Page 41 of Empowered

“Don’t deflect. Be a good host and take her out tomorrow,” Jai said.

My eyes lit up. “Please! I’d love to go out and experience India!”

“See? The poor girl is deprived of human interaction. She spends all day locked up in here looking at you,” Jai continued, shamelessly poking at his brother.

“I’ll think about it,” Shyam said tossing his napkin on the table, clearly done with the conversation.

“If you don’t take her, I will. And you know we’re going to have a way more exciting time than she’d have with your boring ass.” Jai winked at me.

“More like get arrested,” Saran joked.

“Nah, the cops won’t touch me if they know what’s good for ‘em.” Jai pushed back from the table and nodded at the men. “Let’s take this party to my place.”

With that, we all stood to say our goodbyes.

“Thanks for the dinner, guys,” Zayn said patting Shyam on the back and kissing my cheek. “You take care of yourself and call me if this guy messes up.”

I smiled, appreciative of his concern. “I don’t think I’ll need to, but good to have a backup plan.” I smirked, glancing at Shyam. He was less than amused.

The rest of the guys kissed me goodbye and left with Jai to live out every single man’s fantasy of girls and booze. I bet Jai already had women at the apartment waiting for his return. One day, he’d get bored of this life. Until then, I guess he might as well enjoy himself.

I turned to Shyam and wrapped my arms around his neck, soothing his ego after his friends had ganged up on him. “Oh, don’t be so pissy. You know they just like to harass you.”

He kept his hands in his pockets, not giving in to me. “You like when they bother me.”

“Only sometimes. You’re cute when you’re ticked.”

That got a smile out of him. He wrapped his arms around my waist. “And you’re cuteallof the time.”

I stood up on my tiptoes to kiss his lips. “Come upstairs and I’ll show you how cute I can be.”

He lifted one eyebrow in interest. I knew I had his attention and walked away swaying my hips as seductively as I could. I could feel his eyes on me, watching me as I moved away from him.

A moment later, I heard quick footsteps follow behind me as I made my way up to the bedroom. I smiled to myself, satisfied with my power over him.

•••

I woke up to Shyam standing in the doorway of the closet, pulling his shirt over his head. He was dressed and ready for the day.

I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms overhead. The room was still dark, so I assumed it was early morning.

I let out a huge yawn. He had kept me up for most of the night, fucking me until I passed out from exhaustion. The man’s stamina was something else. “Where are you going?” I asked.

“We’re going out.”

Huh? I sat up in bed, my face scrunched up in confusion. “Where?”

“To see Punjab,” he said, inserting his wallet into his jeans pocket.

My lips fixed into the most wicked smile ever. I leaned back onto the pillows and crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, well. Shyam Sethi finally gives in to peer pressure. I should have the boys over for dinner more often.”

He fastened the clasp of his watch around his wrist. “Do you want to go out or not?”

I did, and I was scared if I pushed him far enough, he’d change his mind.Mr. Grumpy Pants.I wasn’t going to let him take this away from me.

“We leave in thirty minutes,” he said.

I jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to get ready. A second later, I ran back out to him still standing in front of the closet and pressed a quick kiss to his lips to show my appreciation. He wasmyMr. Grumpy Pants, and his soft interior would do anything to make me happy.

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