Page 14 of A King's Oath

“Ava, tell na, royal girls do cardio or just ‘walk with grace?’”

“Ok, serious question. Do you even sweat, or do your pores refuse?”

“She doesn’t sweat. Look at the scoreboard. 163 needed in 60. No drive in babe to cover up…”

Samarth reached the centre of their widely spread group and suddenly all their mouths pressed shut. Eyes lasered on him, momentarily bringing their Mean Girls to a halt. He just set the drinks basket on the ground, kneeled on the spot, and passed bottles of water to both his batters. Ruchi had already removed her gloves and she took it, pulling off her helmet to drink. Ava was still pulling the velcro on her gloves.

Samarth rose and held the water bottle up to her mouth through the grill of her helmet. Surprised brown eyes stared at him as he held the rim of the bottle steady. She tipped her head back and he poured the water down her open mouth. She drank thirstily, her throat moving.

“Slow, steady, you know how to do it,” he smiled at her with every gulp she took. “You are doing it. You once told me all about how Coach Dhillon taught you to keep the scoreboard moving. You’re doing it so brilliantly. You are behaving perfectly. Thebest, in fact,” he couldn’t help but smile wider and noted the flare of sparkle in her eyes.

She finished drinking and he pulled the bottle back, capping it. She still went on to pull the velcro on her gloves.

“What is it? The match is resuming in one minute.”

“My hair…”

Samarth didn’t even ask. He reached out and pulled her helmet off, flaring the sweaty mass of hair that had come loose from her ponytail. He quickly went around her, pulled the now-loose band off and gathered her hair in his fist.

“Did I get all?”

“No.”

He reached out with another hand and clawed his fingers back from her face, gathering as much as he could.

“Now?”

No answer.

“Quick, Ava, the timer is ticking.”

“Yes,” she huffed.

Samarth had never done this. Tied a girl’s hair back. He didn’t even know how to knot the band. So he just did it like he would a rubber band. Maybe that’s how they did it. But in the end, he did manage to get something resembling a tight high ponytail on the top of her head.

He got in front of her, checked her face for any strays, pushed them behind her ear and replaced the helmet on her head.

“Now are you going to show them who’s the princess?” He grinned.

She blinked, long lashes and the helmet making her eyes so prominent in her face. Samarth bent his knees slightly to get eye-to-eye with her — “Ready, Ava?”

She swallowed.

“You need more water? A Gatorade?”

She shook her head. She didn’t look nervous… and yet, she looked like she was… new. Like she was becoming something new. The timer gong began to sound, signalling the last 60 seconds before the game was to be resumed.

“Samarth?!” Shree hollered from the stands. “Come back!”

The gong began to bash louder as seconds ticked. The noise began to rise again in the stadium.

“Ava?” He said over the din. “Are you ready? Do you need me to do anything else?”

She swallowed again, then shook her head.

“Because I’ll do it,” he confessed without a shred of hesitation. “I’ll do it not because you ask or you need it, but because I want to do it foryou.”

Shock. Surprise. An enraptured little chuckle. Then nothing.

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