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I groaned inwardly, wondering why I was dating her in the first place. No, scratch that. I knew exactly why I was dating her. She was calm, composed, poised, not prone to angry outbursts, and not too talkative - the complete antithesis of Tasha. How was I to know that the reason she didn’t talk much was that she didn’t have anything worth saying?
If you had actually tried to get to know Vinnie instead of spending all your time together trying not to misssomeone else, you would have known this, said a sneaky voice inside my head. I told the damn voice to shut up.
It was time to move this party along.
“Sona, I think this is a family matter. You and Tasha need to talk this through without an audience,” I said, ignoring the fierce glare that Sona shot in my direction.
“We’re all Tasha’s family,” she hissed.
Umm, hell no. Not after Tasha broke off off our engagement so unceremoniously. So what if the thought of marrying her had felt like a noose around my neck? I was prepared to go through with it for the sake of our fathers. She, on the other hand, had discarded me like a used paper napkin even before her mother reached Tihar jail. Ergo, I owed her nothing.
“Vinnie and I have plans for tonight,” I said, with gritted teeth.
Tasha made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort, so I turned to her and bared my teeth.
“We’re going dancing,” I announced.
“We are?” asked Vinnie in a high-pitched squeal that made my eyes cross.
“It was meant to be a surprise,” I said weakly.
Dammit! Now I’d have to follow through with it. Why couldn’t I have said something else? Zip-lining. Rappelling down an overflowing Doodh Sagar Falls. Coating myself with honey and lying naked on the beach. Anything was better than trying to shake my booty in a crowded nightclub. But Tasha’s expression made it worth the trouble. She looked like she’d swallowed a sour lemon.
On the other hand, the guys looked aghast.
“Dancing-is-for-sissies,” coughed Imran.
I ignored him and pulled out my phone as I slid out of the steel trap masquerading as a van. My driver was still in the parking lot of the hotel where we had left him when Sona shanghaied us into riding along on her recon mission. I gave him the directions to Paradiso.
“The car will be here soon,” I said, turning to Vinnie and helping her out.
“You’re really going?” asked Sona.
“Dancing?”added Samar, looking horrified.
“Just because you’re not aware of the civilised things in life, Rambo,” I began, just as Vinnie began to hop from one leg to the other like a child. Again, we all turned to stare at her. She smiled sheepishly.
“I need to visit the ladies’ room,” she said in a little-girl voice that made me cringe. She turned to Tasha, and her smile turned glacial. “Is there a loo in the commune?”
Tasha sighed loudly.
“Sure. Follow me,” she invited wearily.
The invitation was clearly only for Vinnie, but Sona sprinted after the two of them and everywhere that Sona went, Samar was sure to go. Marriage had turned my best friend into Mary’s lamb.
Well, I wasn’t staying in this gas chamber with only Imran for company. With an aggravated sigh, I stepped out of the van and stretched widely. I was planning to stand outside until they returned, but just before she walked through the gate behind the others, Tasha turned to look at me. The look in her eyes made me freeze mid-stretch, and I put my arms down awkwardly. Our gazes held, and I wondered if the longing and torment in her eyes were real, or just a reflection of what I felt.
She turned and walked away, and fuck me, but there was nothing I could do but follow her in. Just like Mary’s fucking lamb.
CHAPTER3
TASHA
Icould feel DV’s gaze burning a hole in my back as I walked on, stoutly refusing to look at him again.
Why was he here anyway? It had taken me ages to convince myself that I was better off without him because loving him with every fibre of my being, and knowing that he didn’t feel the same was agony. Absolute agony. Anything had to be better than that. I hadn’t bargained for how grey and colourless my life would feel without him. And when he had turned up so suddenly, life felt awash with colours, even if a large part of it was bilious, jealous green.
This was the kind of woman he liked? Vinnie was everything I wasn’t. Slim, petite, and dainty, as opposed to ungainly, awkward, unattractive me. No wonder he wasn’t brokenhearted when I called off our betrothal. She must have been waiting in the wings. I tossed my head angrily and sped up, determined to get away from DV and his leather jacket-clad perfection.
