Page 4 of Dream On, Liar

Then, it had been a temporary solution to her problem. Considering the day she’d had—some of which I was to blame for—Vedant didn’t want her living with his once best-friend-turned-nemesis or go around searching for a hotel late at night that would let her crash with her cats while she found a new place to live. But then she’d gone and fallen in love with my best friend, Oliver, and well, I was now stuck with her and her two cats.

As much as I’d moved past my self induced issues with Raina, her cats were an entirely different problem.

In the past year, I’d come to the slow realisation that her and Oliver’s relationship wasn’t just something for the foreseeable future, but something far bigger. Truthfully, even when I’d started to suspect that something was going on between them, I knew it would be serious—considering they were the two most guarded people I knew, and there wasn’t a chance either of them would start something that wasn’t meaningful—but now that I had been around for longer than a breath around them, I’d realised just how much they meant to each other.

Which is why, I knew that eventually, I would need to follow in Vedant’s footsteps and move out. Granted, it wasn’t like the F1 schedule allowed him to be home much, and even during his breaks, he always preferred to stay back in Monaco. Over the years, this place had become another one of his pit stops, but between that and his recent engagement, it made sense for him to fully move out.

I wasn’t sure why it had bothered me so much. It wasn’t like I saw much of them when we were on a break, anyway. And we spent pretty much all the time on tours together. But still, it triggered old memories.

The ones that liked to remind me of when Ma had chosen Raina to go with her when she’d moved away, abandoning…me.

Between Vedant’s regional and European championships, and Dev’s Boarding School…I’d been the only one who had been around to feel the direct impact of her actions. Though, I was certain, my brothers were left to live in the aftermath too.

In a different world, I would like to believe that I didn’t see her as someone who held meaning to every cruel thing I’d made our Mother to be. Or better yet, serve as a reminder of being the chosen one. I knew she had no true control of the decision Ma had made, but as a kid, it’s hard to believe that. And if you tell yourself something long enough, it…sticks.

And between the lies that were told, and the brilliant job of being a parent our Father did, it only fuelled that fire.

There were days that I liked to believe that he did in fact do a brilliant job, but recently it’s been harder to do that.

For starters, who lies to their kid just to make sure they don’t find about the affair they had, and the secret love child it brought to this life? The one that ultimately decided the fate of his marriage, ensuring I was left abandoned by the one parent who’d balanced out his hard relationship with a softer one.

Vikram Patel.

That’s who.

“Rihaan.” Oliver called my name at a pitch I’d rarely heard from him before and an aggressive tap to the side of my head snapped me back to reality. The volume suggested he had called my name more than once, but the tap had been all my little sister.

Clearly, after a decade of being estranged, we were making up for lost time.

Maybe that’s why it bothered me.

Now, I wouldn’t be leaving just my best friend, but also a sibling I’d felt had abandoned me in the many ways I’d abandoned her.

Yeah…I came with a touch of abandonment issues. Whole package, really.

I blinked, focusing back on the two pair of eyes that were narrowed in concern.

“Yeah?”

“You okay?” Raina asked. It wasn’t what she’d planned to ask when she’d first walk inside the door, that much was clear. But, obviously, my zoning out had done more than just raise a few red flags.

“Sure.” I replied dryly. “My career is just being split open and dissected by every Sports reporter in the world who cares about Cricket, and I’m completely okay with that.”

“Hey.” Oliver snapped and I forced myself to suppress the eye roll. I knew I was being a dick, I just didn’t care.

Thankfully, it didn’t bother Raina.

Or, maybe it’s what she expected of me.

“I’m willing to bet my entire career that, that—,” she waved her hand around my stance, as though pointing out my attitude as she continued. “Is the reason you’re in this mess in the first place.”

“My glowing attitude? Or my ability to point out the obvious?” I prodded, ignoring Oliver’s pointed gaze on me.

“Well, it’s not your charming personality.” Raina stated, a hint of discomfort flashing through her expressions, making me frown. It wasn’t like our back and forth was something new, but maybe I was missing something.

“Raina?” Oliver’s gaze turned towards his girlfriend, his expressions morphing into one of concerned. “Do you—”

“I’m fine.” She replied firmly, before they exchanged silent words through their expressions. “I’m gonna freshen up.”