Page 107 of A King's Oath

“You?”

“I ate.”

“Then I’m good.”

“Just come, Samarth. We can talk upstairs.”

He took a second to think. Then nodded and ushered a hand out to her.

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“This is a good idea,” he managed between bites. The freshly sliced tomatoes fell from the sourdough cheese toast she had made on a pan and he kept sliding them back. With a drizzle of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some salt and pepper, she knew he could snack on them as is too.

“I learnt it from my Italian roommate at university in America.” Avantika slid another plate filled with sliced apples, a banana and a sizeable dollop of peanut butter. That was all the instant protein she had in her house to help him recover after the match. She turned to the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

“To get you something to drink.”

“I’ll get it if I need it. Sit. Please.”

She took steps back and sat down on the chair opposite him on the small breakfast table. The night sky was dark, so unlike the one that had seen them share a dinner of dahi-chawal just a week ago.

“Ritu is our team’s social media manager. She is a bit handsy but that’s it. She does not mean anything, she is not a part of my life except for the game…”

“You don’t owe me any explanation, Samarth.”

“Let’s be honest to each other at least.”

“Samarth…”

“I do, Ava.”

“No you don’t, I am nothing to you.”

“You are the girl I owe my loyalty to. It was always you or nothing. Nothing became the fate I chose. Doesn’t mean I bring in other somebodies.”

She stilled.

“And I am not saying this to hold you back from anything.” He smirked. “I mean this in the nicest way possible — you are a terrible actor. Always were. Even your friend was clueless about how to take your sudden change in behaviour.”

“Fuck off.”

He laughed, popping a piece of tomato into his mouth.

“You don’t know how happy I was to see you yesterday on the field.”

“I know exactly how much, considering you tried to hide me from your dear Ritu.”

“It was to keep you from our public profiles. She was recording.”

“So?”

“So? If Papa gets wind he will not relent.”

“Relent?”

“He is obsessed with getting me married.”

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