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“You’re right. I’m losing my mind over him…” Tiya dropped her face in her hands. “I have all these feelings for him… A few nights ago, for a minute, I thought that he and I could become more. But he dashed those hopes rather rudely. He was quite mean about it, actually.”
Myra lifted her hands and held them in hers. “Oh, Tiya. That is exactly why I didn’t want you anywhere near him. He can’t give you what you want. He can’t be with you.”
Hearing those words repeatedly said to her was like a sword going through her chest. It hurt. God! Why did it hurt so much?
A tear slipped down Tiya’s cheek. She brushed it away angrily.
Myra wrapped her arms around her. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this. This morning, when Vihaan called me up, he was quite concerned about you. He’s so tight-lipped about everything that he refused to tell me anything except that he needed to find you urgently. Despite everything, you can rest assured that he does care for you.”
“What am I supposed to do with that, Myra? It still hurts. All of it,” Tiya breathed out, her voice soft. “He’s the first guy in forever who’s made my heart sing. He’s mischievous and naughty, and yet he has that underlying heaviness in his eyes, that weight on his shoulders that I want to share with him, if only he’d let me in.”
“He won’t let you in. He can’t.”
“I know that but I need to know why. I need some answers to understand why he won’t be with me when I know it’s special. I’ve seen how he reacts to me. He feels something for me, I’m certain of it. He’s just running away from it, refusing to accept it.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Myra shifted to look at her face. “Maybe you’re making it up in your head and even though he cares for you, it’s not more than that for him.”
Her lungs constricted. Oh God! What if Myra was right? What if it was all in her head? Perhaps this soul-crushing attraction was one-sided. Vihaan had always been clear why he was in this arrangement with her. After all, he was a serial womanizer. Perhaps, she had only imagined how he felt about her. If that was the case then how could she blame him?
“God! I’m so stupid. I’m craving a man who doesn’t even want me.”
Myra clasped her cheeks. “Forget about him, Tiya.”
“And how am I supposed to do that when the world ceases to exist when I’m with him? And when he touches me…when I’m in his arms…it’s special. Unforgettable. Unbelievable. The way he makes me feel…I can’t…I can’t even describe it in words. It’s that good.”
“Shit! This has progressed way more than I expected,” Myra exclaimed. “Get out of this now. You have to make this platonic with Vihaan. No more touching and no more doing whatever naughty things that you both have been up to. It has to stop. You hear me?”
Tiya nodded, shifting away from Myra. “I met your friends, you know? Rajiv and Sheena.”
Myra’s eyes rounded. “Where?”
“AtClub Poseidon. Didn’t Vihaan tell you?”
“Didn’t I tell you how close-mouthed he is?”
“Well, they were nice. God! This situation sucks, Myra. I mean I’ve always understood you have secrets because you’re a part of the Rajpoots, and now I’m stuck in this too, and I don’t even know what the hell is going on around me. I mean, I’m not stupid. I can guess—”
“—please don’t guess. Don’t make assumptions at all because whatever you think of, there is more. A whole lot more that I can’t share with you. And that’s why you need to end this thing with Vihaan as soon as you can. Forget that he needs your dad’s business. He will find another solution for that. Just tell your parents the truth and walk away from him, Tiya.”
Myra’s words swirled in her head. Maybe ending this with Vihaan would be the best. It was already way too screwed up. Perhaps walking away was indeed the answer. But then how would she thwart her parents’ matchmaking again?
A loud shout from outside drew her attention to the window. She rose. Vihaan was dribbling the football from one end of the lawn. All too soon, he had a clear shot to strike the ball into the goal post. But instead of shooting it, he passed the ball to a little girl across from him. The girl shot the ball straight into the net. Her teammates roared in approval, cheering her. They all then ran to Vihaan giving him high fives, screeching in joy. He lifted the little girl and put her on his shoulder, carrying her around the small lawn in a victory march.
Tiya’s heart stumbled. She rested her arms on the window, watching him. How was she not to fall for him when he did sweet things like this? He was a good person, even though he insisted otherwise.
Vihaan put the girl down and swung around, his eyes pinning on Tiya. He ran both his hands through his overly long hair, his jacket nowhere to be seen. The sharp lines of his tattoo peeked from under his t-shirt. He gave her a soft smile before the kids around him distracted him.
Myra came to stand next to her. “I’m still so annoyed that you and he got together like this. I don’t like it, not a bit. You have to promise me you will keep your distance from him for the remainder of your arrangement. And it has to be just that…an arrangement. You understand?”
Tiya sighed. “I promise to think about everything you said, Myra.”
There was too much process and she needed to be alone to think what her next steps ought to be.
Myra grabbed her in a hug. “I have to go meet Shaurya for lunch. Be nice to Vihaan, Tiya. He’s a bit broken, a lot scarred and is battling with several demons. But he’s a good man and he does really care about you, even if he doesn’t want you the way you want him.”
Nodding, Tiya watched her friend leave. Vihaan entered and Myra paused to whisper something to him before she waved at Tiya and went on her way.
Tiya huffed out a breath. She was standing at a crossroad. One direction forced her to continue down the road ahead with Vihaan, and the other led her away from him.
