Chapter 21

We took some time to arrange ourselves before we left the dressing room one after another.


Camille met my eyes and gave me a smirk.


I smirked back, feeling too giddy to act like nothing had happened.


I didn't need anything else, so I just picked up the red dress to take.


And even though Jason fought tooth and nail with me to pay the bill, I somehow managed to sway him.


And no, it wasn't because I implied something in return if he let me pay for my stuff.


No. It was definitely not that.


After the bills were settled, we all decided to have a late lunch together.


After a fifteen-minute drive and some not-so-subtle touching and teasing, we arrived at the restaurant.


Considering the latest scandals that included the Harveys (and mostly me), Jason decided it was best to opt for a private sitting area.


So we took a table for four and placed our orders.


While we waited for it, Archie and Jason got themselves involved in some business talk, while Camille filled my ears with some inside gossip about Tennessee's elite families.


If the media houses needed some big breaking news, they should bribe her. She knew everything.


And because we were in the open with a company, me and Jason decided to keep our hands to ourselves.



I never thought it would go so smoothly.


And I most definitely didn't want to invite Jason into my life. The life that I lived with the people closest to my heart.


Camille was my best friend since kindergarten, and I loved her. Quite frankly, she was the most important person in my life after my brother.


And Archer, although they got together only a few months ago, we've known each other since high school and he might not be as important as Camille to me but he was definitely someone I considered a friend.


And Jason didn't fit in with any of that.


Maybe it was because I was scared that it would all get messy if I involved him in my life.


And especially because things between us were purely physical and business, not forgetting, forbidden.


If word gets out, we will both be doomed.


Although it would be a pleasure if I could see my “husband's” reaction.


All in all, even the thought of involving Jason in my life and letting him meet my closest people didn't sit well with me.


But here I was with him, sharing a meal with one of the two most important people in the whole world and a close friend whom I regarded as a brother.


And it didn't feel weird.


It felt oddly…. comfortable.


My attention was brought back to the present when I felt a hand on my thigh.


My mind subconsciously tuned out Camille's voice, and all my attention was on his hand, which was slowly inching upwards from within the hem of my dress.


I smiled and nodded my head at Camille to make sure she didn't suspect anything, and then discreetly looked down at his hand.


He stopped when he reached a certain part and started massaging my thigh softly.


I took a sip of the wine when I felt a pleasurable moan trying to escape my throat.


The waiter arrived with our dishes, and Camille's attention drifted from me to the servers.


I took the chance to shove his hand away.


Thankfully, he didn't try anything funny again.


“Did you know Arnav's getting back from London next month?” Camille suddenly asked, and my fingers that were holding the fork with pasta paused before I resumed and put it in my mouth.


She chewed on her sushi and looked at me with sparkling eyes as if daring me.


“I didn't,” I replied back.


“Who is Arnav? If you don't mind me asking,” a calm and cool voice spoke from beside me, and I looked up to see Jason looking at Camille with a curious expression.


“No one,” I hurriedly blurted out, and he raised his eyebrow at my sudden reaction.


I heard Camille laugh and turned to glare at her.


I was hoping she'd get my message and just shut her mouth up, but she was definitely out to embarrass me today.


“Arnav…. Well... Arnav is Amara’s first and only boyfriend. Ex, now. But you get it. The guy's totally into her. It's like he lives and breathes just for her. She could practically ask him to shave his head and name himself some Cuckoonzoo Buckoonzoo and the guy would do that without any questions asked,” she explained.


And I rolled my eyes and looked at her with a scowl on my face.


“By the sounds of it, he seems like someone who is really into her, and they were together as well. So why did you guys break up?” Archie asked with genuine curiosity in his eyes.


I sighed. Here goes another embarrassing tale.


“When we were studying in Europe, in our second semester, an exchange student from India joined our university. He was extremely smart. The male version of beauty with brains.



Almost every girl in our university was fanning over him, but Arnav never even blinked an eye at their infatuation. He was weirdly focused, and he made it clear to practically everyone that he didn't have time for relationships.



Some even offered him one-night stands and just casual hookups. I mean, goodness, his tanned and tall, lean body? The guy was a whole package! And those girls did have their assets, but he never took them on their offer.



A few broken-hearted girls spread rumors about how he was incapable in bed.


Some believed some didn't.


Arnav was in medical school, so we had different majors, but it was compulsory for every student to join at least one club.



And as fate would have it, Arnav and Amara both joined the literary club. Nerds.


They didn't have any interactions whatsoever. It was only then, when the preparation for the culture fest started that they had to work on some projects.



Amara here was making a mannequin covered in poetry and poses. She was sticking something on the model, and by accident, the glue fell on a chair.


She went away to bring some tissue to wipe the chair but when she came back, she saw the chair was already occupied by him.


There were students around, and she didn't want to embarrass him, so she kept quiet and just sat on the chair across from him and waited to tell him until everyone was gone.


What she didn't know was that he was up to the same thing,” She paused and looked at me.


Camille looked like she was trying to control her laughter.


And my cheeks were already burning with embarrassment, knowing what happened next.


Oh, how I want to kill her.


" Now, here comes the funny part. While she was away to bring the tissue paper, Arnav had spotted the glue on the chair before sitting. And he had replaced it with the chair across from him.



And when she came back, she sat in that chair.


So while Amara thought he was the one sitting on the glue, she was the one who was actually sitting on it.



And they were both sitting there until the room was vacant to tell each other that they were sitting on glue.


Safe to say she had walked home in an abnormally large jacket and a very handsome boy,” she stopped and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.


Archer and she were both cackling while I sulked in my seat remembering that embarrassing moment.


“What happened next?” Archer asked and I glared at him. He put his hands up in a fake show of surrender and gave me an easy smile.


"Well, they started dating two weeks later, and it was all going smoothly until she decided to break his heart.”



“Don't!” I snapped, stopping her mid-sentence.


She gave me a guilty smile and mouthed a sorry. I just rolled my eyes and changed the subject.


Thankfully, the tense atmosphere faded soon.


After we were done with lunch, Camille and Archer bid their goodbyes and left, and we followed suit.


There was still no conversation happening between Jason and me. We both kept silent as the car drove along the street.


But it was not an awkward silence.


I saw him pull the car into an unfamiliar street. There were only a couple of houses and those too were on the far end, the rest of the street was empty.



“Where are we?” I asked.


“In a neighborhood,” he replied, releasing his seat belt.


“And what are we exactly here for?” I asked in a skeptical tone.


“You'll know soon,” he paused and looked at me before continuing,

“Now get in the back seat!”