Tempting Hatred: A Dark Bully Romance Read online

  “Then we better keep a very close eye on the parking lot. We can do shifts, but I’m pretty sure James would come at night, so you might want to take a nap or something now,” Oliver replied.

  I wasn’t tired at all, but I knew that staying up all night wouldn’t be easy. I always adhered to a strict sleep schedule because of my classes, so pulling all-nighters wasn’t a regular thing for me.

  Oliver set up a hammock just far enough back in the trees not to be seen from the apartment, and he put out an old green camping chair near the edge of the overhang to watch the parking lot from.

  I watched the muscles beneath his white t-shirt move as he arranged everything. I felt a bit useless, but I didn’t know how to set any of this stuff up, so I let him do the work. I figured he owed it to me after all that had happened. It was his fault that we were up here in the first place, but all my anger melted away as I watched him arrange things for us. Oliver was a special kind of handsome.

  Oliver and I had woken up twice in the night to make love. I couldn’t get enough of his finely tuned body, nor could he get enough of my curves. He claimed every inch of me, and I was glad for it. I needed a man like him after all these years alone. God, I didn’t even realize how badly I craved being fucked until I was beneath him.

  But now we had no more time for fun and games. The jig was up, and it was time to catch James in the act so we could get him out of my life for at least another few years. It would be enough time to finish school and change my name, hopefully running off with Oliver to some other city far away.

  The man of my dreams fiddled with some odd device on the ledge, frowning in concentration as he adjusted a few things and looked through a magnifying lens. It wasn’t a telescope, per se, but it appeared to be something to magnify his phone’s camera while it was attached to a tripod. He probably used it to spy on me in the past.

  “Did you watch me in the shower with that thing,” I asked from the hammock.

  Oliver chuckled. “I can’t see into the shower from the bathroom window. The field of view is too narrow.”

  “What about through the blinds in my bedroom?”

  Oliver paused. “Let’s not talk about that now, shall we?”

  I shook my head at him and smiled. “You were such a creep.”

  “I still am,” Oliver said, getting up. “But this time, I’m not getting paid for it.”

  Oliver’s camera was set up to record when ready, and we waited on the ledge for any sign of James. After a few hours, I began to grow bored and listless, but Oliver remained hyper-focused on the parking lot. This was nothing new to him.

  The sun began to set, and I had already eaten all the snacks. “We might starve to death,” I noted as Oliver stared off into the empty space ahead of us.

  “There’s more food in the truck,” Oliver said blandly, not moving his head.

  I sighed. “Are you going to get it, or do I have to?”

  “You need to get it if you’re hungry,” Oliver said. “It’s almost sundown. James could be at the apartment any time now.”

  I climbed out of the hammock, which proved to be difficult because of how high the sides were. The damn thing wouldn’t stop swinging as I stumbled out of it. My hands hit the pine needles on the ground as I rolled out. The ground was sticky with sap from the trees, and it transferred to my hands easily. I tried to wipe it on my pants, but most of it wouldn’t come off. Great.

  “I’m going to the truck,” I called to Oliver.

  He was still transfixed on the parking lot, not moving an inch as he answered, “Sure, be quick, though.”

  I started my trip back through the woods to the truck. It was easier going back since it was downhill, but I knew carrying food up the hill would be a struggle. I was already tired even though I had done very little today.

  It took me about five minutes to reach the truck. It gleamed a fiery red in the setting sun, casting orange and yellow reflections onto the slick pavement. I walked around the back of it, unlatching the side door that led to the cramped backseat where the food was stored.

  I shifted through what we had bought at the little gas station on the way back. There hadn’t been much healthy food there. I found a few energy drinks and a big bag of chips that I could bring back. There were hotdogs too, but I wasn’t in the mood for that.

  I pulled out a bottle of water and some peanuts, satisfied with my haul, and turned around. Standing across the road from me, was James.

  Chapter 24

  James looked just as I had remembered him, aging very little in the three years since I had spoken to him last. He was a bit taller, but not as tall as Oliver, wearing the typical rich guy khakis and a polo shirt. I hated everything about his stupid outfit.

  I couldn’t move, but my hands let go of the food they were holding. A can of soda cracked open and fizzed out on the tar as it rolled away from me. My heart was not just racing in my chest. It was banging against my ribcage, trying to break through the bone and rip through my flesh.

  “You look good, Lydia,” James said, his face in a permanently cold expression. It was always like that, since the day I had met him. I wasn’t even sure he had emotions.

  “What are you doing here?” I breathed, struggling to force the words from my clenched throat.

  James took a step toward me. “I’m here to get you. I want you back home with me.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” I said, glaring at him. How dare he come back into my life like this. I was through with him.

  James rubbed the soft spot on the bridge of his nose between his eyes. “See, I was afraid you might say something stupid like that. I don’t want to hurt you, Lydia, but I might have to in order to get you to behave.”

  I swallowed, but nothing moved down my throat. My mouth was bone dry, and every fiber of my being was trying to tell me to run.

  James took another step toward me, then another. He was only a few feet away from me now, and I still hadn’t run. Had I jumped in the truck the minute I had seen him, I would have been safe. I could have gotten away. Now, there was no way for me to outrun him. He was bigger and faster than I was, and he would be able to do anything he wanted once he snatched me up.

  I spotted a black Civic parked down the street. That was his car, and I was going to be tossed in the trunk and taken away from Oliver.

  James took another step closer. “Lydia, let’s go. We can talk about this,” he said softly.

  I didn’t believe a fucking word that left his disgusting lips. He horrified me and made me want to vomit again. I wanted to push his eyes so deep into his thick skull that they burst and bled into his demented brain.

  I looked at him with fury in my soul. I hoped that he felt that. I hoped that he knew how appalling I found him and how much I wanted him to disappear from this world forever.

  “Talk to me,” James said, coming even closer.

  The world moved in slow motion as my brain raced at lightning speed to figure out how to get away from him. On the surface, I appeared still and afraid, but on the inside, I was shaking with hatred. There was only one thing that I could do now. I had to fight.

  “Lydia, say something-”

  I lurched at him. The second my hand made contact with him I felt a jolt of bad energy through me. Everything he had done to me, all the torturous words and actions that had made me feel little and worthless, all the pain and hurt that I kept inside, all the fear that drove me to run from men in my life, all of that came out the minute I touched James again.

  I shoved him pack hard, which he wasn’t expecting. He fell on his ass, scraping his hands on the rough pavement as he braced himself during the impact. I screamed out Oliver’s name, praying that he could hear my shrill voice from where he was sitting.

  James sprung up quicker than I expected. The front door of the truck was halfway open when I felt a push against my back, slamming me into the door and slamming the door shut.

  James grabbed me by the hair, slam
ming my face into the glass window. I bounced off, and he slammed it again for good measure. I wasn’t expecting this level of violence from him, but with how long he had to sit on his negative feelings, I wasn’t sure that he wasn’t planning on killing me now.

  I threw back an elbow, hitting between his ribs and causing him to let go of my hair. I spun around to face him, dazed but not down from my collision with the car window.

  James came back at me, his fists flying toward my face. He seemed to want to do as much damage to my head as possible, probably to knock me out. I ducked the punch, and his fist cracked against the window.

  “Fucking bitch,” James shrieked as he pulled his hand away. There was blood oozing from his split knuckles, but the glass on the truck was still intact.

  I wouldn’t be able to outrun him, but maybe I could fight him off long enough for Oliver to arrive. I yelled his name again, as loud as my lungs would allow. My voice burned in my throat and prompted James to sprint toward me.

  I was tackled to the ground, fists flying again. James grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my face, punching me as hard as he could. I yelped as I felt the impact of his bloody knuckled on my own flesh and bone. I was going to die in the street at the hands of my abusive ex-boyfriend.

  Chapter 25

  I heard a heavy impact against James as Oliver flew into him at superhuman speed. James' limbs went flying into the air as he was taken down by a man much larger and more powerful than he was.

  I turned to the side, one eye already swollen shut, and watched Oliver beat the living shit out of James. He pummeled every ounce of life from James’ already limp body, not stopping until he thought he might be dead.

  I climbed up to my feet, my body aches, and my lungs burning as I pulled in short breaths of crisp air. Oliver and I were alive, but I wasn’t sure if James was.

  “Call the police,” I said, coughed and holding my side.

  Oliver climbed off James. I could barely recognize James’ face anymore. It was a bloody mess. “You know, it’s a good thing I have a dashcam. I think assault is a much worse crime than criminal entry,” Oliver said, walking back toward me. “Are you alright?”

  I shrugged. “I’ve felt worse.”

  “I need to go back and get my phone, but I don’t want to leave this moron bleeding all over the pavement. Can you run and grab it?” Oliver asked.

  I nodded. “I’ll be back.”

  I took off into the woods, glad that this whole crazy mess was almost over. With video from Oliver’s dashcam, James was done for, if he wasn’t already dead, that was. I really couldn’t tell from the beaten heap of flesh on the road.

  Even though I was hurting badly, I felt relief knowing that everything was going to be okay. I had Oliver on my side, and James would never be able to mess with me after this. I was free.

  The looming pines looked a lot friendly now in the dim like of dusk. I was alive, and that’s what mattered the most to me.

  Epilogue

  I adjusted the green graduation gown that covered my body. It would have been a little too long for me, but I had worn heels to compensate. I waited in line for my name to be called, nervously picking at the skin around my fingernails.

  It was two years since James had his face smashed in my Oliver, and he had ended up with a lengthy prison sentence for assault, conspiracy to kidnap, and whatever other minuscule charges that would stick and make his sentence longer. I couldn’t even feel bad for James. He deserved to be locked away for as long as they could justify it. In my eyes, that was forever.

  I walked out onto the stage as soon as I heard the announcer say my name. I felt everything at that moment. I felt pride at having graduated top of my class, I felt love for Oliver’s support and encouragement to get me there, and I felt grateful for the life that I was so fortunate to have. The first few years of adulthood may have been rough, but things were only getting better.

  I saw Oliver’s crooked smile gleaming from the crowd. He was already standing and applauding for me before I even appeared on the stage to accept my degree and shake the dean’s hand. I blew him a kiss as I walked across the stage.

  Oliver had another semester left of school, but we planned on moving in with his grandmother until she passed away. After that, we would be heading out across the country to do some traveling before settling down together.

  Oliver was everything that a man should be. He was gentle, but firm when he needed to be. He was rugged and sexually exciting. He was intelligent and hard-working. He was mine.

  I shook hands with the dean of Briarwood, smiling out into the crowd of people who supported me. Mia was there, clapping her hands and jumping up and down beside Oliver. Those two were my everything.

  I was proud of myself that I never let James win against me. He had done a lot of damage, but he had also brought Oliver into my life, and in a fucked up kind of way, I had to thank him for that. If it wasn’t for James, Oliver and I would have never ended up together.

  Good riddance, James, but thank you for the pain and suffering you put me through. It’s how I know that Oliver is the right man for me. It’s why I love him so dearly, and why he loves me back. So, James, fuck you, but thank you.

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