‘Cruel. This feels like emotional sabotage. I hoped for better from you.’ Luv clutched his chest, then scanned the room, and locked his gaze on Siya. He gave Abhay a sideways glance and when Abhay narrowed his eyes, Luv laughed and made his decision. ‘Well, if I’m going to fail, I might as well go down in flames.’
‘No,’ Siya mouthed silently, but it was too late. Luv was already halfway to her, and in long strides, he took a seat right beside her, slowly nudging Meera out of the way, making her laugh.
Luv took a deep breath, then flashed Siya a smile that could melt concrete. ‘Siya, I want to say how it’s been such a beautiful thing watching you and Abhay banter your way into marriage. Anyone with half a brain can see that he adores you and you both have found a rare connection. Love can be… fickle, so cherish what you’ve found.’
Siya blinked, caught off guard by the sincerity and the hint of pain in his voice, but it vanished quickly and his resting smirk was back in place. For the hundredth time, Siya thought about how little they knew about Luv’s past, and what led him to be the Casanova he was today. Or was he really one? she wondered.
‘I mean,’ Luv continued, ‘if I wasn’t such a phenomenal friend, I might have tried to stop this wedding and declare my undying love to you, right here. Preferably with a song and somebackup dancers. But if he ever screws up, you know where to find me.’
‘Disqualified!’ Kashvi called out, shaking her head in disappointment.
‘Fine,’ Luv said, tilting his head to look past her at Kashvi, ‘I lost, but at least I lost with style.’ With a wink, he went back to the groom’s side and took his seat.
Her eyes darted to Abhay and saw his stare fixed squarely on Luv, who was unaware of the danger right next to him. There was no mistaking the flare of anger in those dark brown depths.
Luv caught his look and immediately raised both hands in surrender, eyes wide and innocent. ‘Hey! See, I’m no threat.’
Abhay cracked a grin at his antics, laughing as he looked down at his lap. The dimple in his chin dipped and her heart clenched at the glorious sight, and no matter how much she told herself to, she couldn’t look away from him.
The room dissolved into laughter again, and Siya noticed her father and Dhruv walk out of the room and into the elevator. A part of her was relieved she was no longer under her father’s scrutiny, but the little girl starving for affection in her wished this wedding meant more to her dad than an event with mandatory attendance.
‘Luv is out,’ Aarti spoke to the crowd. ‘We’re moving on to the next round. Kashvi, it’s your turn to pick the next victim.’
‘Alright then, Swayam,’ Kashvi leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, and rubbing her chin as if in deep thought. ‘I’ll give you a very, very simple task. You have to flirt with a woman in this room until you make her laugh. If she laughs within two minutes, you win.’
The energy in the room shifted as all eyes turned to Swayam. He raised an eyebrow with an arrogant ease, and crossed his arms over his chest. His biceps strained against the pastel blue kurta and Kashvi had to drag her gaze away.
‘What kind of prize do I get if I win?’ Swayam inquired.
Kashvi shrugged and said the first thing that popped in her mind. ‘You get to ask for a gift from the girl whom you make laugh.’
A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face, and his eyes locked onto hers with such intensity that her fingers tightened reflexively around the edge of the cushion. ‘Then you better be ready, because I’m going to make you laugh.’
A strangled snicker escaped her throat but she still waved him off. ‘You wish, but I’m immune to cheesy lines.’
‘Fair enough, but a man can try,’ Swayam mused, slowly rising to his feet. He took a step toward her, then another, until he was standing just before her. She tilted back her head to look at him, and from this close, she could see black flecks lining his honey-brown eyes.
Kashvi swallowed, her heart thudding somewhere just beneath her chest.
He rubbed his palms together and said, ‘Are you French? Because Eiffel for you.’
Kashvi scoffed, even as her pulse stuttered. ‘The bar is set really low, I see. You’re lucky I don’t deduct points for clichés.’
‘Are you a magician? Because whenever you’re around, everything else disappears,’ Swayam tried, tapping his chin.
‘Oh please, you’ve got to do better than that if you want a shot at winning,’ Kashvi taunted him, but she bit her lip, fighting to keep her face neutral.
Then, something shifted in his gaze. His smile softened in an intimate way, stripping away the performance, leaving only disarming sincerity that made her stomach flip. ‘For someone who hides behind sarcasm and one-line bravados, you’re the most honest person I’ve ever met. You walk into a room and light it up, and the worst part is, you don’t even notice it when you leave broken hearts in your wake as you go.’
She blinked at him, stunned and unable to fight the heat rising unbidden to her cheeks. ‘Swayam,’ she warned, but her voice cracked at the edges.
‘And your laugh,’ he added softly, his gaze darting down to her trembling lips. ‘You should hear it from this close. It’s unfair how it pulls at my heartstrings.’
Kashvi panicked. A sharp, overacted laugh burst from her throat, too fake and too obvious. She clapped her hands together and declared, ‘Fine! You win. Congrats.’
Everyone applauded and Luv let out a whoop but Swayam’s eyes never left hers. She knew without a doubt that he’d seen right through her charade. But all he said was, ‘Since I won, I’d like my prize.’
She let out a sigh of relief. ‘Go on.’
