Page 93 of Stumped

While I don’t recall a single thing the asshole said in the article, it’s clear his past actions caused her to stop trusting people. I don’t blame her. Our exes have a way of screwing with our minds.

“My first girlfriend is the reason why I struggle to believe in myself.”

“She deserves a swift kick in the ovaries.”

I laugh at Vera’s expression. “Gayatri and I got together in college and it was great for a while. I was working towards joining the cricket team and she had this weird way of comforting me. It was always ‘maybe not this year’ or ‘pick something else’ or ‘don’t worry about them’. She never encouraged me to keep going and I truly believed I was bad at it, that it was why I wasn’t being selected. By the end of our second year, she was obviously convincing me I needed her to survive—‘what would you do without me reminding you of all the good in your life’ and ‘why cricket when you have me?’ I believed her, because she was my girlfriend. Patrick’s the one who mademe see she was bad news. Took me a long time to see my own potential and even then, you saw how much it scarred me.”

Vera smiles sadly. “I promise to always encourage you to go after what you deserve.”

“And I am a hundred percent okay with you being the alpha in our relationship.”

She laughs and tosses a napkin at me. But hearing her laugh, seeing the darkness lift from her eyes, it’s enough.We’reenough.

Thirty. For the sex

Elias

After our picnic at the indoor garden, Kuriakose takes us back to Vera’s apartment. We both get texts about the Tamara-Patrick meeting happening that evening and know it’s safest to stay out of their way. Whatever drama they’ve got going on, we donotneed to be a part of it. Besides, I need to be alone with Vera. Whether that’s fully clothed or naked isn’t important, as long as it’s the two of us in every room.

We shower before bed and spend a few more hours talking about our exes. Not the ideal pillow talk, but during our garden date we discussed the match and our plans for the week before the finals. Vera said she didn’t want to ruin the moment by talking about sad things, so we didn’t. Doesn’t mean we were done. Which is why lying in bed, wrapped around each other, we confess all of the ways our exes broke our spirits. The men who hurt her are missing out, because all of the things they claim to not like about her are the very same things Iloveabout Vera.

Sleep took over at some point, because when I force my eyes open, sunlight streams into the room. Groaning, I reach for Vera and find the bed empty. I glare at her side of the bed because of the lack of soft skin waiting for me. Doesn’t stop the smile from stretching across my lips.She loves me. And she said it multipletimes last night, as if I hadn’t heard her the first time. I counted them and asked for more. I’m greedy when it comes to Vera.

Rolling over, I grab my phone and find a stack of notifications. A bunch from Farhad about setting a time for our meeting this week, some from Bash and Samar, there’s a few Instagram notifications of gossip accounts tagging me in shit and all caps texts from Patrick. I sit up and go through his messages.

Patrick

I SLEPT WITH TAMARA AND SHE STILL FUCKING HATES ME.

WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO MAN

Congratulations, I guess.

Patrick

Don’t be a dick. This is serious.

Did you talk with your mouths or….no?

Patrick

I tried. She climbed me like a tree and I gave in.

Must be genetic. Vera has a tendency to short-circuit my brain when she’s horny too.

Patrick

You are NOT helping, baby brother. How do I fix this?

Maybe you don’t. Maybe this is what it is now, Pat. Is she out of your system?

Patrick

Fuck no, she’s deep rooted now.

I repeat, congratulations.

My phone buzzes again, but my focus is drawn to the door handle twisting and rattling. I smile as Vera tip-toes inside, her short silk robe flashing delicious brown skin. She attempts to close the door quietly, but it squeaks, so I put her out of her misery by clearing my throat. She jumps and turns to me, narrowing her eyes at my grin.

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