Page 90 of Reckless Dare

Ava didn’t say anything. She reached for the plates and grabbed an extra bottle of water before leaving the kitchen and going back to her room.

She knew where Pooja’s contempt was coming from. It was because of the guy seated on her bed waiting for her. Her heart skipped a beat when his heated gaze slid over her. There was no contempt in his eyes, if anything, his gaze remained heated.

“P-plates,” she said, her voice coming out slightly breathless as she handed him a plate.

He served the pizza slices on both their plates. The pizza looked and smelled amazing, but she could barely eat as she couldn’t swallow due to nervousness.

The look in his eyes made her body buzz with nervous excitement. He seemed as though he was ready to devour her along with the pizza.

She cleared her throat. “Are you done preparing for the pharmaceutical sciences exam?” she asked.

His eyes flashed in amusement as though he knew she was trying to distract him and tone down their sizzling awareness.

“Not yet,” he replied. “I usually just revise a day before the exams.”

She was shocked. She knew he was a straight-A student and she had heard him explaining a few concepts to some of the students who went to him to clear a few doubts. She assumed he studied each day like her.

“How is your preparation going on?” he asked.

She relaxed a little before replying to him with a short laugh. “I’m hoping it’s going well. It’s a lot harder than what I studied at Harvard. The concepts are quiet in depth.”

He nodded. “Yes, there is a Simha board that updates the curriculum frequently to make it relevant to real-world applications.”

She knew that. The concepts taught in Simha classrooms weren’t found in the standard textbooks. She had to look up and read the latest research papers.

“Is your younger sister going to pursue Medicine, too?” he asked.

She shook her head with a laugh. “No. She says there are too many doctors in our family. She is more inclined towards technology.”

There was a small smile on his face.

“What about you?” she asked. “Did you develop interest in pharmaceutical sciences because of your family?”

“Yes,” he replied. “My parents began taking me to pharmaceutical conventions when I was seven years old. They also took me to places to show how our products were helping people across the world.”

Ava had looked up Simha Pharma company. The company’s products catered to providing affordable medicines across the world without compromising on the quality or safety. She had also seen the pictures where the company donated free medicines to the underprivileged.

It’s odd that Papa has a fall out with such a family.

She knew she couldn’t ask her father that directly. But she hoped at some point, her father would willingly speak about it.

“Why aren’t your cousins pursuing pharmaceutical sciences, too?” she asked.

She knew Ved Simha was a computer science major and Rana was getting his business degree.

“My uncles run different companies. They are into media and transportation.”

“Oh.”

She had heard the Simhas ran a large global empire, but she didn’t dig into the details. The only thing she looked into out of curiosity after their date was what her tormentor’s immediate family did.

Her cheeks heated at the amused, knowing look in his eyes. But he didn’t call her out. Instead, he spoke about his childhood when he joined his family in countries in Africa and South Asia to distribute medicines.

“That’s when it became my passion, too,” he said about choosing pharmaceutical sciences.

She didn’t know an hour had passed when he got up from her study chair.

“I’ll let you get back to your exam preparation,” he said and closed the empty pizza box

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