erotic images, I fiddled with my camera and stared outside the window, where hints of fall bloomed on the trees a
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