Hate To Love You — Gina Watson

Five years old is a good age to meet your soulmate. Too bad mine was Robert Briggs St. Martin, the troubled boy who tormented me throughout our childhood with his devilish smirk and intense blue eyes that held an irresistible pull I could not ignore-even when I wanted to wring his neck!The first day I met him he pulled my pet caterpillar in two. Poor Scooter. When I was twelve, he took my clothes from the sandbar and I had to emerge from the water naked in front of his friends. At sixteen, he tore my prom dress and my boobs ended up on the internet. It's what happened at eighteen that still gives me chills. . . I gave him my innocence and the next day he left.His torment caused me to miss high school graduation. Whatever. I've put it behind me. Four years later, I'm a successful college graduate with an invitation to grad school. I'm focused on my goals and becoming the manager at The Java Spot-as long as I can learn to love coffee. Are tastebuds trainable? And wouldn't you know who decides to show up in my life but the devil himself looking like sex on a stick. However, at twenty-two I'm far from the girl I was when I let his blue gaze lull me into being his plaything. Today, there was no way I would fall for his smooth-talking ways and twinkling blue eyes. Unfortunately for me, the universe hates me and enjoys seeing me suffer. Oh, and Briggs is enrolling in grad school and what are the odds-it's the same school. God I really needed to clean up my karma. And to add even more woe to this tragic tale, Briggs needs a thesis project starring none other than, you guessed it, me. But there is no way I'm giving him the time of day. . .But now even his muscles have muscles. . .Absolutely no way. And his eyes are even bluer. . .For sure, no way. His voice is so much deeper. . .Crap! There might be a way. Wouldn't you know, the explosive chemistry we have always tried to deny comes screaming back! Beneath our thunderous past lies an undeniable connection that has only grown stronger with age and hotter than I could have ever imagined! Five orgasms later, I discover that he is still the same old Briggs full of the same old tricks and lies. Did I mention I loathe myself?Is it possible to love someone even when you hate them? Asking for a friend.