Page 70 of Reckless Hate

She knew he was right. She had hacked into his email first to get back at him.

“Why are you calling me in the first place?” she asked irritably.

“To discuss our plans for the Outreach Program.”

She frowned. “I asked you to text me.”

“We can’t discuss this over text messages. Are you free now? I’ll come over to your—”

“No!” she snapped. “I’m heading to the library. Let’s meet there.”

She gave him the location and ended the call. If she were the paranoid kind, she would freak out about how of all the athletes in the university, the dean constantly paired her with her enemy.

Good thing she wasn’t paranoid.

***

“Interesting choice of place.” Ved Simha slipped into the chair next to her.

Samantha’s cheeks heated at her enemy’s amusement. She was seated in the library, but there was no one around them except the librarian since she chose the Simha student archives section. She didn’t want to be seen in public with her enemy who was the resident bad boy. She had heard students whispering and there were speculative stares whenever she passed by. The whispers were at the peak after the masquerade kiss, but now, they had slowly begun to fade. She wanted the rumors to disappear completely.

She was glad they weren’t completely alone and the lone librarian seated at the desk could see them. It was shocking and embarrassing how each time they were alone together, they ended up kissing and more.

Her cheeks heated once again when she felt the buzzing awareness as the smell of the citrus cologne wafted around her. “Let’s discuss the plan,” she said.

At her prim tone, her enemy chuckled while drawing out his phone. Her heart jerked when she saw that he had his mother’s smiling face as the wallpaper on his phone.

Ved Simha adored his mother.What is it like to love parents and be equally loved in return?Ved had such a family. She knew she would never experience it in her lifetime. Unlike boyfriends or husbands, a person couldn’t change their parents. She knew her mother was incapable of loving her or anyone selflessly and her father’s abandonment proved that he didn’t love her either.

“All of our games are scheduled in the mornings and early afternoons,” Ved’s voice broke into her musing. “No matter what, the games end by three o’clock. There’s an hour break, and then we head to the sports center where the children are brought around four o’clock. Usually, it’s two hours of demonstration per day, but on the last day, it will only be one hour. We’ll attend the trophy event, and after the winners’ photo session, we can head there.”

She raised her eyebrow. “Overconfident much? How do you know you’d win a championship trophy?”

He smirked at her. “I always play to win. Whether it is basketball or anything else.”

A small shiver racked her body at his words. Pushing away the awareness, she focused on the topic. “What about the list we have to put together along with a report?”

“Hmm… Team Simha would be in a celebratory mood, and there’d be a party in the evening with the rest of the teams from other universities.”

“Okay, how about after the party?”

He grinned. “The party would end around midnight. Only because it’s the hotel rules.”

She knew most of the parties on campus ended during the early morning hours.

“Don’t worry about the list,” he said. “There will be a few students who are not a part of Team Simha this year. They’ll start early on to help set up the game and create the lists of Outreach Program students enrolling in the games. We’d have to rate them during training and write a report which we can submit later on when we return.”

She nodded.

He discussed the logistics. Transportation would be arranged to the sports center and the university would also arrange for their stay.

Soon, they were done discussing the details.

“Alright,” she said. “So, I guess I’ll see you at the games.” They were traveling the next day and the games would be held the day after.

She was about to get up from the chair when he looked at her. “How about grabbing dinner?” he asked, looking at his sports watch.

Her heart jerked before she got angry. “No!” she snapped. “I’m not having dinner with you. And do not break into my bedroom! We are spending time togetheronlybecause we have to for the Outreach Program. We are not going to kiss again. Or do anything more! I will never sleep with you! Ever! Go spend time with your hookups!”