Twisted Hate (Twisted 3)

JOSH

After Jules stormed off,I squeezed in one run down the advanced ski slope before I met up with Alex and Ava for lunch.

I assumed Jules had returned to the lodge after our failed ski lesson, but the fourth spot at the table was conspicuously empty.

I eyed it, distractedly answering Ava’s questions about how my morning went, before I asked, “Where’s the redheaded menace? Off sticking pins in a voodoo doll somewhere?”

Considering the way she’d stomped off, I wouldn’t be surprised if the voodoo doll was of me.

I didn’t know what possessed me to offer her ski lessons in the first place. I blamed it on the mountain air and the champagne I’d imbibed on the flight, but spending a morning with Jules hadn’t been as terrible as I’d expected. Plus, it’d been worth it for her reaction alone when I asked how badly she wanted to fuck me.

My mouth tugged up at the memory of Jules’s crimson cheeks. She could deny it all she wanted, but she’d thought about it. I’d seen it in her eyes, felt in the shallow rise and fall of her chest against mine.

She hadn’t been the only one thinking impure thoughts.

Our fall had been an accident, but the way her curves molded to my body had been a revelation. We’d both been bundled up in winter clothing, but in my mind, we might as well have been naked. I could picture it so vividly—her silky skin, her lush curves, her aggravating snark melting into a moan as I fucked her senseless…

Fuck.

I snapped open my napkin and placed it over my lap. My cock strained against my zipper, and I prayed neither Alex nor Ava noticed my uneven breaths as I reached for my glass again.

I didn’t know what was in the air that made me fantasize about Jules so much today, but it was fucking with my head. I’d been this close to doing something crazy earlier, like—

“She texted and said she’s not feeling well.” Ava sipped her water, her expression cagey. “She’s resting at the cabin.”

My arousal cooled at the new information. “She was fine an hour ago.”

Alex arched an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

Shit.“I, uh, ran into her on the slopes.”

“Jules said she didn’t go skiing.” Suspicion flared in Ava’s eyes. “She stayed at the lodge after she picked up her phone from the cabin.”

Double shit. “Maybe she went to the ski run first, then changed her mind.” I lifted my shoulders in what I hoped was a casual shrug. “Who knows? Her mind works in strange ways.”

A tiny smirk touched Alex’s mouth.

Luckily, the waiter arrived and saved me from further interrogation. After we placed our orders, I shifted the conversation to Ava’s latest assignment at World Geographic magazine, where she worked as a junior photographer. Nothing animated her more than talking about photography.

I half-listened as my sister rambled on about her project documenting the city’s street art scene. I loved her, but I gave zero shits about photography.

My eyes strayed again to Jules’s empty seat. Knowing her, she had a minor headache and was claiming near-death symptoms.

Probably.

Maybe.

She’s fine. I cut into my chicken with unnecessary force.

Whether Jules was being her usual dramatic self by forgoing lunch or actually dying, I didn’t care. It had absolutely nothing to do with me.

* * *

By the time lunch ended,I’d pushed Jules out of my mind…for the most part. I didn’t blink when Ava left to check on Jules and bring her lunch, but my muscles knotted when she insisted Alex and I hit the slopes without her.

I’d avoided one-on-one interactions with Alex all morning. It seemed my luck had run out.

I fixed my eyes on the horizon as we walked toward the triple black diamond, our conversation consisting of nothing more than the soft crunch of our boots in the snow.

We’d exchanged a few sentences here and there at lunch, but Ava and I had dominated the discussion while Alex ate quietly.

That had always been our dynamic, even before our falling out. I talked, he listened. I was the extrovert, and he was the introvert. Ava used to jokingly call us yin and yang.

I could say the same for her relationship with Alex. Her sunny optimism was as far removed from Alex’s icy cynicism as the sun was from the moon, but they somehow made it work.

“Fifty bucks says Ava stays with Jules and doesn’t join us,” Alex said as we approached the ski run.

I snorted. “No bet. Jules always drags her into shit. I wouldn’t be surprised if we returned to the cabin and found the place on fire.”

Unless, of course, Jules really was incapacitated. Ava hadn’t elaborated on what she’d meant when she said Jules “wasn’t feeling well.”

Was it a migraine? A stomachache? Was she hurt after she’d crashed into me earlier?

Worry clawed up my throat before I forced it back down. She’d stomped off well enough after my joke. She was fine. If she wasn’t, Ava would’ve freaked out more.

Before Alex could answer, our phones emitted simultaneous pings. We checked our messages, and I shook my head when I read the texts.

Ava: I’m staying with Jules for a bit. Don’t wait up for me. I’ll see you at dinner.