Luv (Un)Arranged (Luv Shuv #3)

Chapter 6

6

Song: Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain

- Kumar Sanu

Aakar: Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Kriti: Night owl. That’s the only time I feel like I get for myself.

Aakar: Same.

Kriti: Do you have a favorite sibling?

Aakar: *Gasping emoji GIF* I ask you a simple question, and you drop bombs on me like that.

Kriti: C’mon.

Aakar: You go first.

Kriti: It’s my question.

Aakar: Ugh. Fine. Honestly, I felt closer to Akira when she was here. Abhi is eight years younger than me. Growing up, we were in very different stages of life. But ever since Akira has left, Abhi and I seem to have gotten a lot closer. And you’re evil. Now you go.

Kriti: I can’t pick. They’re both my favorite.

Aakar:

Kriti: Kidding. I’ll answer.

Kriti: I guess I’ll go with Rati. We share a room, and we tell each other nearly everything. Teenage brother is a bit too moody.

Kriti: How many kids do you want?

A few moments—and Aakar coughing up his water—later…

Aakar: Give a guy some warning, would you?

Kriti: So…

Aakar: Haven’t thought about it.

Kriti: Bullshit.

Aakar: A little girl would be nice.

Kriti: ONLY ONE?

Aakar: How many do you want?

Kriti: At least four.

Aakar: DEAD

Kriti: Just kidding. But at least two kids for me.

Kriti: Who’re you closer to? Mom or Dad?

Aakar: Mom

Aakar: By the way, she is HOUNDING me about you.

Kriti: Oh! And how are you dealing with it?

Aakar: My usual - “I’m thinking about it.”

Kriti: Lol. Wish it worked for me.

Aakar: I was thinking…

Kriti: Oh no

Aakar: Hush now. I want to meet you again.

Kriti: Oh

Aakar: Is that a bad oh or a good oh?

Kriti: A good oh

Aakar: Let me rephrase that. I want to meet you without letting the family know.

Kriti: Even better. But how?

Aakar: I’ll come to meet you. Would you be able to sneak out or hide it from your family?

Kriti: Ha. What are best friends for? I’ll be hanging out at Meera’s place when you come to meet me.

Aakar: Let’s do it then. How about I come tomorrow for lunch, and we’ll hang out till late afternoon?

Kriti: Perfect. Since it’s Sunday, using Meera as an excuse would be perfect.

Kriti

“ I can’t believe you’re sneaking out to meet a guy,” Meera said while we sat on her porch waiting for Aakar to arrive. He’d called and told me that he was almost there.

“Me neither.”

I was beyond nervous. This wasn’t just any guy. This was Aakar. The first guy I had met who was so handsome that my heart started to go haywire just thinking about him. Even if he hadn’t been so handsome, the fact that he was so fun to talk to, he believed in my three conditions, and he was so devoted to his family was enough to make me swoon.

I adjusted my fancy dress shirt that I bought just yesterday for this meeting.

“You look amazing, Kriti,” Meera said, her eyes shining with delight.

My cheeks reddened. “The jeans aren’t a bit much? I don’t want him to think I only wear traditional clothes.”

“It’s perfect. You look sexy, if I say so myself.”

I couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped me. Meera had come out of her shell after meeting Luke. “Thanks, Meera. And you’re sure your maa won’t gossip about me going to meet Aakar?”

“I’m sure. She’s not the gossip kind.”

And she really wasn’t. She usually minded her own business and didn’t care what others said about them.

Right then, Aakar’s car arrived at the gate of Meera’s house. I quickly got up from the porch, grabbed my purse, and made my way to the car.

“Have fun on your date,” Meera shouted as I made my way closer to the car.

I turned and glared at her, wondering if Aakar had heard her. She just winked and ran inside her house.

When I neared the car, Aakar was out the door and running toward the passenger door. Quickly, he opened the door for me. Our eyes met as I approached the door, and for a second, everything around us disappeared for me. It was just him and his soulful dark brown eyes, the way he looked so powerful and downright sinful in his olive-green shirt that stretched so deliciously across his chest and shoulders. His eyes flared as he took me in, his gaze causing goose bumps to erupt across my skin.

“Hi,” I said, my voice coming out in a whisper.

He cleared his throat and gave me a small smile. “Hey, yourself.”

As soon as I sat in the car, he closed the door behind me and ran to the other side. Once he was in, he quickly started driving and pulled the car on the main road.

I quickly stole a glance at him and, to my surprise, found him doing the same. We both burst out laughing, breaking the sudden awkwardness at seeing each other again.

As he drove, Aakar drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You look beautiful.”

My heart fluttered and gushed, and I couldn’t stop the red blush heating my cheeks. I gulped. “Thank you. You look great too.”

He gave me a wide smile, his neatly trimmed beard accentuating his jaw. God, he was so sexy. “Thanks, Kriti.”

“So where are we going?”

“Well, considering that we’re sneaking out, how about we go for lunch in the nearby city?”

“Good idea. I don’t need any relatives or friends of my mom or dad to catch me.”

He chuckled, and I was riveted. His hoarse sound, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners. I wanted to keep making him laugh. “Feels like we’re in high school,” he said.

“For you, maybe,” I muttered. “I was just busy studying and being a good girl.”

He coughed. “That’s…good.”

After a minute of silent driving, he said, “I’m glad you agreed to meet me.”

Since I did not need to focus so much on the road, I turned in my seat and sat with my back leaning against the door to look at Aakar properly. His eyes widened when he saw me adjusting in the seat, and he quickly shook his head with an approving smile.

“Honestly, I’m glad you asked. I wouldn’t even have thought about it. I’ve never made plans like these with a guy before.”

“So no ex-boyfriends that I need to be worried about?” he asked, sneaking a glance at me before turning back to the road.

I chuckled. “Nope. What about you, the hotshot city boy? Do I need to be worried about any ex-girlfriends?”

He shook his head. “Nope, nothing to be worried about. I haven’t dated in a long time.”

I cleared my throat, nervous about asking him this. “So you’ve dated before?”

A light blush coated the top of his cheeks as his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Not much. But yes. I’ve dated some.”

Well, that was vague. What did some even mean? Two girls, ten girls, twenty girls?

Not needing to know more about it for now, I asked the most important question circling through my mind. “Um, would you call today a date?”

For the life of me, I couldn’t look at him. I stared out at the road ahead of us as I felt his eyes on me.

“Kriti,” he said, “would you please look at me?”

His polite words had me turning to meet his smiling eyes, and I instantly blushed. “What are you smiling about? It wasn’t a funny question.”

He chuckled. “I know. And I’m sorry if I wasn’t clear on the texts. But yes, this is indeed a date, if you want it to be.”

“What if I don’t want it to be?”

His grin was even wider as he sneaked yet another glance at me. “Well, then it is two new friends grabbing lunch together.”

That definitely wasn’t what I wanted. So, with my heart pounding out of my chest, I mumbled, “A date it is.”

This time, he didn’t turn to look at me, but a wide smile stretched across his face, causing me to smile in return.

The silence in the car was broken when “Ajj Din Chadheya” started to play. I noticed it wasn’t on the radio but on his playlist. He must’ve started the music from his steering wheel.

“Oh, I love this song. So you love 2000s Bollywood songs too?”

“Best era of music, if you ask me.”

I chuckled. “What? It wasn’t better than the old classics. But compared to what’s been coming out these days, I’d agree. The 2000s were so much better.”

The song talked about yearning for that one love the man was pining for, begging God to get him his love. The soulful singing by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, the tune, and the smooth sailing of the car on the road—the drive completely enchanted me.

It felt so good to know that Aakar was such a peaceful driver. He didn’t get mad at the traffic or the rash driving by others. He wasn’t in a rush, nor did he get irritated by the honking of other vehicles.

He didn’t even fret when there weren’t any parking spots when we reached the restaurant. We drove a little farther to park and walked back to the restaurant, talking about our favorite singers.

Once we were seated, the server handed us each a menu. I looked at Aakar as he read it, his eyes focused on the menu, his hair styled in a way that looked as if he’d run his hands through it a few times, and the way his beard accentuated his jaw had me sweating.

“So what do you want to order?” he asked, looking at me and catching me staring at him. His lips turned up into a bashful smile.

I averted my eyes and looked at the menu. After a glance, an idea struck me. I met his eyes and found him looking at me. I couldn’t help but smile. “How about we each pick our favorite dish and share?”

“Sounds perfect.”

Considering we were at a multicuisine restaurant, I had plenty of options. When the server came to take our orders, Aakar said, “I’ll have a spicy paneer burger. Make it a meal, please, with fries and a vanilla milkshake.”

I couldn’t help but rejoice at his order. I was already waiting to split the burger with him. When the server turned to me, I said, “I’ll have a Manchurian dry and chili garlic noodles with a Coke on the side, please.”

The moment he was gone, Aakar said, “I don’t think a better order combo exists.”

I laughed. “Definitely not.”

As I took a sip of the water, I wondered about a question that had been plaguing my mind ever since I met him.

“Spit it out, Kriti. I can see you thinking about something real hard.”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. “Fine. I’ve been wondering why a guy like you is going for the arranged marriage option when you could have any girl you want.”

Light red blush coated his cheeks. “You keep flattering me, Kriti. I don’t know if you’ll like this answer, but the main reason I agreed to meet women from these arranged proposals was because I promised my mother I would if she agreed to let Akira date her then American boyfriend, now fiancé, Sam.”

My jaw hung open. Was he getting forced to marry through an arranged marriage? My horror must have been etched on my face because Aakar quickly added, “I only promised to meet the women. Not marry them.”

“So is this all just an obligation to you?”

He drank a sip of water, probably trying to gather his thoughts, while I sat in bubbling anxiety. He met my eyes head-on as he said, “To be honest, it started out that way. I’ve met plenty of women since I agreed to my mother’s condition. I realized early on that it wasn’t a bad way to meet new women. It’s not like I was actively dating or had anybody in my life. I was too busy with work and had no time to actively seek women. This just became a convenient option.”

“Well, it kinda makes sense.” It still made me feel like a second option. I mean, it wasn’t like arranged marriage was anybody’s first choice. Who wanted their parents to find a life partner for them? But most people like me, who were never allowed to date during college, who never even cared to secretly date, who didn’t see any prospect at work, didn’t have many options.

He looked me straight in the eyes when he said, “For the first time, I’m really glad I agreed to these meetings.”

Heat rushed through my body at his admission. “Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”

He smiled. “I’m just being honest.”

I rolled my eyes, but I still couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

“And it’s not like I agree with the whole process. That’s why I asked for your number. That’s why I asked you to meet me secretly. I don’t want to be bound by our parents’ and society’s systems of how an arranged marriage should be. If we’re interested in each other, we should be able to talk and get to know each other as much as we want. I would also say we should be able to meet each other as much as we want, but considering you live four hours away from me, that proves to be a bit of a challenge.”

“What you’re saying sounds very much like dating.”

“And what’s wrong with that? Our parents did their part by introducing us. Now, we make the rules of how we get to know each other. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I couldn’t believe I was talking to a man who was so sure of his thoughts and beliefs. I admired that so much. I rarely, if ever, met men who weren’t mama’s boys or unorthodox in their beliefs. Someone who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. Someone who genuinely wanted to get to know me and made the effort to do that.

“I couldn’t agree more. You have no idea how refreshing it feels to actually get to know a man on my own terms. Thank you for giving me that choice.”

He simply nodded. “Just remember, you will always have a choice when it comes to me. If you don’t want to talk or chat, just say so. If you don’t want to get to know me anymore, just tell me. The moment you say no, I’ll back off. It’s your choice.”

Just to test him, I asked, “What if I want to say yes?”

Aakar

Her words instantly sent me into an internal panic. “I mean, of course. Umm…”

She instantly burst out laughing. “Just kidding. I know it’s too early. But good to know where your mind’s at.”

“Funny woman.”

Right then, our order arrived.

My heart rate was still high as I drank some of my milkshake. Her words came back to me. What if I said yes?

“Dig in,” she said, serving up the Chinese food on each of our plates. I divided the burger in half as I thought of her question.

Honestly, my panic wasn’t because I wasn’t ready to say yes. It was because of how much I liked hearing her yes . I barely knew her, but watching her take that big fucking bite of the burger, her silky shirt clinging to every one of her delicious curves, her large earrings and wavy hair framing her beautiful face, had me going rock fucking hard. And I knew her no would crush me.

We ate in relative silence as I got my dick under control and tried not to stare at her too much.

Once we’d eaten and I’d paid the bill, we walked back to the car. She moaned about being too full.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to have dinner. Those noodles and that burger were divine.”

“We didn’t even have dessert.”

Once we were seated, I started driving as she grumbled about not having enough of an appetite for dessert.

Deciding to humor her for now, I kept driving along the long, winding road.

“Where are we going now?”

“You’ll see.”

“Oooh, a surprise.”

“You like surprises?”

“I’m liking it right now. I haven’t been surprised before.”

“What? Never?”

I couldn’t believe it. One would think people would keep doing special things for her just to see her beautiful smile.

“I mean, Rati and Kartik surprise me at midnight with cake every year. But I wouldn’t call it a surprise. It’s more of a tradition at this point.”

“Makes sense. Akira and Ria constantly used to surprise me for my birthday. Not a midnight cake. That would’ve been too easy. Once, they decorated the office and turned it into a glitter fest. Another time, they called me home a day early, panicking that something had happened to Maa. I came rushing home, and boom, a hundred guests shouted Happy Birthday at me when it wasn’t even my birthday.”

She roared with laughter. “That sounds hilarious and terrible.”

“Laugh away. It was horrible.”

“Please tell me the place we’re visiting won’t scar me for life.”

I smiled at the thought of where we were going. “You’re going to love it.”

“So confident,” she teased.

We each took turns playing our favorite songs on the way when I took the final turn that clued her in.

“The beach?” she shrieked. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”

I couldn’t stop looking at her absolute delight and excitement. Her eyes shone like a million stars lighting up the midnight sky. Her smile and the sheer joy on her face could kill a man.

Fuck, I was getting poetic on her.

She’d already removed her pretty sandals by the time I parked the car.

She jumped out of the car as soon as I turned off the engine and literally started to power walk to the sand.

The waves crashing on the shore, the fresh smell of the ocean, the warm sand at my feet, and the white cranes flying nearby instantly relaxed me. Moisture clung to my skin as we started to walk—more like Kriti power walked, and I jogged— closer to the water.

The moment we were close to touching distance of water, Kriti bent down—holy fuck, she was sexy—and folded her jeans up. I guess we were going in the water. I followed her and did the same as she said, “If you’d told me before, I would’ve worn a skirt or a dress.”

The thought of Kriti in a skirt—the ocean breeze making it cling to her curves and the ruined possibility of seeing her bare legs—had my heart crushing. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Fuck, I was so stupid. I looked at her, and I was sure she could see the utter disappointment on my face. “The biggest mistake on my part, and believe me, something I won’t repeat.”

Her cheeks reddened, and she stepped into the incoming wave, shaking her head.

We stood side by side, her breathing in the ocean breeze, the wind sweeping her hair, and a soft, beautiful smile etched on her face. She was simply breathtaking.

She looked at the incoming waves, the sunlight turning the water into sparkling gold and orange hues, when she spread her arms as if embracing the view. My body yearned to embrace her, pull her into my arms, and hold her against my chest as we watched the sun together.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she said, her eyes stuck on the sparkling water.

I, however, couldn’t pull my eyes away from her. “Very beautiful.”

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

“I’m glad I did. Seems like I do love beaches.”

Her knowing smile had my heart pumping harder. She shook her head, her cheeks all red and her hair in total disarray. And I’d never been more transfixed before.

We started walking in the shallow water as waves crashed against our feet, talking for hours about everything and nothing.

It was one of the best times I had with a woman. I might not remember everything about our conversation from today. But I would always remember how her voice, her laughter, her smile, and that delighted twinkle in her eyes brought me so much more peace than the crashing waves or a long, winding drive along the mountains.

We reached Meera’s place a little later in the evening, and I stopped my car outside her gate.

“So this is it,” she mumbled with a hint of sadness.

And it made me irrationally happy.

I wanted to hold her hand so badly that I clenched the steering wheel tightly to stop myself from doing just that. “Don’t say that,” I said softly. “We’ll be talking soon enough. And if you want me to come meet you, just say the word.”

She looked at me with a shy smile. “I don’t want to trouble you with the long, lonely drive all the way here.”

I wanted to tell her I’d drive four hundred hours to meet her. But I was terrified of such a thought. “It’s no trouble at all. I had the best time today. I don’t even remember the last time I was on a date and had such a great time. You gave me that. So thank you.”

“You gave me my first official date, Aakar. And I’m so glad you gave me that and made it so special and perfect.”

Warmth bloomed in my chest at the thought of being her first date. Her first anything . I tightened my hold on the steering wheel, afraid I’d pull her into my arms. “So if you had a great time, would you still like to keep dating me? Keep talking and get to know me better?”

Her bright eyes shone, and her lips stretched into a wide smile as she nodded. “I would love it.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

“I’m glad.”

She smiled wider. “Off you go now. You have a long drive back.”

My body ached with the need to pull her into my arms and kiss her goodbye. I’d even take holding her hand and kissing it. But I had to take it slow. Fuck.

I groaned in a dramatic way. “Bored of me, already?”

She shook her head in denial, her small, teasing smile getting my heart pumping a mile a minute. “Never. Just worried. Now, go.”

The moment she was out of the car, she walked to my side as I opened the window. “And don’t forget to text me when you’ve reached home,” she said in a stern voice, the teacher in her coming out.

Her worry for me had me aching in an entirely different sort of way. Very few people worried about me rather than the other way around. “Yes, ma’am.”

As I pulled away, I couldn’t stop looking at her retreating form in the rearview mirror, my heart aching with a loss I didn’t expect to experience. Fuck, I missed her already.