Page 8 of Reckless Dare

The girls shrugged and turned away to continue going inside the main hall from the back entrance.

Biting her lip, Ava rushed out, hoping she could find the correct route to enter the main hall from the front entrance on time.

She hurried along the corridor and was about to open the large double doors when someone stepped in at the same time. She couldn’t stop her momentum and ended up crashing against the person. Her face met with a broad, solid chest.

“I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking, I—” She looked up and gasped.

The gasp wasn’t because her breath was knocked off her chest due to the impact. It was because of the guy in front of her.

Tall, broad and with a stunningly handsome face, the guy looked breathtaking. He was wearing the Simha sports uniform with a red-gold jersey. Something about him seemed familiar. Although she knew it was rude, she couldn’t help but stare at him.

He was looking at her too, with his dark, intense eyes. He didn’t say anything, and neither did he move away.

She didn’t know how much time passed, but someone called out from behind, making her jump.

“Abhi! Neela madam wants you inside.”

She jerked out of her trance. Feeling embarrassed, she tried to step aside to let him pass. But he had taken a step in the same direction. So she took another step in the opposite way, and the guy did the same. Her cheeks heated at their weird dance.

The guy’s eyes flashed and then a small amused smile twisted on his lips before he gripped her shoulders lightly to hold her still. He then stepped around her before continuing on his way.

She bit her lip as her cheeks heated even more. She wasn’t the kind to stare at guys or be completely flustered. Her sister always teased her about not having serious crushes or flirting enough.

But now, she wondered what her sister would think seeing her stare at the stunningly handsome guy.

The guy was probably used to having girls stare at him with a face like that.

She shook her head to push away the impact the guy had on her. She took a step when something about the name nagged her. Abhi. She turned slightly and watched the guy as he continued to stride away in long, confident steps.

A small gasp escaped her again when she saw the back of his jersey. The familiar logo and the words ‘Vipers’ and ‘President’ were on his broad shoulders.

Oh my God!

It was him. The student council president. The reckless bike rider she had stared at from the bus.

CHAPTER 4

Ava’s hand shook with strange excitement as she stepped into the main hall from the front entrance. Her shoulders tingled and she could still feel the imprint of the guy’s long fingers where he had gripped them.

She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart before stepping into the main corridor of the auditorium.

What’s wrong with me?

She was behaving as though she had never seen a handsome guy before. Of course, she had seen plenty of good-looking guys and even had them as friends and study partners during high school and at Harvard. Then why was she reacting that way?

It wasn't just because of how gorgeous the guy was. It was also the way he looked at her that made her thoughts go haywire.

Just a chemical reaction.

With that thought, she took another deep breath and entered the auditorium in the main hall. It was u-shaped and massive, and it was nearly filling up with students who were all enrolled in the undergraduate program at Simha University. There was a big stage in the front where the commencement speech would take place.

Ava looked around for a familiar face. Unfortunately, she knew it would be impossible to spot her roommate in the crowd. And besides, Nitya would want to stay close to her friends rather than babysit her new roommate.

“Your ID please?”

The person at the checkpoint waited as Ava scrambled and reached for her temporary ID card.

“Oh, a new student,” the person said with a smile, looking at the ID and scanning it. “Welcome to Simha University, Miss Patel. The new students are seated at the front. You will be in row 1A. Your seat for the event is at the stage level. Please follow the orange lane to the staff in the gray suit.”

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