He Hates Me (Hate & Love Duet 1)

"Don't like what?" I raise my eyebrows at him. "That my friend returned my wallet?"

"That you have some other fucking guy coming to visit you in your apartment." He paces to the window, opening the drapes wide. Moonlight streams into the room as he groans. "I don't fucking like it, Pet. What did you tell him?"

"What was I supposed to tell him? Oh, there's some crazy ass stalker guy who gets insanely possessive and jealous when I so much as talk to other men?"

"Yes," Jas growls. "Or something to that effect.”

“Well, I did tell him something.”

His icy gaze fix me. “What?”

"That I was..." I swallow. "Involved with someone."

"You're not involved with someone."

His words make my heart sink and I glance at him, swallowing again. "Then what am I?"

"You're fucking owned by someone. You're mine, Petal. Did you tell him that?"

I have to fight the urge to smile, covering my mouth and pretend-coughing. "No, I didn't."

"So, he thinks you're fucking available?" Jas looks like he's about to break something.

"Well, am I not?" I hiss in response, throwing the covers off me and getting out of bed, too. I'm still naked, and I can feel Jas' eyes devouring me as I storm out of the room.

He catches up fast, grabbing me by the hand and pulling me against him as he growls, "Don't walk away from me."

"What should I have told him, Jasper?" I demand. "That I'm single?"

"You're not fucking single."

"Then what? Am I your girlfriend? Your lover? Will there ever be some sort of title to our relationship? Is it even a relationship?"

He hesitates, and the moment is long enough for me to tear myself free of his grip. I storm off, hating him more than I ever have. He races behind me and tries to grab me again. I don't let him hold on, and I rip myself out of his reach.

"Just stop it, Jas. Enough."

"Enough of what?"

"This... bullshit!" I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. "You're acting like you own me, but you won't even call me your girlfriend. What kind of man traps a woman, not letting her meet other people but won’t give whatever we have a title?"

"The kind that isn't letting you walk away from this." He backs me up into a corner and my back flattens against the wall. "You're mine, Petal, whether you admit it or not."

"All you've done so far is give me whiplash.”

"And make your wildest fantasies come true." He smirks. I don't need the fucking reminder and he knows as well as I do, if he reached between my legs right now, his fingers would get wet. "Fight it all you want, but you're obsessed with me, too."

"I'm not," I murmur.

"Oh, you are. You can't help it."

I roll my eyes. I don't want to argue with Jasper again, but he's getting on my last nerve.

"Maybe I should leave you be for a while," he says thoughtfully. "Let you deal with your own problems. You need to learn how to take better care of yourself, anyway."

My breathing catches. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe you should go on a date with Bill," he delivers the punch, making my heart and my head hurt. "Maybe it would be better for you to date a normal, regular guy."

"But..." I don't finish my sentence. Jas heads back into the bedroom and I follow in his footsteps, shaking all over. I want to hurt him. Scratch him. At the same time, I want to beg him to stay, to keep me, but I'm too afraid to so much as open my mouth.

I watch silently as he pulls on his jeans, and then looks over to me, saying. “Maybe it’s time to end the fantasy. It wouldn’t have lasted anyway."

Those times I was thrown out from my foster homes play in a loop at the back of my head, then the times my last two boyfriends broke up me, then all the times anyone and anything I cared about abandoned me.

Something snaps inside me then, and I lose it.

"You fucking jerk! How can you say that to me? How can you fucking abandon me, you monster? You're just like everyone else! Just like everyone who's left me!" I approach him and start slamming my fists against his chest, cursing him out, screaming at the top of my voice. "I hate you, Jas, I'll never forgive you, never forget this, you sick bastard!"

Jasper does his best to stop me, but when it doesn't work, he simply grabs me and throws me over his shoulder. "If you're not going to calm down right now, I'm going to force you in the shower and hose you down, Petal."

It only makes me crazier, and when I'm kicking him, my foot lands right in his crotch. Jasper groans, and though he must be in excruciating pain, he still sets me down softly, trying to make sure I'm okay before holding his bulge and cursing out loud.