Luv (Un)Arranged (Luv Shuv #3)

Chapter 13

13

Song: Pehla Pehla Pyaar Hai

- S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

Aakar

S aying goodbye to Kriti to return home was torture. Not knowing when I’d see her again, hold her hand, or feel her touch again made me want to move to our village home and leave my father’s company. It felt like I was leaving behind a crucial part of me—a part that made me smile and laugh.

We returned home, and within the next two weeks, I realized that the next four months were, in fact, going to be pure fucking torture. But not for the same reason that I was hoping for.

I was at work—trying to work between my mother’s calls—when Kriti called me. In the next second, I was on the phone. “My mother has totally lost it, Kriti. I never knew that my mother could turn into a monstrous being that had only two words in her vocabulary: wedding preparation. For the life of me, I can’t escape her. From the moment I sit for breakfast to when I return home from work, she has me cornered. I can’t even escape her at work. If I don’t pick up her call or reply to her within five minutes, she calls me again, and if I don’t pick up her call, she calls Dad. And then he barges into my office and hands me the phone.”

“Hello to you too.” Her giggle had me instantly relaxing.

“Save me,” I groaned, exaggerating a little bit.

Her laughter rang in my ears. “You’re not the only one suffering. In fact, it’s worse for me.”

I swayed on my rotating chair and scoffed. “Impossible.”

Right then, my office door burst open, and in walked my mother, followed by my dad, Ria, and Abhi. I couldn’t stop my groan. “Maa, this is unbelievable. Now, you’ve come to the office?”

I could hear Kriti laughing on the other end of the call.

Maa put both of her hands on her waist, her eyebrows raised and her face pinched. “I have been trying to get you on the phone, but you haven’t picked up my calls.”

I waved my phone in the air. “Because I’m on the phone.”

Before she could start lecturing me about the urgency of wedding preparations, I added, “With Kriti.”

That instantly calmed her down. She was downright grinning now. Before I could get another word in, she extended her hand. “Hand me the phone. Let me talk to her too.”

Oh shit. My eyes jumped between the phone and my mother’s hand.

I knew what was coming the moment I put the phone to my ear.

“Do not hand over the phone, Aakar. Make an excuse,” Kriti said. “Oh my god, I’m not ready. Do not hand over the phone.”

I looked at the predatory, gleeful look in my mother’s eyes and knew there was no escape from that. I cleared my throat, getting ready to act as if Kriti hadn’t heard Maa’s request on her end. “Kriti, Maa wants to talk to you…”

“Aakar…”

“Oh yeah, she’s right here. Really excited to talk to you…”

“I’m gonna kill you.”

“Here, talk to Maa.”

And without waiting for another threat from Kriti, I handed over the phone to Maa.

Maa put the phone to her ear, and in the next minute, she was laughing and talking to Kriti. No matter what Kriti said, she was good at making small talk with people. I guess her experience as a teacher really makes her a good conversationalist. I was busy looking at Maa talking to Kriti when Ria and Abhi stood over me with amused expressions.

“What?” I asked.

They chuckled, and Abhi turned to Ria. “See, I told you. He’s been like this ever since the engagement.”

I looked between the two. “Like what?”

Ria laughed. “Mooning over our bhabhi.” Sister-in-law is addressed as bhabhi.

I scoffed. Loudly. But for the life of me, no words of refute came to my mind.

So clearly, I chose to change the topic.

“Ria, why are you out and about with Maa? Don’t you have any work?”

Ria looked around. Maa and Pappa had already walked out of my office with my phone. So it was just Ria, Abhi, and me.

She took a seat across from me. “Well, I took a leave.”

Abhi sat beside her as I asked, “Aren’t you taking a little too many days off at work?”

She shrugged her shoulders, but there was nothing casual about the way she held herself. “I’m thinking about quitting.”

That had me straightening in my chair, and Abhi looking wide-eyed between the two of us. She was only a year older than me, so I never could act as an older brother to her. So I always had to tread carefully when it came to showing her my concern or support.

So I minded my words when I asked, “Something wrong at your workplace? And does your mom know? Your dad?”

Ria glared at me and ran her hand in her hair. “Of course nobody knows. I was actually going to ask for a raise at work. I called a meeting with my boss too. But before I could get a word in, he started listing things I needed to work on and how I wasn’t contributing enough at the firm.”

I was off the chair at that. “Bullshit.”

Ria looked outside my office window, her eyes burning a hole through the glass. “I know. I’ve given five years of my life to that place, and this is what I get for asking for a raise.”

I walked back and forth across my office. I’d never worked for someone else’s company before. I’d joined our company right after graduation, so I never really had to impress a boss or needed to ask for a raise. I never knew the struggle that an employee faced. But I knew Ria. She was the most hardworking of all of us siblings.

She studied hard. She worked harder. And she was great at what she did. She was always welcome to join the company, and she knew that. But we were a textile business, and she was a chartered accountant. She had declared very early on that she wanted to make it on her own.

I looked at Ria. She wasn’t one to rage out loud. You’d never know she was angry or hurting until you looked at her eyes. And right now, they were burning. She hated losing. And comments that questioned her work ethic would have bruised her soul.

I sat on my desk near her seat and slowly held her hand. “You can always quit,” I offered.

At that, she looked at me. Her eyes were resolute, a deadly calm before the storm. “I already did.”

Abhi burst out laughing.

Ria gave him a quick smile, looking all proud and mighty.

“You…What? Then why did you—?” I couldn’t even form a proper sentence at her declaration.

She looked at me, a hint of guilt on her face. “Well, you wouldn’t have reacted well if I had just told you I quit. Now you know why I couldn’t continue working where I wasn’t valued, even for a minute longer.”

Shaking my head, I took a seat on my chair and drank some water. “You’re crazy.”

“I’m right.”

I nodded at that, a hundred percent supportive of her. “What’s your plan?”

And this is where Ria stumbled. She ran her hand in her hair and said, “I need to find a new job before Maa and Pappa find out I quit. If Maa finds out I quit before I have a new job lined up, she would grab that opportunity to get me married off somewhere, and that’s happening over my dead body.”

I groaned. “Arranged marriage isn’t that bad.”

She looked apologetic at her choice of words. “I didn’t mean it that way, Aakar. An arranged marriage isn’t bad when it’s between two people willing to marry each other. But I am not willing. At all. And that makes an arranged marriage a forced one.”

“Ahh. Okay, then. No marriage for you right now.”

“Good. And you can help me find a job. Stat.”

At that, my mind automatically started to surf through all my connections. “I’ll ask around for an opening and let you know.”

That finally brought a real smile to her face. “Thanks, Aakar.”

“You never need to thank me, Ria. You’d do the same.”

She nodded, and then turned her eyes to Abhi. “So, Abhi, how many times a day does Aakar talk to Kriti?”

Abhi turned his mischievous smile to me and asked, “Are we counting the times you’re texting and smiling like a fool at the phone?”

That brought out a loud scoff from me. “I never smile like a fool at the phone.”

At the same time, Ria laughed. “That definitely counts.”

Abhi chuckled at Ria. “Then he’s talking to her the entire day.”

“Get out, both of you.”

Right then, Maa walked in, laughing on the phone. “Of course, beta, see you on Sunday.”

My heart galloped at that, and my eyes zeroed in on Maa and the phone in her hand.

And it was too late when I realized that I’d shown all my cards to Ria and Abhi, who were howling with laughter.

“I told you guys to get out.”

They laughed, grabbed the phone from Maa’s hand and handed it to me, then pulled her out of the office with them.

With my heart beating loudly and my smile stretched across my face, I put the phone on my ear. “Sunday, huh?”

I only heard Kriti growl at me. “I’m gonna kill you on Sunday.”

I couldn’t stop my laughter. “Should I bring the knife?”

“For you, my hands are enough.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt that.” I kept my voice low and flirty.

With a growl, she cut the call, leaving me wanting for more.

Sunday couldn’t come soon enough.

Kriti

I was going to kill Aakar. His ill timing on the phone had cost me the only day off I got from school. And instead of relaxing with my family, who were very nice to me these days, I had to take a bus to the station early in the morning, without even breakfast. And here I stood, waiting at the station in Ahmedabad for Aakar to pick me up.

I unlocked my phone and dialed his number.

He picked up on the first ring itself. “I’m almost there. I can see the bus station from here.”

“You better not be lying. It’s way too hot, there are too many people, and I’m very hungry.”

He chuckled. “I’m not lying. The AC is already turned on in the car, and I’ll get you food in the next ten minutes.”

That made me smile like a fool. I had nothing more to say, but he stayed on the phone with me.

In the next two minutes, his car pulled up right in front of me. Quickly, I opened the back seat door of his car and dropped my small bag. He was about to get out of the car, but I waved him off and got in the front seat.

The cool air in the car instantly calmed me. And the sight of my future husband in a white T-shirt and gray sweatpants had my heart pounding right out of my chest.

“Welcome to Ahmedabad, baby.”

My jaw dropped open at the endearment. I turned my body to face him, uncaring of where he drove us to. I looked at his relaxed stance, the way he held the steering wheel of the car, his short sleeves showing off his biceps, his T-shirt clinging to his very flat stomach and his very wide chest, and his thighs…God, his thighs. “Have you absolutely lost your mind, Aakar?”

His eyes widened in shock, and quickly, he looked at me, then turned his eyes on the road. “What? What do you mean?”

I couldn’t stop looking at him. I was burning here, and he looked entirely too unaffected for my ego. I turned the AC vents to blow directly on me, the air cooling my hot cheeks.

He had no right to look this sexy so early in the morning when I had traveled for three hours and looked like utter shit.

“Kriti? Are you okay?”

I glared at the concern on his face. “No, I am not okay. God, what are you wearing?”

He cringed at that. “I missed my alarm, and I just woke up and ran out the door. I had no time to change or get ready. Why do you sound so upset at that? I don’t look that bad, do I?”

He had to be kidding me. I couldn’t help the loud scoff that escaped my mouth. “Bad? Now you’re just fishing for compliments.”

“Compliments?”

“You’ve got to know how hot you look right now.” I just couldn’t contain the words.

“Uhh…what?” He quickly turned his face to look at me, and he looked shell-shocked.

“Well, I’ve only seen you in formal clothes. And this…” I waved a hand at him and continued, “This is…just…In case you didn’t notice, I haven’t looked at the road once.”

His chest rose and fell. A dark red blush covered his cheek and neck. His hands turned white with the way he clutched the steering wheel. His eyes were hooded when they met mine.

And like I told him, I couldn’t look away from him.

“You’re really not joking,” he said.

I laughed. “I’m really not. Imagine if I came to pick you up in my nightwear.”

He groaned out loud. “Kriti…You’re awful.”

Before things could heat any further, I changed the topic, still fanning my face. “You promised me food in the next ten minutes. Your eight minutes are nearly up already.”

“Something else is also up already,” he mumbled.

“Oh my god. Aakar,” I shrieked. And because he’d said it, I couldn’t help but look.

And he wasn’t wrong.

Having never seen a hard-on before, I quickly looked away. But I couldn’t stop myself from having another peek as he adjusted…umm…himself.

“Kriti, you need to look at the road.”

“I’m looking.”

“At the road.”

“Right.”

“It won’t go away if you keep looking.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. So anytime now.”

And because I was looking at the proof of his arousal for me , his gray sweatpants tightened at the front, his legs spread wide, his hands white-knuckling the steering wheel, I was soaked. My thighs clenched and hands tightened on my dupatta to stop myself from squirming.

A sudden brake of the car broke off my trance, and I quickly looked at Aakar.

His eyes burned everywhere he looked, his jaw was clenched tight, and without looking away from me, he grabbed his cock, and adjusted it not to have it tent his pants. Quite unsuccessfully, if I had to check, which I totally did.

“Should’ve worn jeans,” I muttered.

“Thank God I didn’t.”

My eyes widened in shock, but a laugh escaped me at his admission. Before I could say anything else, he slowly stopped the car at a small street vendor selling chai and sweet buns. A young man came running to take our order, and in the next five minutes, I was holding two chai in my hands and two jam buns on my lap as Aakar drove us around to find a shaded place to park.

He found a spot under a tree. “My house is on the next street. We can go after we finish eating.”

I loved how he always found ways for us to spend time together. He could’ve just as easily drove us home, and we could’ve had chai and breakfast at his place. But I liked that our privacy and time to get to know each other were important to him.

I passed him his chai and bun after he parked his car. The intense sexual tension that had ignited between us earlier calmed to a simmer, but I didn’t miss the heated glances he sent my way. And he didn’t complain when I couldn’t stop sneaking peeks at him every now and then.

Between the heated moments, we had our own little breakfast, talking about our week, our work, and how our parents were getting crazier by the day.

Speaking of parents getting crazier by the day, the moment we stepped inside the house, Aakar’s mom and aunts were upon us. By the time they’d cajoled me into having breakfast with them, Aakar had already left me alone with them. Not that I was scared of my future mother-in-law and aunties-in-law or anything. Absolutely not.

I’d barely had a few sips of chai when Aakar’s mother started the conversation. “So Kriti Beta, what kind of traditional clothes would you like to wear for the wedding functions? Salwar kameez, sarees, choli?”

She sat at the head of the table. I sat on her right while the other two aunts sat across from me on her left. Before I could answer her, one of the other aunts piped in, “Didi, these Bollywood celebrities are all wearing such great clothes. I still think Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma had the best wedding clothes.”

The other aunt was quick to jump in too. “They wore too subtle colors, Ekta. I loved Deepika and Ranveer the best.”

All of their eyes turned to me. Of course I was aware of all the celebrity weddings and the clothes they wore. And because the topic was familiar to me, I relaxed a bit. I placed the cup of chai on the dining table and folded my hands on the table. “I loved Vicky and Katrina’s wedding. Her blouse pattern was so good.”

The ladies hummed in agreement, and we talked about different styles of traditional attire we could wear for various functions. They told me about a few shops we would visit today, the clothes they want to get me, and some jewelry options.

I was engrossed in the conversation until Aakar stepped in the dining area. Aakar in a light pink shirt, blue jeans, a metal gray watch with trimmed beard and neatly combed hair was a force to be reckoned with.

Our eyes met, and my mind stopped comprehending all the words exchanged around us. Except when I heard Aakar’s mother. “Aakar Beta, why are you all ready?”

I frowned. So did Aakar. “What do you mean? Aren’t we going shopping?”

All the ladies started to laugh. And a sinking feeling formed in my gut. And all my excitement over shopping dropped when one of the aunts said, “ We are going shopping. For Kriti. She’s only here for a day. We need to shop as much as we can today. We can shop for you some other day.”

“Don’t you need me to come around with you? I can drive you all to the shops,” Aakar said.

I appreciated his efforts to join us, but I didn’t see it happening.

I was proved right when the eldest aunt said, “You don’t need to chauffeur us around. With Ria joining us, there’s no space for you.”

“Oh.”

All three ladies giggled at Aakar’s despondent look. I quickly faked a shy smile on my face right before they turned to me. “Are you seeing this, Kriti? I’m glad you’re getting married soon. Our Aakar seems to be pretty fond of you.”

My face hurt with how I’d stretched my lips into a smile when all I wanted to do was pout in sheer disappointment at Aakar for not being able to join us.

No sooner did Ria come into the dining area than I excused myself to freshen up a bit to prepare for a long day ahead. When I entered the living room where all the ladies were ready to head out, I found Aakar watching TV in his sweats.

The moment our eyes met, heat sparked in his eyes. I moved my gaze quickly over his body, causing him to smirk. Despite that, his cheeks still turned red. “Have fun, everyone,” he mumbled and went back to his television.

With a quick goodbye, all five of us—Ria, me, my future mother-in-law, and the two aunts—headed out. The rest of the day was spent shopping for several traditional attires. Some of them were for the wedding ceremonies, while some were for future occasions. Even Ria joined me in trying out different clothes and got some for herself too.

I had thought that my voluptuous body would be a point of some uncomfortable conversations, but surprisingly, they never commented on my body type. We just had fun shopping, be it sarees or lehenga or salwar kameez. Later on, we stopped by some jewelers to see what would go well with my newly bought clothes, and my mother-in-law gifted me a set of gold earrings that matched my saree.

The entire day flew by, and I had way more fun than I’d anticipated. By the end of the day, we were all so tired and hungry that Maa had asked Aakar to order food from a restaurant by the time we reached home.

I sat beside Aakar at the dining table while we all had dinner together when Ria asked, “So, Kriti, if we didn’t bore you too much today, would you like to come back for shopping again?”

I quickly swallowed my bite. “Ria, oh my god, I had one of the best times with all of you. And of course, I would love to join you all. But I don’t think I have much shopping left to do.”

Aakar’s mom scoffed. “Beta, this is just the beginning. Of course there’s much to shop for. And if not for you, you can always come with us when we shop for us. You have a great sense of style. I love how quick you are in matching different fabrics. Such a sharp eye.”

As my mother-in-law gushed, I could feel Aakar’s gaze on me. “Well, I do love shopping.”

“Then it’s decided. You’re coming shopping the week after next. And bring your mother and sister too.”

I readily agreed and got back to eating. Under the table, Aakar grazed his hand along mine. A shiver raced down my spine at his gentle, exploring touch. Not letting my expression change even a bit, I turned my hand and entwined our fingers.

Throughout dinner, we clasped our hands together, his thumb gently rubbing circles along mine, his fingers enclosing mine possessively. The moment Aakar grabbed our clasped hands and put them on his thigh, my mind nearly short-circuited. It took everything within me not to show the shock on my face with everyone right at the table.

The moment we got into the car after saying the goodbyes and a promise to return the week after next, Aakar had our hands clasped and back on his thigh. He had to let go of my hand to change the gears on the car, but he quickly pressed my hand on his thigh. “Keep it here.”

I couldn’t say anything but keep my shaking hand right where he instructed. All the way to the bus stop. The entire time we sat in the car waiting for the bus. And all I could remember for the rest of my journey back home was the heat of his body and the feel of his thigh under my palm.