Twisted Hate

9

If someone had told me a month ago that I would willinglyagree to a truce with Josh Chen, I would've laughed in theirface and asked what they were smoking. Josh and I were ascapable of acting civil toward each other as a tiger was ofchanging its stripes.But, as much as I hated to admit it, his reasoning madesense. I took pride in my work, and the last thing I wantedwas for my personal feelings to affect the workplace. Plus,I'd been so caught off guard by his apology my brainspazzed. I hadn't been able to think straight, much less wadethrough what the consequences of a ceasefire with Josh Chenmight look like.Surprisingly, they haven't been terrible...though thatmight be because I haven't seen Josh since the truce.According to Barbs, he only came in on his days off or whenhe wasn't wiped from a shift.I had no issue with that. The less I had to see him, thebetter. Part of me was still embarrassed by how I'd lost mycool when he accused me of not taking my job seriously.We'd hurled much worse insults at each other over the years,yet that one thing had made me snap.It wasn't the first time I'd been judged—for my looks andmy family, the career I chose and the clothes I wore, the wayI laughed too loudly when I was supposed to be demure andasserted myself too boldly when I was supposed to beinvisible. I was used to shaking off criticism, but the sneersand side eyes accumulated over time, and I'd gotten to thepoint where I was just tired.Tired of working twice as hard as everyone else to betaken seriously and fighting even harder to prove my worth.I shook my head and tried to refocus on the documentsbefore me. I didn't have time for a pity party. I needed tofinish fact checking a case today, and the clinic closed inthree hours.I'd gotten through half the papers when the door swungopen and Josh waltzed in, carrying a small box from Crumble& Bake."Oh look, if it isn't—" My favorite devil's spawn. I bit offthe rest of my words when Josh raised a challenging brow."My best friend's brother."It would take some adjusting before I curbed my kneejerk instinct to insult him the second I saw his face."Astute observation." He set the box on the table andtook the seat next to me. A whiff of his cologne floated over,mingling with the sweet scent wafting from the box. "Let meguess. You've annoyed the rest of the staff so much theybanished you to the kitchen?""If you had a modicum of observational skill, you'd noticethere isn't a desk for me yet." I forced myself not to stare atthe pastries. Don't give in to the temptation of sweets. "I'mworking out of the kitchen until it comes in. And," I pointedmy pen at him, triumph filling my veins,"you broke thetruce.""No, I didn't." Josh rolled up his sleeves, revealingtanned, lightly veined forearms. A heavy watch glinted on hiswrist, and as someone with an odd thing for men andwatches, I would've found the sight hot had he not been,well, him. "Sarcasm isn't the same as an insult. I'm sarcasticwith my friends all the time. It's how I show my love."I rolled my eyes so hard I was surprised I didn't enteranother dimension. "Yes, you obviously meant to show yourlove for me with your statement.""No, I meant to show my love for you with this." Joshlengthened his drawl with exaggerated slowness, like he wasspeaking to a child. He opened the box, and my eyes zeroedin on the cupcake sitting smack dab in the middle.Salted caramel. My favorite.My stomach emitted a low rumble of approval. I'd been socaught up in work I hadn't eaten since my paltry lunch of asalad and smoothie a few hours ago.Josh's mouth lifted into a smirk while I shuffled mypapers loudly to hide the sound. I wouldn't give him thesatisfaction of salivating over anything he bought."Consider it my official olive branch." He pushed the boxtoward me. "Along with me not mentioning how you brokethe truce by insulting my observational skills, which areexcellent, by the way."Only Josh could claim credit for not doing something hejust did.Instead of arguing with him, I poked at the cupcake withsuspicion. "Did you poison it?" There was a differencebetween being civil and buying someone their favoritecupcake unprompted."Nah, I was in a rush. Maybe next time.""Hilarious. Netflix should give you a standup special." Iplucked the cupcake from the box and examined it moreclosely for signs of tampering."I know." Josh oozed cockiness. "It's one of my manywonderful attributes."I fought another eye roll. There were probably a hundredpoor souls walking around with low self-esteem so JoshChen could sail through life with an ego the size of Jupiter.Satan must've been distracted the day he created hishellspawn and poured a little too much obnoxiousness intoJosh's beaker."How did you know salted caramel is my favorite?" Isquinted at a tiny black mark on the cupcake wrapper.A mere scratch from an errant marker, or proof of poison?Hmmm..."It doesn't take a genius to figure it out." Josh nodded atthe venti drink on the table. "Every time I see you, you'reinhaling a caramel mocha the size of your head."Okay, fair point. My love for all things caramel-flavoredwasn't exactly a secret."Keep it up and you'll get diabetes," he added. "All thatsugar isn't good for you.""So you're feeding me more sugar in the hopes I'llbecome diabetic." I tapped my pen against the table with myfree hand. "I knew you had nefarious intentions."Josh sighed and pinched his brow. "Jules, eat the damncupcake."I stifled a grin. I was mostly fucking with him at thispoint, and I really was starving. If I was going to die, I mightas well die eating something I loved.I peeled back the wrapper and took a small bite. Warm,delicious sweetness burst onto my tongue, and I couldn'thold back a soft moan of appreciation.Nothing beat a salted caramel cupcake after hours of work.Josh watched while I ate, his exasperated expressiongiving way to something I couldn't identify.Uncharacteristic self-consciousness pricked at my skin."What?"He opened his mouth, then closed it and leaned back inhis chair, lacing his fingers behind his head. "I like you a lotbetter when you aren't talking. I should bring you food moreoften.""Good thing I don't give two damns whether you like meor not." My words dripped with honey. "But if you want tobuy me food, go ahead. Just know I'll inspect every inchbefore it goes into my mouth."I realized my mistake before the sentence fully left mymouth.Shit. That came out dirtier than I'd intended.Josh's face split into a devilish grin."Don't." I held up one hand, my cheeks warming. "Saveyourself from whatever juvenile joke you were about tospew."To my surprise, he did.Josh tapped a finger on the pile of papers in front of me."You know there are other places you could work besides thekitchen.""Like where, the bathroom?" LHAC was tiny, and I didn'twant to impose on anyone else's workspace. "It's fine. It'scomfortable in here."If you overlooked the ice-cold temperature, rickety table,and stiff wooden chairs, that is. Still, it beat working fromthe toilet seat."Yeah, if you compare it to the Siberian wild."I released an annoyed sigh. "Are you here to work, or areyou here to pester me?""I can do both. I'm a great multitasker," Josh quippedbefore his eyes turned serious. "Heard we got a new casetoday.""Yep." I slid the papers toward him, snapping into workmode. "The Bowers. The mother, Laura Bower, fell down thestairs and can't work for the next two months. No insurance,so they have a crazy amount of medical bills, and she's thefamily's sole breadwinner. Her husband Terence got out ofjail a few years ago but hasn't been able to find work becauseof his criminal record. They have two kids, Daisy andTommy, ages six and nine.""They're facing eviction." Josh scanned the files.I nodded. "Laura needs a stable place to recover from herfall, to say nothing of the issues that accompanyhomelessness."Murky, unwanted memories crowded my brain at the lastword.Cold nights. Empty stomach. The incessant itch of anxietycrawling over my skin.My situation had been different from the Bowers, but Iremembered all too well what it was like to wake up everymorning and wonder if that was the last day I'd have a roofover my head and food on the table.My mother had been a cocktail waitress, but she'd beenmore interested in blowing her meager income on shoppingthan paying the bills. Sometimes, the lights would cut out inthe middle of me doing homework because she forgot to paythe electric bill. Eventually, I figured out how to siphonelectricity from our neighbor at the ripe old age of ten. Notthe most ethical solution, but I did what I had to do.A shiver rolled through me.You're fine. You're not that little girl anymore."I know her." Josh rapped his knuckle against the paperwith Laura's picture stapled to it, yanking me back into thepresent. "I treated her when she came in. Multiple brokenbones, heavy bruising, twisted ankle. Still, she was in goodspirits and making jokes, trying to keep her kids frompanicking." His face softened. "The ER can be a blur, but Iremember her.""Yeah," I said quietly. "She seems really nice."I'd never met Laura, but I could tell she was the type ofmother I would've killed to have.I cleared my throat in an attempt to ease the knot ofemotion that had taken residence there. "Legally speaking,the obvious solution is to clear Terence's criminal record sohe can find a job," I said. As the clinic's practicing attorney,Lisa needed to sign off on everything I did, and she'd agreedclearing his record was the best solution. "He was chargedfor marijuana possession. One ounce, and he spent a year injail for it."Heat crept over my neck the way it had when I firstlearned the case details. Few things pissed me off more thanthe inequity of draconian drug laws. "How stupid is that?Some rapists only get a few months in jail, but have a littlemarijuana on you and your record is stained forever. That'ssuch bullshit. You have weed farmers in Colorado raking inthe cash from the sale of marijuana while people likeTerence are vilified for it. Tell me where the justice is in that.I—what?" I stopped when I noticed Josh staring at me with atiny, almost fascinated smile."I've never seen you so worked up over something thatwasn't me.""Once again, you've proved your self-absorption knowsno bounds." My flush of anger cooled, though myindignation at the injustice of it all remained. "That's not mebreaking the truce," I added. "That's a fact.""Sure it is," Josh said dryly. "But you're right. There is nojustice in what happened to Terence."I cocked my head, sure I'd heard wrong. "Repeat that. Themiddle sentence."First the apology, then the admission I was right. Wasthat really Josh sitting across from me, or had aliensabducted him and switched him out with a more agreeablebody swap?"No.""Do it." I nudged his foot with mine, earning myself ascowl. "I want to hear you say it again.""Which is exactly why I won't.""Come on." I gave him my best puppy dog face. "It'sFriday.""That has nothing to do with anything." Josh heaved along, put-upon sigh when I deepened my puppy eyes. "I said,you're right." He sounded so disgruntled I almost laughed."Only about this one thing, though. Not anything else.""See. That wasn't so hard." I folded the cupcake wrapperneatly into a square and pushed it to the side for futuredisposal. "You have a decent smile when you're not being anass," I added generously, since we were being nice."Thanks."I ignored Josh's sarcasm and switched back to the case. Iwanted to finish all my work before I left so I didn't have tospend the weekend worrying about it. Our Vermont trip wastomorrow, and while I wasn't looking forward to two days ina cabin with Josh, I was looking forward to my first vacationof the year.I didn't count my trip to Eldorra for Bridget's coronation.I'd only been there for a weekend, and it'd been so crazy Ibarely had time to sleep, much less sightsee."Now, about the Bowers." I tapped my pen against thepaper. "Lisa mentioned we could provide free medicalcheckups for Laura while she's healing.""Yes. Usually, we have them come into the free clinic."Josh waved in the general direction of the exit, and it onlyoccurred to me now that he must've been staffing the clinicall day. The pop-up tent was set up outside LHAC, so Iwouldn't have seen him arrive. "But given Laura's situation,we can make home visits. We just have to fill out theappropriate paperwork..."For the next hour, Josh and I worked on the Bower casetogether. He created a checkup schedule and handled themedical paperwork while I finished fact checking the detailsand gathered the information we needed to clear Terence'srecord.I snuck a glance at Josh while he scribbled something on ablank sheet of paper. His brow etched with a frown ofconcentration, and I realized it was the first time I'd seenhim work."Like what you see?" he asked without looking up fromhis paper.Heat crawled up my neck again, this time fromembarrassment. "Only if the thesaurus changed like to be asynonym for loathe."The corner of his mouth curved up a fraction of an inch."Truce, JR."I couldn't tell whether the soft reminder was mocking ornot, but it made my stomach flip. Maybe he had poisoned thecupcake.I highlighted a passage in the case with more aggressionthan necessary. Josh and I made a surprisingly good team,but I didn't fool myself into thinking our truce was aprecursor to an actual friendship.Only a few things in life were certain: death, taxes, andthe fact that Josh Chen and I would never be friends.10JOSHThe brief camaraderie Jules and I experienced at the clinicfizzled less than twenty-four hours later, when I arrived atthe airport's private jet terminal to find her looking brighteyed, bushy-tailed, and all too smug about beating me to theairport."You're late." Jules sipped her coffee. No doubt it was acaramel mocha with extra crunch and oat milk because shewas lactose intolerant and hated the taste of almond milk.So predictable."We haven't boarded yet, which means I'm not late." Idropped into the seat opposite hers and frowned at heroutfit. Yoga pants and boots, topped with a fuzzy purplejacket and giant sunglasses she'd propped on top.