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...
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