Page 76 of Reckless Dare

The waiter nodded. “Sure, sir. It is a slow night so you won’t have any disturbances.”

“Keep the TV sound low. Turn it off if possible,” Neeraj requested.

“Sure, sir.”

Guilt once again pierced her seeing Neeraj trying to make their date special.

As soon as the waiter left, Neeraj smiled at her. “You are awfully quiet tonight. Hope you are not too tired. I know you stayed up until midnight to send the last minute campaign material to all the students.”

Ava smiled. “No. I’m fine, Neeraj.”

His eyes lingered on her face. “I know you must be disappointed about me losing the elections today. I’m sorry for letting you down, Ava. I should have known that I stood no chance against a Simha and avoided disappointing you.”

Ava’s heart sank. “No. Don’t say that, Neeraj. Of course you didn’t disappoint me.” She frowned at how Neeraj thought about losing to a Simha. “Abhiram Simha isn’t a God, Neeraj. I’m sure it is a matter of time before he gets defeated.” She hoped it happened soon in one way or the other.

Neeraj’s face slowly lost the look of disappointment and he looked happy again. “I’m glad you feel that way,” he said.

She nodded before picking up the menu and looking at it randomly.

Her mind once again angrily wandered to her tormentor. She wanted to see her arrogant tormentor lose or feel the burn of disappointment like any other student at Simha. The guy was too much.

How dare he break into my bedroom and dictate who I could and could not go on a date with?

And how dare he kiss me.

Her body still tingled at the places where his hands and lips had been.

“What do you feel like eating? Can I order something special for you?”

Ava dragged her eyes away from the menu and saw that Neeraj was looking at her expectantly.

“Sure,” she said with a smile, putting the menu back on the table.

She usually liked to order for herself but she felt guilty once again about how she wasn’t focusing on her date and thinking about her arrogant, reckless tormentor.

Neeraj put in the order for them. Ava didn’t care what it was as she was far from hungry. Once the order was taken, she was once again faced with Neeraj’s smiling face.

“The place seems empty. But it's not always like this,” he said.

“Oh.” She wondered the same, especially when most students went out on Friday nights.

“There are races being held by the Simhas tonight,” Neeraj said with a look of annoyance. “To celebrate the election win.”

Ava recalled listening to the conversation from the Eagles team members.

“What is backward racing?” she asked, also recalling the part where the Eagles team guys were talking of picking up girls for backward racing.

Surprise flashed in Neeraj’s eyes. “How do you know that?” he asked. “It’s motorbike racing where girls sit on the bike facing away from the bikers.”

Ava was shocked. It sounded awful and dangerous.

But she also recalled the part where the Simhas supposedly didn’t condone it. She was about to ask when Neeraj froze and let out a curse.

“I can’t believe this!”

Wondering what had made Neeraj upset, she twisted to look at the entrance of the sports bar. She was shocked senseless.

Her tormentor had just walked through the double doors of the restaurant with a girl.

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