Page 43 of Bad At Love

“You’re glad you told me,” she said, eyes widening.

“Yes. Because I need you to see me as real too, Char. I can be stubborn and…slow to act and sometimes so full of resentment for things I can’t change. Calling me perfect is doing me a disservice.”

“You’re absolutely right. You’re…just the perfect amount of imperfect.” She thumped at his chest with her fist, thick tears making her glasses foggy. “You know TJ and Maggie adore you, right?”

“I do.” His lungs burned, his entire body shook, as if he’d scaled a fresh new peak. Everything she’d shown him tonight, everything she demanded…it was more than simple attraction and passionate sex. In just one day of being together as a couple, she’d already given him more connection and joy than all his casual flings together. He felt seen, wanted and even loved.

How glorious would it be if they made a deeper commitment to each other? His chest ached at the very idea. Hope was a rope at the end of which he willingly kept himself hanging. “Even when TJ argues with me as if he’s paid to do it,” he added, to cover up the slight tremble in his limbs.

With a soft sigh, Chaaru peppered kisses all over his jaw and neck, leaving behind little pockets of warmth and joy. “Thank you for giving me that intimate part of you. For letting me see the real you. For reminding me how wonderful you are despite everything you’ve overcome.”

17

Dancing with DP was a whole new experience Chaaru hadn’t imagined could take her out at the knees. Apparently, everything she did with DP could have the same mind-blowing effect.

The song switched out to a peppy number and Diego danced his way to the top of the line. Mouth open, Chaaru nudged Kash—who was devouring him with her eyes— as the man swung his hips in ways Chaaru didn’t think was possible out of Bollywood movies.

With a cheer, the rest of them formed a few lines behind him and got groovy. Though, mostly they looked like overactive robots.

One hand clasped in DP’s, Chaaru jumped and skipped to the fast beat, heart pounding in her ears. Head thrown back, wearing a wide grin, he moved his hips to a smooth rhythm. With his broad shoulders and densely packed body, he looked like one of Kaasi’s action figure toys come to life. Completely goofy and yet, somehow, utterly happy in his skin. How did this man get better and better, and why had she not seen it before?

Chaaru rolled into his arms in a dance-show worthy move. He caught her with a belly laugh, his arms strong and moves confident. As if he’d been waiting all his life for her. With a groan, Chaaru swooped in for his lips.

The first impact was explosive. Like losing your breath and getting it back in a gush, like diving deep into a world of wonder and beauty. She was aware of Mona and Kash cheering, laughing and quipping jokes, but all she knew was him.

His soft, firm lips, his surprised grunt moving through her like some wild invocation. His breath melding with hers. His hard, solid body a haven of warmth.

Around her, the world was thumping and dancing away to the fast beat, and it fueled her own urgency. Gripping his neck with her hands, she pressed open-mouthed kisses from one corner of his lips to the other.

When he let her in, she licked at him, the taste of whiskey and mint and tobacco causing a minor explosion to rock through her. Breath was a luxury as their tongues tangled, their teeth clanked. Their groans rent the air. Someone wolf-whistled but it didn’t matter because he was kissing her back, her name on his lips a reverent incantation.

The slide and push of his lips as he coaxed her mouth deeper was somehow both earthly and divine, like cold, rainy mornings spent lazing in bed. Like he was her beginning and her end, and all the glorious, ugly moments of life in between.

Chaaru had never known the simple meeting of lips to be this…earth-shattering. That he had denied her this taste of him, this aching intimacy…made her chest hurt. And smugly bloodthirsty that he was just as caught up in the storm.

His hands were everywhere and nowhere as he stroked them over her, his lips nipping and licking. The kiss turned volatile in seconds, both eager to gain upper hand. Wet and filthy when he stroked in and out of her mouth, mimicking what she still craved.

Lungs bursting for air, Chaaru jerked back, breaking them apart. Her lips tingled, her head felt dizzy as they stared at each other. They were surrounded by thumping bass and laughing friends in the most beautiful setting, but they might as well be the only people in the entire universe.

Sweat danced on DP’s forehead while his neatly slicked back hair stood on end. His lips were dark pink and swollen, the lower one carrying a faint indent from her teeth. Good, she thought, with savage satisfaction. She wanted to leave marks on him, wanted to leave him gasping for more, wanted to own him.

“I won’t apologize for doing something that I’ve been wanting to do for weeks,” she said, stepping back, bracing for his…reaction.

Who knew a simple kiss could be so devastating that she felt changed on a cellular level? That it could speak to her heart’s deepest longings?

“I didn’t ask you to apologize or even stop.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, a frown pulling his thick brows. “That was the best fucking kiss of my life.”

“Why didn’t you kiss me in the last couple of days?”

“I don’t usually kiss women I fuck.”

Dismay curled through her. “So I’m just one in a long line?”

“I never said that.” Cursing, he rubbed his hand jerkily over his face. That he looked as dazed as she felt soothed her a little. Looking around, he took her hand and dragged her away from the gyrating couples.

Away from the space heaters, the cool breeze felt delicious against her heated flesh. DP pressed his forehead to hers. His fingers fiddled with the knot on her robe. “You don’t know how hard it’s been to hold myself back. But I thought-”

“I know I made it sound like a fling, but, DP, I want all of you. Kisses and hugs and early morning cuddles and late-night chats…it terrifies me to admit it but this was always more than just sex, no?”

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