All Chapters of TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐏𝐎𝐕:“We should takethis somewhere more…private.” The blonde trailed her fingers down my arm, her hazel eyes bright with invitation as she swiped her tongue over her bottom lip. “Or not. Whatever you’re into.”My lips curved—not enough to classify as a smile, but enough to broadcast my thoughts. You can’t handle what I’m into.Despite her short, tight dress and suggestive words, she looked like the type who expected sweet nothings and lovemaking in bed.I didn’t do sweet nothings or lovemaking.I fucked a certain way, and only a specific type of woman was into that shit. Not hardcore BDSM, but not soft. No kissing, no face-to-face contact. Women agreed, then tried to change it up halfway through, after which I’d stop and show them the door. I have no tolerance for people who can’t keep to a simple agreement.That was why I stuck to a roster of familiar rotating names when I needed a release; both sides knew what to expect.The blonde w

𝐀𝐕𝐀 𝐏𝐎𝐕:“…Then said, never ask Ava to do something like this again, or I will murder you and your entire family,” Jules finished dramatically before taking a sip of her caramel mocha.“Shut up.” Stella leaned forward, her eyes wide. “He did not say that.”“No, he didn’t.” I shot Jules a disapproving look. “Stop exaggerating.”“How would you know? You were in the bathroom,” she countered. When my frown deepened, she sighed. “Fine. He didn’t say those exact words—at least, not the last part—but the general idea was the same. He did warn Owen away from you though.” Jules ripped off a piece of her cranberry scone and popped it in her mouth.“Poor Owen.” Guilt niggled at me as I traced absentminded patterns on the table. Jules, Stella, Bridget, and I were at The Morning Roast for our weekly Tuesday coffee catch-up, and Jules had been regaling the other girls with a hyperbolized account of what happened at Owen’s house on Saturday. “I wish he had

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

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

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