Page 71 of Reckless Dare

“The voting will be done soon,” she said, looking at Neeraj’s tensed face.

He nodded, his eyes on the students inside the large room where they were casting their votes electronically. “Yeah.”

The results would be given in less than an hour or sooner if there was a clear majority. Ava hoped Neeraj would win with a wide margin.

She was aware of her tormentor’s eyes on her. Normally, she would avoid looking at him. But that day, she looked.

Her stomach fluttered, noticing his intense eyes trained on her face. Even though her instinct was to look away, she held his gaze in challenge.

He was surrounded by his cousins and a huge group of friends and supporters. And she was with Neeraj and most of the Eagles team. But despite being surrounded by dozens of people, she held his stare.

Her heart picked up its pace when his mouth twisted slightly. And when his eyes fell on her lips, her breath hitched. She recalled their kiss, especially the second one when his tongue ran over the seam of her lips. Heat exploded inside her and she felt the tip of her breasts stiffen under her uniform shirt.

Shocked and embarrassed and unable to hold his gaze anymore, she looked away abruptly.

The movement caught Neeraj’s attention. “Something wrong?” Neeraj asked, leaning close to her.

She shook her head, unable to find her voice as her body continued to tingle with awareness.

She needed to shake the thoughts of her tormentor away, but it was getting harder.

After the passionate kisses they shared during the play, her tormentor was turning into a permanent fixture in her head. She even dreamed of him during the night. And most of those dreams didn’t end with a kiss like in the play.

You hate him.

She reminded herself once again of who he was and what he had done to her.

“Here comes the election commissioner,” Neeraj announced.

Neeraj went to meet the university official along with her tormentor. Ava kept her eyes on her tormentor, hoping to enjoy the look on her tormentor’s face when he was told he lost. Neeraj had spent the past few weeks campaigning while her reckless tormentor was simply chilling and tormenting her.

“Congratulations, Mr. Abhiram Simha.” The university official shook her tormentor’s hand. “You won with a ninety percent majority.”

Abhiram Simha smiled politely at the official. “Thank you, sir,” he said as though it wasn’t a big deal and he was expecting the outcome.

Ninety percent? How can that be possible?

It meant that many of the Eagles house team students had also voted for Abhiram Simha.

Her heart thudded sickly and she dragged her eyes away from her tormentor to look at Neeraj who looked upset and pissed. Wanting to console him, she began to walk closer.

Her tormentor was still standing in the way, now joined by his cousins and friends. They were hooting and cheering.

“Hey, Harvard,” her tormentor called out. “That was a good campaign.”

She felt pissed and glared at him for mocking her and Neeraj.

But her tormentor remained unfazed. “You had good ideas and you don’t need to be a part of the Student Council to make recommendations. Email them to the committee.”

She was taken aback by his statement and felt confused. Before she could react, his cousins and friends dragged him away with celebratory cheers.

“What did he say to you?” It was Neeraj and he looked quite pissed.

Dragging her eyes away from her tormentor once again, she shook her head. “He just said it was a good campaign.”

Neeraj looked outraged. “What a smug bastard! He’s trying to rub it in.”

Her tormentor hadn’t sounded smug. She was confused by his behavior. Abhiram Simha sounded as though he genuinely cared about the students and invited everyone to contribute with helpful ideas.

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