Page 28 of Counting His heartbeats

A low chuckle escapes my mouth when I hear the list of genres Zurmani isn't open to. I'm unsure if she realizes she outlined her preference. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I grin sinisterly before a song flows through the speakers.

"How about this?" I ask, smirking.

"Oh my God. What is this mess?" Zurmani is frowning deeply, and the area around her eyes is tight, causing me to laugh.

"What? You never mentioned heavy metal. This is my shit, woman."

"What?" Zurmani's mouth opens and closes, causing my humor to increase from the deer-in-headlights expression on her face.

Her toffee complexion has a tinge of red creeping onto her cheeks, and a hearty laugh escapes my mouth when Zurmani covers her ears.

"Jawaan, please."

"Okay, I'll quit messing with you," I say, pulling up Pandora and selecting a station quickly becoming one of my favorites.

?

Why does it seem the ones we love much more,

Smile in your face. you love they will ignore

?

"Ooh, now this I can get with and appreciate. This is a classic by John P. Kee. This is music," Zurmani voices, snapping her fingers and moving her body.

"Don't be insulting my music. That was Judas Priest, and it was a?—"

"Bunch of mess. Don't try to convince me otherwise. Now hush, I'm enjoying this."

A low chuckle flows from my lips before I back out of the driveway, ready to get this date moving.

"I can. I will. I must. I shall, I shall survive. I will," Zurmani sings, and the angelic sound of her voice causes my eyes to snap in her direction when I reach the end of her street.

"Wow. You better sing, girl."

Zurmani's voice sounds like birds in the morning, causing a smile to slip into place at feeling like I'm listening to a choir of angels. Taking my foot off the brake, I turn onto the street while joining in with Zurmani.

"Someone told me that I was too involved. The cycle of life won't change. It only revolves," I sing while bobbing my head and steering us toward our destination.

The heaviness filling my body after meeting Evie and Jamaica leaves my shoulders the more Zurmani and I sing thesong. When we reach the final chorus, my body completely releases all the tension I feel.

"I shall. Survive," I say, looking over at Zurmani to see the bright shimmer in her eyes that instantly fills me with merriment.

"Mhm. Leave it on this because that other person doesn't ever deserve air time again," Zurmani says.

"Uh, where are we, Jawaan?" Zurmani asks when we pull into a parking lot filled with cars.

The onyx color building beside the parking lot doesn't allow its attendees to determine what lies within the structure. So, I understand entirely why Zurmani would be questioning our whereabouts.

"This is our first destination of the night."

"That's cute, but I've never heard of Dungeon of Plays, and I have lived in Ribax my whole life. Did you bring me to a sex club?" The cute pout on Zurmani's lips and the wonder in her eyes have me chuckling.

"You're gonna have to trust me," I insist, raising my brow with a goofy grin before getting out of the vehicle and quickly moving to the passenger side.

With my life being one of many layers, I wanted to give Zurmani a memorable date, which led to me bringing her to this location. Despite the name, Dungeon of Plays is far from being a sex club or any other form of eroticism. Opening the door, I fight the urge to laugh when Zurmani is on her feet, cautiously connecting our hands.

"Just so you know, I'm wearing granny panties, which won't do a thing for the sexy vibe of this dungeon."

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