Page 115 of Glass Jawed
I’ve barely blinked, and she’s already in front of me.
Jesus. She’s a goddamn ninja when she’s tipsy-running.
“What thefuckare you doing here?” she sneers at me. Her voice is low but sharp, nearly trembling with fury. Behind her, I can see the others starting to approach—her friends, concerned.
I step back a few steps raising my hands in surrender.
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I... I didn’t expect you to spot me,” I stammer.
And thenhewalks over. The guy from earlier. The one who had his mouth on my Rohi—Aarohi.Fuck.
He positions himself right beside her, close enough to screamminewithout saying a word.
My stomach twists.
“This ismycountry.Myfucking city.My Dilli!” she growls, pushing me hard enough that I actually stumble back another step. (Dilli is Hindi for Delhi.)
“Rohi,behen... you’re drunk.Relax,” her friend—maybe cousin—says gently.
“Main nahi ho rahi relax. This isLucifer, Ishi. Lucian,” she cries out. (I’m not relaxing.)
I feel it right in the ribs. Her anger. I shouldn’t have come here like this. I should’vehidden. Anything but this. Fuck.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Yes. You shouldn’t have.Saale, teri himmat kaise hui yahan aane ki?!”
She’s yelling in Hindi now. Fully unfiltered. I can’t understand her. And feeling small that everyone elsecan.
Ishi crosses her arms, unimpressed, and mutters to me, “She’s basically asking where you got the balls to show up here.”
Fair enough.
Aarohi lunges again, trying to shove me, but her guy—her other guy—wraps an arm around her waist, grounding her. He leans in to whisper something, his voice calm, low...soothing.
I can’t understand a damn thing. Just the soft cadence of a language I don’t know.
And somehow, that stings.
I drop my head, swallowing every word I could say. “I’m sorry, Aarohi. I didn’t come to hurt you. I just—” My throat catches. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?!” she repeats, laughing now—but there’s nothing funny in it. It’s wild. Frayed. “Youhearthat?”
She whirls around to her friends, laughing—sharp and breathless—like the punchline to a joke only she understands.
“This man issorry!” she spits, her voice cracking mid-laugh. Then her smile drops. Her jaw sets like iron.
Christ. It’s like all the patheticsorrysI’ve kept inside since she prohibited me from saying the word, are pouring out.
“I honestly didn’t expect you to spot me, Aarohi,” I say quietly. “Your... mom said you were here—”
“Mymomsaid?” she snaps, spinning back to face me, voice rising. “Oh my god. Ohmy god!Is this your new hobby now?Collecting criminal charges? Gonna addstalkingto your rap sheet now?”
I flinch. “No, that’s not—”
“What do you meancriminal charges?” the guy beside her growls. His voice is edged with protectiveness—maybe evenpossessiveness.
“It’s fine, Advik,” she says, softer now, but only to him. She barely looks at me.
