She squealed shrilly again as she felt her weight shift dangerously, then giggled when she steadied herself back.
"You're not going to fall, for god's sake," he rolled his eyes. "I'm holding you, am I not?"
Smiling, she looked up at him and felt a soft blush creep up her cheeks. His forearms were right under hers so that he could hold her by the elbows while he stood in front of her, skating backwards. She felt herself tilt again, and with a sharp gasp, her hands tightened around his biceps, making her redden profusely. She wanted to wipe this stubborn smile off her face. It might give him the wrong idea. But she was loving this. Not the closeness between them, of course not! She meant the skating. It was fun, something she had wanted to do since forever. Yes, she was having some trouble, but she was also enjoying herself. And the man before her was looking so at ease that she was feeling her own clumsiness ebb gradually...
***
"Let's try something else now?" he grinned. Arnav began shifting to her right, only to have her wrap her hand around his wrist. Stunned, he looked at her. She had not realised what she had done, it appeared. Her eyes were wide with fear and hesitation.
"What are you doing?"she gasped.
He ogled at her, confused for a moment. Had he done something wrong? Was he touching her somewhere he shouldn't be? He checked his hands; they were safely secured around her upper arm and on her back. "What am I doing?"
Her eyes danced in their orbits frantically. "Don't let go of me, I'll fall!"
He almost laughed, but he stopped himself. He certainly didn't want to laugh at the girl he was trying to woo, right on her face. But she was looking so cutely funny that he could stop the chuckle. To think that this same girl had been begging him to leave her alone the past few days, and now she didn't want him to let go of her... Dammit! How could he not fall for her?
Gently, easing an arm around her waist, he bent nearer to her. "I promised you I won't let you fall, Khushi. Trust me, I won't." He felt her breath hitch and get stuck in her throat, making him smirk wolfishly.
***
Colour rose up her cheeks as he pulled her flush against his hard chest, his arms looping firmly around her waist. "You were great," he grinned down at her, winking shamelessly.
Cheeks burning, she tried to shove him away but it was of no use. He was already too strong for her and in addition, the roller skated were making her too unsteady for her liking. So, Khushi went on sulking at him.
"I want another date!" he announced nonchalantly.
"Haww!" she exclaimed almost immediately. "No! You asked for one, I gave it to you, now leave me alone!"
Arnav Singh Raizada lifted an eyebrow cockily. "I don't think so. You still aren't wearing my gift."
"And I'm never wearing your trinkets!"
"Come on, Khushi," he rolled his eyes. "You know you like me! And what was wrong with this date?"
She looked down at the walkway, scowling. "Nothing, but it doesn't mean I can keep doing this. I told you I'm not that kind of girl! Leave me!"
"Just a while ago you had asked me not to, right?"
***
She was still frowning, but her body had slumped slightly in defeat. He felt a pang of guilt again, but he desperately wanted to spend more time with this stubborn girl. He wanted her to like him! Sighing, he put up his best puppy-face. "Please, Khushi? One more date?"
She glared at him. "Just one?"
"I cannot promise you that," he replied rather cheekily, causing her eyes to widen. "Look, if you don't agree, I'll kiss you, right here, right now, in front of everyone here. Not that I mind, of course! I would love it, but I'm sure it would embarrass you."
She reddened violently at that and his rakish smirk bloomed even more. "Why are you doing this to me?" she whined. "Have I done something wrong to you?"
Had she? "Oh, yes, Khushi Kumari Gupta," he whispered. "You have." She stared at him, appalled, and he took a deep breath, feeling the raw desire course through him, before he could continue. "You've snatched my peace of mind. I can't sleep properly and I can't even concentrate properly on my practice session. When it comes to girls, I'm done. I don't notice them, I don't want to notice them. All I can think about is you. You owe me this date, Khushi."
***
Khushi shuddered. Well, that was not exactly her fault, was it? She inhaled deeply, with determination and with one quick, unexpected push, she pulled herself out of his embrace and fell back on the bench to quickly take the roller skates off. When she stood up again and looked at him, he was frowning in confusion.
"What will you do if I refuse you this one more date?" she asked.
"Because you are refusing me?"
She squared her shoulders and looked at him severely. "Yes, I am. What is happening to you is your problem, not mine. Look, I am not used to things like this. Find someone who is and take her out. I am fine the way I am."
Lips upturned she started walking away but the stubborn man skated alongside her, scowling. "What will it take to make you accept, woman?"
"I won't."
Arnav roughly held her by the elbow and pulled her back to him. "You like me too, Khushi. I told you, you have snatched my peace of mind and I will not relent until we are back equal. But, I don't want my peace of mind back, I want yours in return, so I will have it. Tell me, what will it take to make you accept."
***
Her eyes started filling up she freed herself yet one more time. "I cannot, I will not!"
"Will you accept if I make you admit to you have feelings for me?" he demanded.
"Make me," she retorted harshly. Unwillingly, she turned around once to glare at him, to show him through her eyes that she would never be as foolish but in his determination to pursue her, he had miscalculated his steps, twisted his foot and fallen face down on the ground. Khushi gasped. Everything had happened so quickly that she had not been able to do anything, yet, she had seen in happen in slow motion...
Her heart pounding, she kneeled down beside his inert body and turned him over. "Mr Raizada! Mr Raizada, are you okay? Open your eyes, for god's sake! Mr Raizada!"
She heard him sigh. "You shouldn't have done that, Khushi." He opened his dark eyes and she realised he had set her up. "You really should not have, because now, I'm definitely not letting you go so easily." He sat, gazing at her, his head tilted slightly. Blood rose up again. She was so stupid! "Let's meet here again, tomorrow, say at ten?"
Khushi glared at him insolent face, expecting that infamous grin that had come to making her heart beat erratically, but she found him smiling mysteriously at her, and just like that, she felt that her lips were mechanically curving into a gentle smile too. There was a flash of triumph in his eyes before he pulled himself up to his feet and hauled her up too. Silently, he gestured her to wait while he changed his shoes and adjusted his bag over his back. Then, he took her hand and led her to the ice-cream vendor.
***
She whined in protest when he boldly grabbed her hand and pulled it to himself so that he could have a lick at her chocolate ice-cream. "It's delicious," he declared, making her blush furiously. She knew exactly what he meant, the devil incarnate.
"How am I supposed to eat this now?" she grumbled.
Arnav raised his eyebrows innocently. "With your mouth, like normal people do?"
"But you... you ate from it!"
"So?" he winced incredulously. "Am I a pig or something that has contaminated your ice-cream? If you're upset that you'll miss some, then you can eat out of mine, I don't mind."
Khushi narrowed her eyes. The infuriating idiot! He knew exactly what was bothering her! She wanted to... A tiny smile threatened to break on her face. Whatever she wanted to do or think, he was a sweet idiot, her heart prompted, only to be admonished by her mind. She gingerly frowned at her ice-cream and sighed. She could not waste food, especially when it was chocolate and tasted so good. Anyway, who was looking? He had just taken a lick from that, right? It wasn't as if he was kissing her. A grimace contorted her face and she closed her eyes tight before reluctantly finishing of as quickly as she could. Unknown to her, Arnav had stopped eating to watch her. He chuckled to himself. The girl was completely crazy!
"Did you like it?" he grinned. Her eyes popped open as she choked and coughed, causing him to tamp down his laughter with some difficult as he patted her back. "Are you okay? I was talking about the date, Khushi, what were you thinking?"
Pouting, she swiped her hand across her lips with a withering glare at him, after which, she looked away. "How many before me?"
Arnav quirked an eyebrow in question. "Sorry, what?"
"How many girls have you brought on such a date?"
The grin returned to his face right then. "Why? Someone is jealous?" She made a move to get up, but his hockey player instincts were sharper and he had held her back before she could. "Nobody. Like this, nobody." Her eyes turned onto him, hooded. "I have never really dated anyone, to be honest with you. It was just... random stuff... Forget about begging a girl to date me! That is a huge blow on my ego, mind you, but for you... anything..."
She turned her face away a minute to late; he had already glimpse the pinkness of her cheeks and the half-smile on her lips. Damn! She would definitely be the death of him... His heart hammering, he bent and brushed his lips against her earlobe to whisper to her the promise of waiting for her as he had decided, before he kissed her cheek, pressed something into her hand and walked away, lest he lost the control he was trying to exert upon himself...
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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