Luv (Un)Arranged (Luv Shuv #3)

Chapter 17

17

Song: I Love You

- Ash King, Clinton Cerejo

Aakar

T he next day, I stood outside the airport along with Ria, Abhi, and Luke. Why did all flights from America have to land so early in the morning? I had returned after midnight from Kriti’s place and was up at five o’clock.

Luke yawned beside me while Abhi was busy on his phone. Ria stood leaning against me as I told her all about yesterday.

Right then, the door to the airport opened, and a running Akira bounded out. Before I could even blink, Abhi ran in her direction. Ria and I quickly followed, and the four of us embraced in a hug.

We held Akira for a good few minutes before separating.

I looked around to find Luke hugging his parents and Sam talking to his parents. I was glad we’d gotten three cars. Ria, Abhi, and I walked over to Sam and his family. Sam gave us all a hug, and we all welcomed the parents. Since Sam proposed to Akira last year, Dad has been waiting for them to come home so we can do an Indian ceremony as well. This way, they all could come to my wedding and also celebrate Akira and Sam’s engagement.

And Luke’s parents are here to spend some time with him and Meera.

We got all the parents in the respective cars. Abhi drove the car with Luke and his parents. He would drop them off at their place and come home. Ria took a car alone while Akira, Sam, and his family came in my car. It was a little too much planning for this early in the morning.

“So, bhai, when am I meeting Kriti Bhabhi?” Akira had a teasing twinkle in her eyes.

I shook my head. “We leave for Laxminagar tomorrow. We’ll all get together and have some fun before the wedding. There’s the ring ceremony, the haldi, mehndi, sangeet party, and wedding.”

I was getting married in six days.

Since we talked in Gujarati, Akira translated our conversation to Sam and his family.

“Congrats, Aakar. Happy for you, man,” Sam said.

“Thanks, Sam.”

Akira turned to me. “So why aren’t we keeping all these ceremonies in Ahmedabad? Why do we need to go to Kriti’s place?”

“Most of these ceremonies can be done separately. We could’ve only gone there for the wedding. But since we already have a few relatives near the village, Dad offered to ride all our relatives to the village. Our house is big enough to fit most of the guests who are interested in attending all the ceremonies. The rest will arrive on the day of the wedding. And it would be good to have these ceremonies in the same city. In case they need our help or we need theirs, we can be there for each other.”

“Makes sense. So do you love Kriti Bhabhi?”

I nearly choked on air at that casually put question. “Akira,” I groaned.

“What? Why would you marry someone you don’t love?”

I had no answer to that. I always wanted to marry someone for love, didn’t I? But did I not love Kriti? I certainly felt things for her. I constantly thought about her. I wanted to make her laugh and smile. I wanted to kiss her. Touch her. Fuck her.

I quickly turned my thoughts away from that direction since my sister and her fiancé and his parents sat in my car.

I cleared my throat as Akira stared at me. I was so glad Sam and his parents couldn’t understand Gujarati and had no idea what we were talking about. “I don’t not love her, Akira. I certainly feel something for her. Maybe it’s love. There’s certainly friendship. And attraction.”

“Eww.”

“You asked.”

“I mean, sounds good. I guess that’s as good as it gets in an arranged marriage.”

I stiffened at that. “What the hell does that mean? It certainly doesn’t feel like I’m compromising anything by any means. It feels like the best thing in the world.”

Sam was instantly up between the two front seats. “Everything okay between you two?”

Akira quickly smiled at him. “Yeah. Totally. I just made bhai a little mad.”

She turned to me. “I’m sorry about that, bhai. If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

I softened. Of course, I did. I nodded and drove while she turned around and talked to Sam and his family.

Akira had found her life partner a different way. She was going to have a love marriage. In my experience, every person who’d ever had a love marriage always thought of an arranged marriage as a compromise. Something that we settled for. Something that we did because we couldn’t find love.

But what about people who didn’t find love while walking down the street? Not everybody actually had the opportunity or a place or even a chance to just meet new people. How were they supposed to find a love match?

Didn’t we deserve a life partner? Companionship? Just because my parents found that person for me doesn’t mean it didn’t feel right. It was an arranged marriage, not a forced marriage.

There was a difference.

Was the tag of arranged marriage making me not acknowledge my true feelings for Kriti? I didn’t think I was avoiding my feelings for her. I knew I was crazy for her. Her pain had me running toward her, just so I could pull her into my arms.

Her smile made my heart sing.

If that wasn’t love, I didn’t know what was.

Akira certainly put my mind into a spin. For the rest of the day, while everyone was busy hugging and talking to Akira and packing everything for tomorrow, my mind twisted around in a loop. Should I share my feelings with Kriti? And if so, before or after marriage? What if she wasn’t even in love with me?

Well, it wasn’t like she would cancel the marriage if she knew I loved her. Surely, it was a good thing for us. Wouldn’t it make her happier to know that she was marrying a man who loved her?

The entire night, I tossed and turned, thinking about ways I could tell her.

The next day, I sat on the bus with around fifty of our relatives. Abhi, Ria, and my friends had decided to take cars so we’d have enough vehicles at our disposal in Laxminagar.

Akira, Sam, and his family were with Ria, while Meera, Luke, and his family were with Abhi.

The entire four-hour trip was spent talking to each person who kept congratulating me. I was happy they were all joining us for the ceremonies, but I already knew this week was going to drain me.

Mine was the first wedding among our cousins in our family. So everyone was just way too excited.

The rest of the day was spent setting up rooms and bedding for the guests, having lunch, and making sure that everyone was settled in and prepared for the next few days.

That night, we invited Kriti and her family, along with her relatives, to come for dinner. We had arranged for a campfire-like setting in our backyard so people could sit around and chitchat. We’d hired a few chefs for the week so no one had to worry about food for everyone.

At seven-thirty sharp, Kriti arrived with her family. She was dressed in a gorgeous pink salwar kameez with an orange and gold dupatta on her arms. She’d left her hair down and put on heavy eye makeup. Akira quickly came to stand by me and gave out a low whistle. “Bhai, no wonder you mentioned attraction.”

She nudged my chest with her elbow, teasing me, and I lightly pushed her so she fell on Sam’s lap behind her. Her squeal got Kriti’s attention.

She turned, and our eyes met.

I’d just met her last night, but my heart soared at her smile. Yep, I was definitely in love.

I didn’t even realize I’d started walking toward her when she met me halfway.

Everyone disappeared around me when I looked at her. “I don’t think I’ll be able to keep my eyes off you.”

She blushed at that. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

I rolled my eyes at that because I was only wearing a normal shirt and pants. I held her hand and pulled her to where Akira, Sam, Luke, Meera, Ria, and Abhi sat around the fire. “Come, I’ll introduce you to Akira and Sam.”

“You think she’ll like me?” Tiny crinkles formed between her eyebrows.

I didn’t need her to worry about that. “Of course she’ll like you. I like you. So she likes you. It’s simple, really.”

She chuckled. “Whatever you say.”

The moment I brought Kriti around, Akira pulled her into a hug.

And in the next minute, they were talking about their dresses and jewelry, the songs Akira had planned to perform on the sangeet night, the dance party the day before the wedding. Meera, being Kriti’s best friend, had already stolen a seat beside her. Soon, Kriti had her phone open and was showing Meera and the rest of the women her mehndi design options.

Since I had no interest in getting involved in mehndi designs, I met Sam, Luke, and Abhi’s eyes and nodded toward the food counter. We quickly got up, and each of us got two plates in our hands. One for ourselves and another for our wives and fiancées and sister.

And when I handed one plate to Kriti and took a seat beside her, for the first time, I felt like one half of a couple. Like I wasn’t a third or fifth or seventh wheel in our group. I had someone of my own to talk to, someone who knew me, someone who I knew intimately. And I couldn’t stop the smile that spread on my lips at that realization.

Under the golden glow of the fire, we ate, and we laughed, and we talked. And with Kriti by my side, I finally felt the joy and anticipation of my wedding week. Of our wedding week.

Kriti

Aakar seemed to be in a thoughtful mood tonight. He didn’t speak much. Or maybe I hadn’t seen him among his family often. He hadn’t talked too much when he and his family had come to see me either. He had taken me for car rides to talk.

I sat with my empty plate while I waited for Aakar to be done with his dinner. Sam and Akira had gone off with Sam’s family to talk to other elders. Luke and Meera had gone to get Meera’s younger brother, Hari, to get something to eat. Abhi had wandered off to his friends. Ria’s mother had called her for some preparation for tomorrow’s ceremonies.

“You seem to be quiet today,” I said, shifting my chair slightly to look at him.

His eyebrows raised, and a soft smile came over his lips after he swallowed. “You’ve met my siblings, right?”

I chuckled. “They’re sweet. I’m glad they’re not difficult to please.”

He laughed at that. “I really hope you like living with all of us. I know it’s a lot for you.”

Just the thought of living with fourteen people terrified me. I’d buried my head in the sand when it came to thinking about that. I would only think about it once I started living with them. One step at a time. So I just shrugged. “I can always run away if it becomes too much.”

He started coughing at that, uncontrollable hacking that had me taking away the food plate from his hands and also trying to control my laughter. Poor guy. I rubbed his back.

Once he’d caught his breath, I said, “I was only kidding. If the thought of me running away makes you out of breath, I don’t know what would happen to you if I did run away.”

His mouth hung open, and he shook his head. And then, with all seriousness, he said, “I don’t even want to imagine.”

And I melted.

He took the plate back from my hand and stood. “Let’s get ice cream, and I’ll introduce you to my friends. They’re very excited to meet you.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Oh, there’s more people to please.”

He laughed. “They already like you. And if they don’t, their loss.”

“Flatterer.”

With our ice creams in hand, we went to the mini-campfire where all his friends were gathered. He introduced me to Soham & Rashmi, Komal & Varun, and the only single man, Zayan. Zayan endlessly joked about Aakar leaving him alone in the bachelor life and getting tied to me.

At that, Aakar quickly put his arms around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “Consider me a very happily tied man.”

And I couldn’t help but take it in a dirtier way. My mind conjured up images of a naked Aakar tied to the bed, and I almost fanned my heated cheeks.

As soon as his friends started talking among themselves, Aakar leaned closer to me and whispered in my ear, “You were totally imagining tying me up, weren’t you?”

“Of course not. What kind of a woman do you think I am?”

He snorted and whispered, “A woman who reads about men with nine-inch cocks and a million ways to have sex.”

“Well. Makes me more prepared than you for our first night.”

His sharp intake of breath had me holding tighter to my dupatta. “Four more days.”

Just the thought had my heart beating faster. Nervousness. Excitement. And a million other emotions rioted inside me.

I shushed him so as not to let my mind wander into thinking about seeing a naked Aakar and focused on his friends.

But no matter how hard I tried, I could not tell a word of what they were talking about.

My mind was lost in thinking about how slowly the next four days would pass.

People started retiring to bed as it turned late. My family and relatives had already left since we had the mehndi ceremony tomorrow morning. Aakar had promised my father he would drop me off.

All the ladies in my close and far families were coming, and all the ladies staying at Aakar’s place were invited to join us for the mehndi ceremony.

Once only a few people remained in the backyard, still talking around the campfire, Aakar and I left the house and walked to his car.

He turned on the heater, put on the midnight radio that plays the most romantic songs, and took the car in the direction opposite my house.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“Don’t know. Does it matter?”

A smile touched my lips, and I realized that it didn’t. As long as he was driving, and as long as he was with me, I really didn’t care where we went. “No.”

With a smile, he pulled my hand on the gear stick, held his hand on top of mine, and kept driving.

After a few minutes passed on the endless stretch of road in the middle of nowhere, with barely any other vehicles, he parked the car on the side of the road.

The moment he turned off the car, the music stopped. The heater stopped. There was just him, me, and silence. I could hear his shaky exhale as he pulled my hand to his mouth and placed a soft kiss on my fingers.

Every fiber of my being was attuned to the soft touch of his lips and his beard that tickled my fingers and sent sharp arousal through my body.

“Aakar,” I whispered.

At that, he turned his eyes to me, my hand still clutched in his. “Kriti, I want to…I need to tell you something before we get married.”

My eyes rounded, and my heart beat faster. “Oh my god, please don’t tell me you have some deep, dark secret that you didn’t tell me before, and now your guilt is eating at you, and now that you’ve almost trapped me into a marriage, you’ve decided to just tell me.”

His mouth hung open for a second, and he quickly closed it. “Umm. No. Are you okay? Are the wedding celebrations getting to you? Are my relatives too much? Because I did not just hear you lay out a movie or a book plot when I was trying to tell you something really meaningful.”

My cheeks heated at the word “meaningful,” and I quickly schooled in my expression. “Of course your relatives got me.”

He smiled. “Of course. Now, can I continue?”

His voice turned serious, and I nodded.

He turned in his seat so he faced me and held my hand with both of his. “What I wanted to tell you was that these past few months, meeting you, talking to you, our endless chats and messages, and meeting you for all our wedding preparations, these months have been, without a doubt, the best months of my life. I can’t remember a time when I felt this alive, when I was so aware of my heart, my emotions, when I’ve had just one person in my thoughts endlessly.”

Goose bumps raced along the back of my neck, along my entire arm and hand that was still clutched in his. He pushed my hand over his heart, and I could feel it pounding in his chest, its rhythm wild and fierce. With a deep breath, he continued, “And I just wanted you to know that I never want it to stop. You make me feel alive. Seeing you happy makes me happy, and seeing you cry makes me want to leave everything behind and just pull you into my arms where nothing can harm you. I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to marry me. There could have been no other woman for me except you. And I promise to make you as happy as you make me. I…I love you, Kriti.”

I could barely see him by the time he finished his sentence. I leaped into his arms and put my lips on his. With an umph, he clutched the back of my neck and pulled me even closer. His tongue gently touched mine, and he pulled away.

I clutched the collar of his shirt in both of my hands and met his eyes. “I never thought that I would ever find the man of my dreams. And here you are. And I get to marry you, Aakar.”

I couldn’t help but shake him by the collar of his shirt, making him chuckle, and crashing our lips together.

Fire burned through my veins, and all I wanted was to climb into his lap and kiss him deeper. But I was wearing a very heavy salwar kameez, and I did not want to stop kissing him, even for a second. But he did. At my groan, he moved lower and tilted my head up to gain access to my neck.

With a loud groan, he nuzzled where my neck met my shoulder, causing my entire body to tremble with need. My hips rolled in my seat, wanting to be closer, needing to pull him deeper. I arched my neck further, and he bit my neck.

“Aakar.”

“Fuck, Kriti. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

When he sucked at the underside of my jaw, I remembered and pulled him off by his hair. “Do. Not. Give. Me. A. Hickey. Four more days.”

He groaned and pulled me into a deep, drugging kiss that had me almost forgetting everything.

Thankfully, he remembered and pulled back. “You mean it?”

I had no idea what he was talking about. “Mean what?”

Even in the darkness of the car, under the dim shadows of the streetlight, I could see his cheeks flush. “That you love me.”

I met his eyes, and this time, without being under the influence of his wonderful, mind-altering kisses, I admitted, “Yes. I love you, Aakar. How could I not?”

“Thank you,” he said and turned on the car.

As we neared my house, he said, “I always used to think that by agreeing to have an arranged marriage, I would be sacrificing something. That I wouldn’t be as happy as the couples who have a love marriage.”

I used to feel the same. “And now?”

He quickly stole a glance at me and smiled. “I don’t care that we met through our parents, and that we’re having an arranged marriage. If not through our parents, I would like to believe we would have crossed paths one way or another. I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else.”

And my poor little heart, who had only heard my mother’s harsh words of No one will want you if you don’t lose weight sobbed in relief and danced in delight. I couldn’t speak because he had stolen my heart.

I was going to get to live my happily ever after.