Page 121 of Dream On, Liar

I ignored her.

The video looped again.

His gaze found me.

That same softness settled over his features.

And this time, something inside me answered it. Not loudly. Not enough to name. Just a quiet, treacherous little ache beneath my ribs.

Because I’d seen that look before.

I’d felt it across treatment tables and crowded rooms.

I’d just never allowed myself to wonder what it meant.

Until now.

I closed the app. Samyra’s phone taking over my screen once again.

“He’s a cricketer,” I replied softly. “And even if that wasn’t the issue—my father gave me strict rules about no fraternising remember?”

“Aren’t you still planning on transferring once you come back? The PR nightmare has begun to descend ever since you’ve put out your statement. Plus, the win helps their case too.”

“Still a cricketer.” I reminded her.

“Yeah, but isn’t it different this time? He’s not going to date you to get closer to your father.”

“I think he maybe be closer to him than I am.”

She shook her head at my tone. “What was the second reason for that rule?”

“Cricketers tend to retire in their late 30s to early 40s. I don’t want to be a one-stop, for most of our lives. I also don’t want to ask someone to pick me and make them give up something. He’ll just resent me for life.”

Samyra’s eyes softened, reading between the words easily.

Nothing about that rule was about some stranger, or a kid in grammar school trying to date me because he was a fan of my father. It was about my father himself.

“Plus,” I added. “He’s already broken rule number one, as well. I leave when they lie.”

“Yeah, but I would say you’ve put him through a ringer enough to make up for it.”

“I guess.” I shake my head. “Anyway. How’s your prep going? I want to hear all about that!”

“Okay. I also visited Mochi this week. Gave him some extra cuddles for you, so you know, he doesn’t think you’ve totally abandoned him.”

“You’re the best.”

She nodded, a grin settling on her lips as she reached over somewhere behind her phone screen. “The masks for the invitations have started to arrive…”

And for the rest of the evening, I spent my time listening to my best friend talk about her event, making sure I give her my full attention, like she had given me. But once we hung up, and I watched the stars light up the clear night sky, I couldn’t help but replay the moments in my head, over and over again.

21

Rihaan

THE GAME ENDED IN a draw.

Nobody had exactly celebrated it, but nobody had mourned it either. After the tension of the last few weeks, I had welcomed the strange middle ground of it. No victory parade. No disappointment hanging over the dressing room. Just the quiet relief of knowing we had an upper hand on them, plus with a few days before the final series and, for once, nothing immediate to fix.