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“Stop it,” Harsh hissed, when he got into hissing range. “You look like you’re about to bite me.”
Raashi stopped smiling. “Well, some of us aren’t talented fakers,” she whispered, keeping her voice low.
“Shut up both of you,” Ram added to the hissed whispering. “There are cameras pointed in our direction.”
Harsh beamed another smile at her. Raashi blinked. It was potent, that smile, she thought a little dazedly. If they could bottle it and sell it, they’d beat Jeff Bezos in the money game.
“Cameras,” Ram mumbled again.
Harsh grabbed Raashi and pulled her in for a hug, her face ending up smashed against his chest. “I can’t believe you took so long,” he told the top of her head. “I feel like I’ve been waiting forever.”
“Ughbumpgh,” Raashi replied, her mouth smooshed in what felt like the softest sweater to have ever been invented. It even managed to smell divine. She wanted to marry this sweater and have its babies.
Harsh rubbed her back and ran a hand through her hair, making a fine trail of goosebumps erupt all over her skin. Raashi shivered.
“Okay,” he whispered near her ear now. “That should be enough for the cameras for now.”
What? Cameras? A little befuddled and disoriented, Raashi tried to straighten from her sweater induced stupor. Except, she couldn’t.
“Rash,” Harsh said out of the side of his mouth. “Get off me.”
“I can’t,” she gritted out. “I’m stuck.”
She yanked her head back but all that did was cause Harsh to stumble into her.
“My glasses are stuck in your sweater,” she mumbled, trying to take them off and wincing. It appeared Harsh’s rumpling of her hair had managed to get the glasses also caught in a lock of her hair.
“Don’t rip my sweater!” He sounded frantic as she tried to untangle the mess. “It’s my favourite sweater!”
Hers too. And she also happened to be fond of her hair, Raashi thought furiously. She could hear giggles and clicks as people took pictures of them.
“Hold on.” Ram’s calm voice broke through the moment as he slowly but steadily untangled them. It was only when he was done and she was able to step away that she saw that her poor glasses were in two pieces, the stem still dangling from a hole in Harsh’s sweater.
Oh no!
Like she’d known, sweet, bland and boring, they were not.
Thirteen
HARSH
“Dude, your girlfriend is already ripping your clothes.”
The sniggered remark had Harsh’s gaze lifting from Raashi’s flushed face to the jackass with his phone leveled at them. If there was one thing Harsh detested, it was being filmed without his consent. He knew it came with the territory, but it pissed him off nonetheless. He would pose for endless selfies if people just asked it of him. But people didn’t ask…they just took.
Ram took a step towards the man but Harsh was faster. He snagged Ram’s arm, holding him back. None of them needed an altercation playing out on prime-time news channels.
“Dude,” Harsh said mildly, mimicking the other man’s inflection perfectly, his hand clenched on Ram’s bicep. “Jealous much?”
The other guy glared but wisely held his tongue as he took in not only Harsh and Ram but also, Harsh’s security facing off with him.
Harsh wrapped his arm around Raashi bringing her resisting form towards him. Her hard head connected with his chest with a thunk. Jeez, trying to fake affection with this woman was going to leave him with bruises, literally and figuratively.
“Let’s go, sweetheart. We both need a drink to cool off after that.” He ushered Rock Head into the house the party was being held at. Ram followed closely behind, his irritation and anger rolling off him in waves.
“Aadhya!” Harsh waved to Aarush’s sister who was sprawled in a bean bag in a corner of the room. Her head popped up as she saw them, and he saw her smile tighten for a fraction before she struggled out of the bean bag and over to them.
“Hi guys.” Aadhya sauntered over to them on heels that looked like torture instruments. She frowned as she got closer. “Your sweater is torn,” she said needlessly. “And why have you got Raashi in a chokehold?”
