Shauna gasped.
“It’s… it’s not like that,” she said, fumbling for the right words. “It’s… it’s…”
“Complicated?” Aditya supplied mildly. He smiled. “It usually is.”
These two were far too observant.
“See,” Sabrina continued. “It’s very obvious to us that you’ve tried to keep your distance from him after that night. And then he went to Dubai.”
Shauna glanced to the side and found Akash walking toward her again, his gaze zeroed in on her. Her eyes met his, and her pulse leapt.
Aditya clicked his fingers in front of her face, and Shauna snapped her attention back to him.
“And now he’s back in your orbit,” Sabrina continued. “And you don’t know what to do about him, isn’t it?”
Akash reached them a moment later, saving her from having to reply. Which was just as well, because she had no answer to Sabrina’s question.
“Aditya. Sabrina,” he greeted easily, nodding to both of them before his gaze slid toward her.
Aditya grinned. “There you are. You disappeared to Dubai and forgot about the rest of us.”
Akash laughed lightly. “Hardly forgot. I’ve been in touch with you.”
“Barely,” Aditya said.
“Then I apologize,” Akash said, lowering his chin. “To be honest, Dubai was hectic. Dev had this whole plan for how totrain me, and I only had a few months to learn everything I could from him. But it was good. Honestly, I fell in love with that city.”
“Yeah?” Aditya asked, curious. “That good for you, huh?”
“If there was any city in the world I’d think about living in, it would be Dubai,” Akash said. “The energy there… the pace, the ambition, the vibe of the place. It suits me.”
“That’s amazing,” Sabrina said warmly. “I like it too.”
Akash looked around the room before addressing her. “I met your brothers several times while I was living there. I’m happy to see they could make it here.”
Sabrina smiled in the direction of her brothers, the Oshnovs: Mihir, Armaan and Vedant. They were married to Rajiv’s sisters in Dubai.
“I’m happy they’ve found friends in this crowd,” Sabrina said, smiling. “They needed more people in their lives.” She looked at Akash. “I heard you and Armaan really hit it off.”
Akash chuckled. “He’s wild.”
“That he is,” Aditya said. “And so mischievous. Just like you. No wonder you both got along like a house on fire.”
Akash smiled lazily. “What can I say? Armaan clearly has excellent taste in people.”
A couple of months back, thanks to Aditya and Mihir’s wife, Ananya, Sabrina had been reunited with her brothers after many years. Shauna was aware about their sad history and how painful their separation had been, and she was genuinely happy they’d found one another again.
What surprised her, though, was hearing that Akash had become friends with the Oshnovs. Then again… perhaps it shouldn’t have surprised her. Most people liked him. He was relaxed, playful, and warm with everyone else. It was only with her that he became arrogant and cutting.
She let out a sigh.
But today had been different. Today, she had glimpsed the side of him he rarely ever showed her. And that, perhaps, was the real reason her heart had been behaving so strangely all evening.
Because that version of Akash was… appealing.
Far too appealing.
She quickly looked away, lifting her glass to her lips as though the champagne might steady the sudden flutter in her chest. God. This was exactly why she needed to keep her distance from him. She set her glass down on the table, the urge to escape him suddenly overwhelming, when the music picked up.
