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TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 𝟔
𝐀𝐕𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐕: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.I’d considered throwing the outfit away after we broke up because he’d 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 couldn’t hurt if I was angling for an unannounced evening moviethon with Alex.I couldn’t think of any good ideas to make him sad without being a total bitch, so I’d 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 LOVE 7
𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐏𝐎𝐕:I silently cursed Josh as I carried Ava upstairs. That asshole always put me in situations I didn’t want to be in.Case in point: sleeping in the same room as his sister.I’m sure he would be even less happy about it than I was, but I hadn’t set up the guest room—I never had guests, not if I could help it—and it was pouring outside, so I couldn’t bring her home without both of us getting drenched. I could’ve left her on the couch, but she would’ve been damn uncomfortable.I kicked open the door to my room and set her on the bed. She didn’t 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 LOVE 𝟖
𝐀𝐕𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐕: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 didn’t want to wake up, but I’d 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 coziness—had my bed always been this big and soft—before 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, up—straight 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 it…and realized, to my abject horror, that I was touching Alex Volkov’s dick. Unintention
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 𝟗
𝐀𝐕𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐕:OPERATION EMOTION:PHASE DISGUST“You already brought me welcome-to-the-neighborhood cookies.” Alex stared at the basket on the dining table.“These aren’t welcome cookies.” I pushed the basket toward him. “These are an experiment. I tried a new recipe and wanted to see what you think.”He made an impatient noise. “I don’t have time for this. I have a conference call in half an hour.”“It won’t take you half an hour to eat one cookie.”Yes, I had finagled an invitation inside Alex’s 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 didn’t know about him, but I’d prefer if we forgot about that morning altogether.“Fine.” He peered at the confections with suspicion. “What flavor?”Asparagus, raisins, and garlic brittle.I’d 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 LOVE 𝟏𝟎
𝐀𝐕𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐕:The experiment is a failure,but at least it’s over.” I sucked down the rest of my cranberry vodka. I’d nursed it for so long all the ice had melted and it tasted like fruity water. “Thank God.”“Too bad.” Bridget looked disappointed. “I was looking forward to seeing Alex lose his cool.”“He still can. The experiment isn’t over yet.” Jules wagged her finger in the air.Unease crawled down my neck. “Yes, it is. We decided on four phases: sadness, disgust, happiness, and fear.”“There are five phases.” Jules’s hazel eyes sparkled with mischief. “The last is jealousy, or did you forget?”“I never agreed to that!”We were at The Crypt, Thayer’s 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.“But it’s the best one,” Jules argued. “Don’t—”“Ava.”I stiffened at the sound of my name said in that voice. The voice that used
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 𝟏𝟏
𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐏𝐎𝐕:Thayer University’sannual alumni charity gala was the event of the season, but while it did raise money for the latest cause du jour, it wasn’t 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.“…pass the bill, but it’ll get killed in Congress…”I 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 LOVE 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.“I’m okay,” I said, wrapping my arms around my torso. My voice sounded scratchy and unsure. “Really.”That only made him more furious.“If you’d attended Krav Maga lessons like I’d asked, he wouldn’t have been able to corner you like that.” Alex’s voice was soft. Deadly. I remembered his face when he’d pounded Liam’s face into a pulp, and a shiver skated down my spine. I wasn’t scared of Alex hurting me, b
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 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. More…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 wouldn’t squander a single second.I eventually chose to shoot him in a studio. I booked the space in the university’s 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 I’d had last night. One that featured me, Alex, and positions that would make an acrobat’s 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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