The next two days were a blur of long and grueling rehearsals and the coziest imaginable nights with Marley. Even though Shayne was back from France, he’d gone up north for a shoot for a few days, so Nikhil and Marley were still alone every night. Tyler was on to something—having someone warm to come home to did make the work so much better. Things between Nikhil and Marley felt as close to perfection as he could imagine, even with her recovering from surgery and him putting his body through the most intense physical demands of his life. Yes, she was still Mahreen, the epitome of perfection in his mind since high school, but the actual person, Marley, wasn’t the Mahreen he’d put on a pedestal in high school. Marley was sweet and funny and thoughtful, and she fit into her skin better than the girl he knew back then. She seemed… softer. Approachable instead of aspirational. She was willing to be vulnerable, and she was incredibly caring.
Nikhil realized that he hadn’t been in love with her in high school. Not really. He hadn’t known her well enough. He’d been in love with her perceived perfection. But now? The veil had lifted. He knew her better than he ever had. And he was completely,stupidlyin love with her. She was all he could think of—all he could focus on. All he wanted all day was to crawl under the crisp white bedding in her serene room and feel her warmth next to him. To smell her floral citrus scent. He wanted to look into those eyes, see past her cool perfection straight through to her warm core.
He felt like a different person thanks to her. He was at peace. He didn’t care about his haters or his fans. He didn’t worry about his family, his career, or anything. His mind didn’t swirl with not knowing whether the next step he took was solid ground or quicksand. She was his rock and his soft place to fall. She was everything.
He’d spent at least ten minutes looking at the soft skin behind her ear one morning while she was sleeping. He’d replayed that night on King Street over and over until he was aching hard, frustrated at the heavenly torture of sleeping next to her every night. He wanted her. In every conceivable way. Physically, emotionally—everything. And even though he knew that it was probably incredibly stupid to have let himself fall so deeply because he was in for a world of hurt when it all inevitably fell apart, he couldn’t make himself pull back. The past week with her was more than worth whatever would happen after.
On Friday after he’d been training with Serena for a few days, Nikhil came home to find Marley sitting alone reading on the sofa with McQueen on her lap. She seemed to be engrossed in a book and didn’t notice him coming in. Nikhil watched her for a few seconds, not wanting to disturb her. Her hair was a little damp—clearly, she’d washed it today. Her face was clean, and she was in sweatpants and one of Nikhil’s T-shirts. It did something to him to see her wearing his 5K Disney fun-run shirt. It was the most… comfortable and domestic scene ever. The evening sun lighting her face. The fluffy cat on her lap. The house plants. The yellow sofa. And the most beautiful woman in the world, who wearing his shirt.
“You going to keep staring at me like a creeper or come in?” she said, not even looking up from her book.
He chuckled. “Busted.”
She looked up at him, a small smile on her face. “What were you thinking, anyway?”
“That this is the nicest view to come home to. Is Shayne back yet?” He sat next to her.
She shook her head. “He came home, then went out again. Some influencer’s party.” She started scratching McQueen’s neck, which made the cat roll onto his back in pure bliss. Nikhil detected something in Marley’s voice there… a touch of resentment about Shayne. He’d gotten pretty good at reading her moods.
“I’m craving pizza,” Nikhil said. “I heard about a place that has a cauliflower crust that Reggie won’t yell at me for eating.”
Marley smiled. “Get me a mushroom-and-spinach. On bread… not cauliflower.”
He nodded, then ordered two pizzas from the app on his phone—the mushroom-and-spinach one for Marley, and a red-pepper-and-spicy-salami-on-cauliflower for him. Reggie would be pissed about the salami, but Nikhil needed a break from boiled chicken and protein powder.
After the pizza came and they’d been eating for a bit, Marley mentioned something about the party Shayne was at tonight. Nikhil detected a slight annoyance.
“What’s this party about, anyway?”
“Oh, it’s some influencer thing. He tried to get me to go with him, but there is no way I’m ready for that.”
“You don’t think he should have gone without you?”
Marley shook her head. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s… I’m being silly. Now that I’ve had my surgery, I hoped things would be morelike they used to be with him. I need to give it time. Hejustgot home from France.”
“How did things used to be?”
She shrugged as she finished chewing her bite. “We were always super tight. I know I’ve had a lot of crap to deal with… but since my mom’s cancer diagnosis, it’s kind of felt more… distant. I mean, he supports me, and I know he loves me, but…”
“You’re drifting apart a bit.”
“Yeah, exactly.” She exhaled. “I’m asking too much from him, I think. Shayne’s… well, he’s not, like, self-absorbed or anything, but he can be in his own head a lot. Especially when something big is going on in his life. That’s why…” She hesitated. Like she wasn’t sure if she should say something.
“That’s why what?”
“It’s okay. I’m being selfish.”
He shook his head. “No, you’re not. You do get that Iwantyou to tell me what you’re thinking, right? Tell me about all your shit. I’ll listen… always.”
She smiled, and it seemed a bit wistful. “You always have. In fact… you’re the reason why I notice when people aren’t fully here for me.”
His brows knitted together. “Huh?”
She sighed. “Back in high school, when my aunt was sick, Shayne was pretty wrapped up in his own problems at home. And I mean, they wererealproblems. His parents were terrible. But he didn’t even realize how sick Maryam Aunty was. Every conversation turned into being about him. But you always listened when I wanted to talk.”
He nodded. He’d listened because she’d seemed like she needed it. “I wanted to help you.”
“You asked me how she was doing almost every day. I could tell you about how much it hurt seeing her like that, about how much I missed the way she used to be.” Her voice cracked. “About how scared I was that she would never get better. No one else let me say those things without giving me their… stuff… back.”
