Page 58 of Born in Ruin

“I like sour candy and I don’t like dogs.”

“You don’t like dogs??” Ishaan turned to face her for the first time that evening, his expression aghast. “Who doesn’t like dogs?”

“I don’t.” Mayukhi put her hand up in the air like she was attending roll call in college.

“Golden retrievers? Labradors? Huskies??”

“No. No. And nope.”

“I don’t get it.”

It was Mayukhi’s turn to sigh. “I was ten when I went to the beach with my dad. A black dog, I don’t know the breed, chased me. I fell down and it stood on me and peed on my stomach.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t you dare laugh!”

“I wasn’t going to,” Ishaan said, a tremor of suppressed laughter in his voice.

“I’m not the girl people like. I’m not sweet, submissive, and cooperative. I’m not all things sugary sweet. I’m –“

“You’re fierce, loyal, and a complete badass. You’re not sugary sweet but you’re fucking magnificent.”

His words silenced her, emotion clogging her throat as she looked at him in the darkened car.

“And tonight, I have the utter privilege of walking into that party with you on my arm.” He looked away from her, his jawworking. “And then I have to leave you and go seduce that bimbo with breasts the size of freaking watermelons.”

Mayukhi felt the slow slide of warmth seep through her veins. She’d gotten so used to not being liked, to just being tolerated that having him look at her like that, with intense longing mixed with naked adoration healed something in the scarred, fearful child inside her.

“You know you need to,” she whispered.

“I do,” he admitted, his gaze holding hers. “But I don’t want to. I’d rather be with you.”

“I will be right there. I’ll be your wingwoman.”

He laughed, a harsh sound. He turned from her to put the car in gear. “Thanks Kraken. But I haven’t forgotten how to woo a woman.”

“If you keep using words like woo, I think you’re going to have a problem,” she said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.

He shot her a droll look. “I got you, didn’t I?”

“I hate to break this to you, Adajania, but I don’t think blackmail is going to work with other women.”

They bickered all the way to the party, the tension from before dissipating and their earlier balance restored. It was only as they drew up to Naveen’s house and saw that group of shitheads gathered outside for a smoke that Ishaan said, his hard gaze on the men who’d ruined his past and were doing the same to his present, “Fuck. I really do hate cockroaches.”

Mayukhi bared her teeth in a feral grin. “Let’s go stomp on them.”

THIRTY-ONE

Ishaan

He accepted the second drink of the night from the server, trying to look around the cleavage that was being shoved in his face. It had taken him less than half an hour to have Watermelon Boobs otherwise known as Mouni eating out of the palm of his hand. She’d already rubbed herself against him thrice and he’d had to keep himself from gagging. He’d never thought he’d see the day his body didn’t respond to an interested woman. But apparently his body had decided on a vow of chastity unless it was the woman in the emerald green dress across the room tempting it.

He watched Mayukhi laugh at something Ashish said, her dress swishing around her body as she turned to grab an appetiser from a server’s tray. He wanted to be with her so desperately, listening to her talk, watching her smile…instead he was stuck here while Watermelon Boobs scratched his neck with her talons. Oh sorry, her nails. He shifted away from her so she couldn’t trail her fingers over him anymore but she shifted with him and her plastic boob came to rest on his arm.

“You know, I know a space we could go to be alone,” she murmured, her wine scented breath wafting over his face. Clearly she’d been pregaming before this party.

“You do, do you?” He watched Majid put his arm around Mayukhi’s waist and wondered if now would be a good time to break it. “Won’t your husband have a problem with that?”

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