Page 38 of Reckless Rival

She was excited about ending the deal with her rival but also felt a strange tug in her stomach. If it weren’t for their family rivalry and the most recent mess, he was the perfect guy. How awesome would it have been if it weren’t for the rivalry?

Shaking away her wild thoughts, she headed to the cafeteria. It was a few minutes before the agreed-upon time when she arrived, and she went straight to the table where he was the night before. Some of the students who were at that table the previous night were also there but not her rival.

The girl who was having dinner with Rana the prior night looked up, and her eyes narrowed in warning. “What do you think you are doing here?”

She had nothing against the girl, and however much she wanted to ignore her question, she could not. “I’m meeting someone for dinner.”

Her jaw dropped. “Really? You think you can have dinner with Rana? He is mine.”

It was at that point she recognized the girl as the one who was riding his bike on the night of the race. “He was the one who asked me to meet him for dinner here.”

“What?” She looked around at the other students like she expected them to join her in objecting. “How could you? Yesterday was the first time he had dinner with me after asking him like a hundred times already.”

Nami did not want to be insensitive to the girl’s feelings. “I’ll wait at that table.”

“Wait,” the girl called out just as she was about to walk to the neighboring table. “You better not pull that kiss stunt again. He was checked out after that, and I’m not taking that again.”

Good to know. So her kiss did have an effect on him.

She didn’t know what to say to the girl, so she silently walked over to the other table. Minutes passed, and there was no sight of the guy who had promised to meet her for dinner. Worried he was going to pull another one of his stunts, she decided to text him to make sure he showed up.

Nami: Someone told me Simhas always kept their word, no matter what.

Nami knew it was the only way to get him to show up and have dinner with her. She knew that text would secure her time with him that evening to execute her plan. She looked at her phone when it buzzed with a notification almost immediately.

Rana: That’s right, Varma. Simmer down! Don’t hold your breath for my kiss.

What the heck?

She stared at the message wondering how he saw right through her plans. She didn’t want him to feel like she was going to seduce him. He should not see it coming, and knowing how easily they had kissed in the past couple weeks, she knew it would be done in a flash, and she would never have to deal with him again.

She quickly reached for the hoodie she kept in her backpack and slipped it over her cute top. If he is expecting her to seduce him, then he will be extra careful. Time to go stealth.

Just as she was debating if she should wipe off the lipstick and the eyeliner, she heard him.

“Varma,” he called out from the entrance, and she knew he was purposely being loud, making everyone in the cafeteria look at him. “I’m always worth the wait.”

Everything he said was as if he were reading her mind. How was he able to characterize her so well? She looked up at him, a fake smile on her face. “So good to see you,” she said loud enough for the folks around their table to hear. He sat across from her ignoring the group he was with the night before.

“What happened?” he asked randomly, his gaze on her hoodie.

She looked down to see if there was a stain on the sweatshirt she had pulled on and then up at him. “What?” She shrugged, repeating act cool over and over in her head.

“I thought you’d pull out your sexy guns to seduce me tonight,” he taunted, that evil look on his face.

Heat crept up her cheeks, and she looked away, pretending to be sneezing into her sleeve to save face. She raised her eyes back up to him. “I’m hungry. What do you feel like eating?”

He held her gaze for a long moment. “What did you eat last night?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you care? You were too busy to eat with me, anyway.”

He leaned back, stretching his long legs toward her and his arm over the chair next to him. “Well, Jenny is my dinner buddy. I can’t really dump her for you when you weren’t really putting in an effort.”

She smiled, a wicked twist at the end of her mouth. He was making shit up like she would get worked up. He wanted to have fun at her expense, and she was okay to let the rope loose a bit. Maybe he’ll get over his madness and leave her alone.

“Do you expect me to kiss you every day?” She glared at him.

He smiled, one end of his mouth twisting up in amusement. “I’m not going to tell you what to do.”

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