Twisted Hate (Twisted 3)

My mouth curved at the mental image of a young Jules sneaking into a bookstore and hiding from her friends. A few months ago, when the only Jules I knew was the snarky, hard-partying one, I would’ve called bullshit. But now, I could see it.

Actually, save for Bridget’s bachelorette, it had been a while since I saw Jules party the way she had in college. Hell, it’d been a while since I partied the way I had in college.

Our first impressions stick with us the longest, but contrary to popular opinion, some people do change. The only problem is, they change faster than our prejudices do.

“Do you have a favorite book?” I wanted to know everything about Jules. What she liked, what she hated, what books she read and what music she listened to. Every crumb of information I could get to fill my insatiable need for her.

“I can’t choose one.” She sounded appalled. “That’s like asking someone to choose a favorite ice cream flavor.”

“Easy. Rocky Road for me, salted caramel for you.” I grinned at her scowl. “Your favorite flavor for everything is salted caramel.”

“Not everything,” she muttered. “Fine. If I had to choose one book, just based on how many times I reread it…” Her cheeks colored. “Don’t laugh, because I know it’s a cliché choice and a children’s book, but…Charlotte’s Web. The family that lived in our house before us left a copy behind, and it was the only book I owned as a kid. I was obsessed to the point I refused to let my mom kill any spiders in case it was Charlotte.”

My grin widened. “That’s fucking adorable.”

The pink on her cheeks deepened. “I was young.”

“I wasn’t being sarcastic.”

A small smile touched Jules’s mouth, but she didn’t say anything else as we departed from the bookstore.

It was near dinnertime, so we stopped by the diner she dubbed the best restaurant in town before heading back to the hotel.

“This place has the best burgers.” She flipped through the menu, her face alight with anticipation. “It’s one of the few things I missed about Whittlesburg.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” I glanced at the red vinyl booths, black and white checkered floors, and the old jukebox in the corner. “This place reminds me of an eighties movie set.”

She laughed. “Probably because the original owner was a big eighties movie fan. We used to hang out here all the time when I was in high school. It was the place to see and be seen. One time—”

“Jules? Is that you?”

Jules’s face paled.

I turned to the speaker, my muscles already coiled in anticipation of a fight, but my tension melted into confusion when I saw who stood next to our table.

The woman was probably in her mid-twenties, though her makeup and platinum bob made her look older. She wore a tight red top and an expectant expression as she stared at Jules.

“It is you!” she exclaimed. “Jules Miller! I can’t believe it. I didn’t know you were back in town! It’s been what, seven years?”

Miller?What the fuck?

I glanced at Jules, who pasted on an obviously fake smile. “Around that time, yeah. How are you, Rita?”

“Oh, you know. Married, two kids, working at my mom’s salon. Same as everyone else, ‘cept for the salon part.” Rita’s eyes lit with interest as she looked me over. “Who’s this?”

“Josh,” I said when Jules remained silent. I didn’t add a label. I wouldn’t know which one to use.

“Nice to meet you, Josh,” Rita purred. “We don’t see the likes of you around here often.”

I managed a polite smile.

Rita seemed harmless enough, but the tension emanating from Jules was so thick I could taste it.

“What’ve you been up to all this time?” Rita shifted her attention back to Jules when I didn’t engage further. “You just disappeared. No goodbyes, no nothing.”

“College.”

Jules didn’t elaborate, but the other woman pressed further. “Where at?”

“It’s small. You’ve probably never heard of it.”

My eyebrows winged up. Thayer was small, but it was one of the most renowned universities in the country. I bet my medical degree a majority of people have heard of it.

“Well, you were lucky to get out when you did.” Rita sighed. “This place sucks the soul out of you, ya know? But what can you do?” She shrugged. “By the way, I’m sorry about what happened with your mom and Alastair. That was crazy.”

“The house fire? That happened years ago,” Jules said.

“No. Well, yes, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” Rita waved a hand in the air. “Didn’t you hear? Alastair got caught having sex with one of his business associates’ daughters. She was sixteen, so it was technically legal under state law, but…” She gave an exaggerated shudder. “Anyway, his business associate went apeshit when he found out. Rumor has it he destroyed half of Alastair’s business and Alastair had to take out a bunch of loans to keep it afloat. That’s why your mom got such a small inheritance. It was all he had left. Some people say the associate was also the one who set the house on fire, but we’ll never know.”

Jesus Christ.The whole thing sounded like a daytime soap opera, but one glance at Jules chased away any disbelief I had.

She sat frozen, staring at Rita with wide eyes. Her skin matched the color of the white napkins stuffed into a little metal box on the table. “What—did my mom know? How come this wasn’t in the papers?”

“Alastair’s family kept it out of the papers,” Rita said, obviously delighted she knew something Jules didn’t. “Very hush hush, but someone leaked the info. Can you believe it? Your poor mom. Though she did know and stayed with him after so…” She trailed off and cleared her throat. “Anyway, what brings you back?”

“I…” Jules finally blinked. “My mom died a few days ago.”