Page 210 of Snap Shot

“You were watching?”

“No, I saw some highlights.” Cheers and questions about my whereabouts call beyond the teak door. “Is that why you called, or…?”

A yelling rickshaw driver and a honking truck sound out from outside the window.

“Where are you?”

“Mumbai.”

“Mumbai, India?”

Someone obnoxiously knocks on the door. “One minute!” I move away from it and towards the AC unit where the conversation is less likely to overhear. “Seriously, Radek. What is it? We haven't spoken in months, it's ten p.m. on my birthday, and my cousin's getting married in four days. I'm sorry you guys lost, but I don't know what that has to do with—”

“You weren't there. You’re my lucky charm.”

“Landon.” I huff, rubbing the suddenly throbbing point between my eyebrows.

“And we haven't talked in months because you didn't want to. You wanted time and space…”

“Istillneed time and space. How am I supposed to get over you when you're texting and calling me constantly?”

The conversation skips a beat as the line goes quiet. Landon's voice lowers. “I don't want you to get over me.”

“Clearly!” I throw a hand up, accidentally grazing one of Nani’s money plants vining from above. “But if you truly want to be friends, you have to let me move on. That's why I'm here. My family's looking for someone for me. To marry.”

His throat clears. “And you agreed to that?”

“Yes.” I roll my eyes, both at the situation and at the man who shouldn't care about anything to do with my future marriage. “Who knows? Maybe I'll find the love of my life.”

His teeth grate and grind in my ears. Even from seventy-five hundred miles away, the man gives me goosebumps. “None of them are as good for you as I am.”

“Well, they actually wanna marry me, so…”

That elicits a wince. His voice softens. “Don't do it, Indi.Please.”

The headache spreads and I can't deal with it any longer. “You robbed me, Landon. Maybe it was too soon, but I had a whole life—an actual future—imagined for us. I would've waited.Youdidn't want it, so don't try to makemefeel guilty.”

He whimpers in response.

“You broke my heart. Stop trying to fix it.”

The window seat receives my thrown phone as I hang up to make myself presentable again. Tissues dab away any smeared makeup remnants. I straighten my shoulders, take a deep breath to push down the pain, and rejoin the party, abandoning my phone entirely. The ruckus calms, but the group is scheming for sure. They sit around in the group of sofas and armchairs.

“What about Ashutosh Vyas?” Mom suggests, not realizing I'm seated behind her. She startles when my arm drapes across her shoulder.

“Who's that?”

“You know, Ashutosh. Ash.” Her fingers wave in a circle. “Anika's friend Shalini's older brother.”

Nik whips her head over from where the rest of my cousins sit at the mention of her name. Spying. “Do I know him?”

“He's the one who got Anika her job.”

My sister blushes. I don't think I've ever seen her do that. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,uh—he's sorta my boss.”

“And he's in Mumbai right now.” Mom's brows dance. “They're here for another wedding. I can talk to Shalu's parents.”

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