P.S. You’re the Worst

An Enemies to Lovers, Forbidden Romance

Get ready to return to Hell’s Bend, where Darla Burke meets her match in this edgy & seductive, enemies-to-lovers romance.

The light of the full moon shines on the still water like a spotlight. The quiet serenity wraps around me, the scent of chlorine mixed with the night. The girls sit on the edge and soak their legs as I drop on a lounge chair inside an open cabana. I hated this idea at first, but in the solitude of the darkness, I give myself permission to drop the mask and just . . . be.

“Let’s get this party started.” Xander’s voice breaks my Zen. I look up to find him at the brim of the pool with a bottle of champagne in his lifted hand.

Shy blanches. “Where did you get that?”

“I grabbed it from the bar.”

“You have to put that back. Swimming is one thing, but they’ll notice that’s missing when they take inventory.”

But Xander’s already peeled back the foil before she finishes her statement. The pop echoes around us. “Ooops. Too late now.” He tips his head back and takes a long swig from the bottle before letting it drop between his fingers. “Bein’ bad feels pretty good, huh?” He dangles it before Shy, as Eve offers the forbidden apple.

She looks up with a scowl but brings it to her lips. A petite belch escapes her throat, and the girls giggle.

Yes, even Darla. She fucking giggles, and the sound hits the tip of my dick like lightning. I bend my knee to hide the budding erection taking shape, but all bets are off when she pushes to her feet and pulls off her top.

A black bra cups her tits, the plunging lace contouring around each perfect mound. The pants go next, and what do you know, the panties match. If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s that girls don’t bother with matching undergarments unless they plan to be seen in them. In other words, she came out tonight with a purpose, and that purpose was to get laid.

She dives into the pool. Enveloped in blue, she kicks her legs and swims across the bottom before bobbing back to the surface. Xander follows, though his cannonball is far less graceful. “You comin’ in?” he calls to Shy.

“I’m okay here.” She takes another drink and sets the bottle between her thighs, wringing its neck with her hand. Darla swims over and stands in the shallow end. I can’t hear what the girls say next. A quiet exchange, I assume Darla coaxing Shyanne into the pool, because she takes the champagne as Shy scrambles to her feet and slowly starts to undress. But I’m not looking at her. I’m too busy watching the way Darla’s throat moves as she takes a strong pull from the bottle, then licks her lips.

“You comin’ in, bro, or what?”

I roll my head across the cushion to look at Xander. “Nah. I’m good.” It’s a half lie. The truth is the idea of getting wet beside Darla pulls all the blood away from my brain. She did that shit on purpose, and I’m playing right into her hand. I’m dizzy with desire. Swooning from the idea of owning her smart mouth for a second time. I want to make her beg, want to hear her unraveled moans whisk across the night sky as she comes apart, but it’s a long game. The phrase “all is fair in love and war” exists for a reason. Darla has already dropped the most destructive bomb in her arsenal, and I am about to try every tactic in the book to win, no matter how dirty. I’m simply biding my time.

It isn’t long before the bottle’s empty and the noise of splashing dwindles to the soft sounds of whimpers emanating from the corner of the pool. Soggy footsteps approach. Darla drops into the seat beside me with a huff. “Looks like your boy went for it.”

“Please tell me they aren’t fucking in the pool. My family swims here.”

A breathy giggle falls from her lips. “Nah. Shy wouldn’t screw a guy she just met. She ain’t like that.” She suddenly straddles the lounge and leans toward the end. “But maybe give them some privacy,” she mumbles before pulling the string on the curtain. It flutters closed like a butterfly wing. Copying, I tug on the other side, and both curtains meet in the middle.

Enclosed in the dark, I hear her breath blow in and out. She’s quiet for so long I can’t help but ask the question, “Are you asleep?”

“No.”

“You can talk to me, you know.”

A band of moonlight streaks in from the opening at the top of the cabana. It’s just enough to make out her profile, but it highlights the gleam in her eyes as she turns to look at me. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Well, I have nothing to say to you either, but we’re trapped here until my cousin is finished with your friend, so we may as well make the best of it.”

“Of all the people in that club, it had to be your fuckin’ cousin.”

I narrow my gaze. “What’s wrong with my cousin?”

“The only reason I even agreed to come out here was to make sure Shy doesn’t get fucked over by Johnny hormone out there. He may have her all wrapped up in a purty bow, but the reality of it is, you people don’t give two shits about anyone but yourselves.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t need to know you. I know your kind. You’re all alike.”

“Oh, and you think being poor somehow makes you a better person?”

“Well, I’m certainly more appreciative. I bet you don’t even know how to boil water. You’d fuckin’ starve if not for people like me bringin’ you the food you eat with your silver spoon.”

“Wow. And you have the nerve to get mad at me for generalizing? You’re just as bad.”

“You know what? Forget you. This is why I didn’t wanna talk to you in the first place. Clearly, you don’t listen.”

I sit up and kick my legs over the side. “I’m listening, but all I’m hearing is a lot of poor Darla.”

She mirrors my stance, her knees brushing mine. “Let’s get something out in the open. You might think I’m trashy, but in my neck of the woods, I’m the girl next door. I work hard, I play hard, I love hard, and I thank the good Lord above every day for the blessings He’s bestowed upon me, so don’t you dare accuse me of feelin’ sorry for myself thinkin’ I want what you got, ’cause all the money in the world can’t buy you class.”

My lips part, but no words emerge. I’m choking on the hate, drowning in the lust. She pushes to her feet, but I jump to mine and take her by the arm. Her chest heaves, brushing mine with each deep breath. I can’t help myself. I can’t stop the want flooding my veins as she stands before me, trembling and damp. I only wanted to keep her from leaving, but I can’t stop pulling her in the moment we touch. My opposite hand plunges into the wet tendrils tumbling down her back. It all happens so fast I’ve little time to consider the consequences. As soon as my lips touch hers, I know I’ve made a mistake I cannot come back from.

A shallow moan leaks off her tongue as I coax her mouth open with mine. For a split second, she melts in my arms. I feel her body loosen before tightening back up as she breaks us apart. “You asshole,” she growls, but advances on me, her teeth tugging my lips and her hands in my hair. “How dare you kiss me without permission?” Her words escape on a wanton breath. I attack her neck with my teeth. Her body arches, her leg wrapping around my waist for support. “I should fucking kill you right now.”

I direct us to her lounge—the very one where she reprimanded me for being a terrible person—and push her down. “This doesn’t have to mean anything.” I slide my fingers through my hair and secure it with the band around my wrist. “You can go back to hating me in the morning.”

“I hate you right now.”

“Good.” I crawl onto the lounge and run my tongue over her lace-covered nipple. Her head falls back, a breathless pant fluttering to the sky. I take it as an invitation. Venomous feelings aside, she wants me now, and that’s all I need to know.

ALSO BY JANE ANTHONY