Page 23 of Reckless Hate

The girls who were about to help her looked hesitant.

Anger coursed through Samantha hearing that Ved was the one to order such a stunt. “Where is he?” she asked.

Keya Gupta smirked. “Ved is in the men’s shower area after basketball practice.”

Samantha knew the other girl was deliberately goading her. Chances were that Ved might not be in the men’s shower area. The other girl might be saying that to just humiliate her.

But what if he is there?

If she didn’t find her clothes, she would have to return to her housing unit in a towel. No one was going to help her. Stopping by in the men’s shower area would make no damn difference to her.

“I’m going to ask him,” she said.

Keya Gupta’s smile froze, and a look of shock passed over the other girl’s face. Samantha didn’t care about the scene she could possibly cause by walking into the men’s shower area.

Tightening the knot of her towel, she walked out of the changing room. As she headed to the men’s changing area, she drew in several shocked stares seeing her only in a towel. Ignoring them, she continued to follow the directions and walked towards the end of the hallway. She didn’t pause when she saw the door marked as Men's Lockers.

She pushed it open and stepped in.

There were shocked yelps and quite a few wolf whistles.

“Is Ved Simha here?” she asked one of the guys who looked completely dumbfounded.

Luckily, the guy had clothes on since she hadn’t entered the actual shower area or the changing area. She was standing near the mirrored wall where some of the guys were shaving or simply combing their hair.

“I-I don’t know,” the guy she questioned stammered out.

But another guy answered right back. “Yes, Ved’s here. He is in the changing area.”

Samantha walked right in.

“Whoa!” someone exclaimed.

Several half-naked guys covered themselves quickly. She ignored them. She took a quick scan and stopped barely a moment later when her eyes clashed with the darkly intense ones of her best friend turned enemy. He must have just stepped out of shower because, like her, he was wearing just a towel.

She began walking towards him.

“Hey! You are not allowed in here!” a guy sputtered.

“I don’t mind if she sees me in my birthday suit,” another guy said with a leer.

Ignoring them all, she kept going until she was standing a couple of feet away from her enemy. He hadn’t dried after stepping out of the shower. His hair was still dripping, and his skin was glistening with water droplets.

Her stomach fluttered in a strange way causing her body to heat slightly. She ignored it.

“Give back my clothes,” she ordered.

Instead of looking cocky or arrogant, his jaw clenched. He didn’t reply. He looked past her.

“Everyone, get out,” he ordered.

Everyone started clearing out.

“What the hell, man,” a guy complained. “Can’t you find other places to screw?”

Ved glared at the guy. “Ten seconds.”

The guy put up his hands. “Okay. Okay. I am leaving.”