Page 81 of The Rules of Playing with Fire

The backyard was chilly, but Grant seemed as familiar with this home as if it were his own. He promptly walked toward the outdoor furniture set and turned on a wall-mounted outdoor heater. Offering me a seat right underneath it, he proceeded to turn on the patio heater near the chaise set.

“I thought we were going to take a stroll,” I said, genuinely curious about his intentions.

“I wouldn’t think of subjecting you to that kind of cold.”

“Hey, I’ve been a New Yorker for a while now, so what you think is cold is lukewarm for me.”

As he laughed in response, I studied him, realizing just how warm his features were, so very similar to Mihir. Both had a gruff and crusty exterior but were soft as candle wax on the inside. Stubborn as they were, they both required fire to warm up their interiors.

“How are things with Mihir?” Grant’s strange question brought me out of my thoughts.

Privy to their close and honest friendship, I didn’t hesitate to reply, with some anger,

“Right now, I want to kill him.”

He unleashed a deep laugh. “Good,” he said. “That’s good. Hold on to that anger.”

“How’s that good?”

“Your anger means you care about him.”

I shifted in my seat. “Well, things have certainly changed since we last met, Grant.”

Positioned two seat widths away, he leaned in with a nod. “I know and that’s why I’m going to get straight to the point, Sona. Mihir likes you. A lot. He’s tough, but when he loves someone, he loves them all the way. I hope you know that.”

My face flushed with heat. It was what I had always wanted, but to hear it spelled out so clearly, so vividly from Grant’s lips, made my heart lurch.

I wrung my hands and he clutched them. “You are scared,” he said, reading my face.

“Yes,” I said softly.

“Well, you should be, because you have the power to hurt him. Be careful with him, Sona. Be gentle. If you like him, give him the love he deserves and nothing less.”

My heart thudded from fear. Fear of what, I didn’t know, but it was fear I felt.

“I respect your love for him, Grant, but have you considered that he might be the one to end up hurting me? Because he has the power to hurt me too.”

“If he does, he’ll have to contend with me.”

“Is that a promise?”

“A confirmed one,” he said as he stepped toward me to grab me in a tight hug.

“I still wish I had met you first,” Grant teased me while we switched off the heaters.

I hit his arm in jest. “Stop it,” I drawled. “Anyway, I’m not your type.”

“Oh, but you are,” he said with a teasing bump of the shoulder. “It’s just a shame I’m not your type.”

I gasped. “That’s what Mihir said!”

“That bastard.” Grant clenched his jaw in mock anger.

I laughed and patted his arm. “Thank you, Grant,” I whispered as we stepped back inside.

Back in the formal living room, we found Mike deep in conversation with Arvind uncle while Mihir sat beside his mom, both wearing serious looks. They stopped talking when they saw us.

“All good?” Sneha aunty asked Grant with a lighthearted grin upon reading my somber expression. Mihir sat on the edge of his seat, watching Grant’s face intently.

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