Page 23 of Enemies with Benefits

"Look...have you ever met anyone you just couldn't stand?"

"I'm a cop,andI was in the Marines. Both can give you examples of some of the worst people in existence...or the most insufferable at least."

I snorted. “Fair. But I'm talking just...because. Not because they're a pompous douchebag who thinks being a Marine makes them a god among lesser, wimpier men, or because they're some lowlife who gets off on pushing drugs on the desperate, or because they're a raping murderer. I mean...you meet someone and you just can't stand them. Anything they do just...pisses you off."

"What like...look at that motherfucker, standing there...listening to music...that kind of thing?"

"Basically, yeah."

"Can't say I have. Ever."

"Maybe it's just one of those things only some people experience. And maybe most of them just feel it toward one person and it...sits quietly and festers, or they avoid one another."

"But not with you and Jace."

"Nope, completely and absolutely mutual. We didn't have a reason to hate each other, but it took us no time to find reasons. He's so insufferably serious about everything and takes every little thing personally. He treats me like an insufferable bastard who can't take anything seriously and who thinks the sun shines out of my ass."

"You, uh...are very familiar with what he thinks of you, then?"

"Well, I did, but I doubt it changed much over the years. You saw us, the thing that's changed is that we're older."

Kayden snorted, stirring his drink thoughtfully. "You two can't stand each other, but you seem to know him pretty well...as much as someone who hates him can."

"That's the funny thing about hate, you notice more about someone than if you liked them," I said with a shrug. "We couldn't stand each other from the start, and we just kept finding and giving one another reasons to hate each other."

"Interesting."

"Is it?"

"Yeah. In a fucked-up kind of way, that almost makes you his longest relationship with someone...even longer than me."

I leaned back, staring at him. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, it's a toxic as hell kind of relationship, and yet the two of you probably know each other better than most of the friends you've had, and previous partners...well, your sister excluded, of course. I'd hope your twin sister knows you better than the guy you've hated on sight from the start."

"One would hope. But finding a 'cute' way to call our hatred a relationship is a quick way to find something slipped into your next drink that won't let you leave your bathroom for a couple of days."

"Tsk, threatening an officer, off duty or not, is pretty bold."

"I've never lacked for boldness."

"Clearly. Speaking of...were you the biker who pissed off my partner to the point of obsession?"

"Wow, are you trying to goad me into incriminating myself in an obvious crime by using my desire to piss Jace off as leverage?"

"I don't know, is it working?"

"Mmm, is this...off the record?"

"Definitely."

"Mmm...I'll exercise my right to remain silent."

"Damn," Kayden said with a huff, leaning back in his seat and sighing. "I mean, we're not supposed to treat that as an admission of guilt, and technically, officially, I'm not. But person to person, that was definitely you and you're probably crowing in your head knowing you got under his skin without him even knowing it was you."

"If I did do what he accused me of without outright accusing me of it, I could picture myself finding some amusement in the whole thing," I said with a shrug. In fact, I was having a hard time not bursting into laughter again. Of all the cops I could have possibly given the slip, it was the most delicious coincidence, if not outright trick of fate, that it would be Jace. "At least he can't add accusing me of doing it on purpose on top of everything else, though. I can't stand the bastard, but after we no longer had to see each other all the time, I stopped thinking about him. I had no idea he'd become a cop. Considering his obsession with 'the right thing' or at least his version of it, and his temper, I shouldn't be surprised."

"That's...a way of looking at it, I guess," he said, looking uncomfortable.