& Then They Wed (Ampersand Love #2)

27. A String of Flowers

27

A String of Flowers

Rian

R ian pinched his fingers together, picking up a small portion of the dried white rice powder from the container Nanamma always kept filled.

Holding his hand steady a few inches off the tiled floor, he carefully sprinkled some at the edges of the geometric design he’d been working on. The muggu he’d made was not his best. He was out of touch, but it gave him something to do while he waited for the two women within his house to finish getting dressed.

Every Hindu household across India today would have something similarly decorative to celebrate Diwali. Even as he’d driven home from the hospital, he’d seen massive crowds filling the markets with late shoppers, laughing men and women carrying bags of pretty new clothes to wear for the evening, children chattering excitedly about the multitude of firecrackers they would light at night.

The happy chaos around him had failed to replace the constant hum of his new reality .

He was in love with Aditi.

To accept this had taken him time, but now that he was here, there was no avoiding it. It was love. But it was unlike any love he’d experienced before.

Despite having never been in a relationship, Rian wasn’t a stranger to love. He’d been in love with Kaya in the past. For years, his feelings had remained unrequited. He’d watched from the sidelines, unable to do anything except wait to see if Kaya changed her mind. Even then, he’d known it was futile.

Kaya loved him, but not romantically. So, he’d become what she had needed. A friend, a confidante, and a silent supporter of her attempt to break away from the confines she’d been placed under by an authoritarian father.

When she’d found love with her husband, Rian had felt relieved.

Sure, he’d had other emotions to work through before he’d fully handed Kaya's future to Arjun. He’d been protecting her for so many years, it had taken an unknown woman with pretty brown eyes and a filter-less mouth telling him to cut his losses, to truly let go. A wry grin graced his lips. From their very first meeting, Aditi had managed to get under his skin.

His track record of loving people was rife with issues, riddled with doubts and guilt.

He’d loved his father. His father died.

He’d loved his mother. She hated him.

He’d loved Nanamma. She’d suffered his mother’s wrath and had been, along with her husband, forced to leave her own home to keep the peace.

He’d loved Kaya. But only he knew that he’d hurt Kaya in ways she was unaware of, even today.

Now, he loved Aditi. And he was terrified. How could he not be? This love was easy, and he was unused to it being simple. It made him want to question it. Reject it .

He’d been ready to live a life alone, because he’d been exhausted with the complications of love. His experiences had given him no reason to trust his ability to love well, and in a way that would be reciprocated. Then, unexpectedly, Aditi had burst onto the scene and pranced right into his chosen solitude, filling the silence with her laughter.

His life was forever changed, and he had to try to figure out how to move ahead.

With her.

No sooner had he thought this than he heard movement behind him. He glanced back, slowly turning as his eyes were drawn to pretty feet emerging first from around the corner, covered quickly by a flash of silky material. He spotted a dainty hand adjusting the folds of the skirt so it fell perfectly. His eyes travelled up the length of her, taking in the soft curve of her hip as it came into view and the dip in her waist before it was covered by the open end of her saree. Whatever he’d expected, he hadn’t been prepared for this.

Focused on her saree, she walked towards him, her hair cascading down one side in a profusion of gentle waves, her footsteps accompanied by the sounds of the anklets he assumed she’d worn. She raised her head, her kohl-lined eyes catching his, and he was afraid she would know just by looking at him, what he felt.

How had he ever thought he could resist such a gorgeous human being?

How had he even entertained the idea that he could remain aloof from her?

He was an absolute idiot, he realised, unable to take his eyes off her for even a second. Months of effort and lying to himself about how he felt, when he should have given in at her first smile.

Perhaps the thought of her smile had etched one on his face too, because Aditi’s gait slowed, her mouth tilting ever so slightly in response .

“Look at you being such a well-cultured boy,” she teased, pointing to the design he’d just finished. She fixed her pallu over one forearm, gliding towards him. “You’ve been brought up so well. You cook, you clean, you pray, you make pretty kolams. Perfect husband material. Are you sure you don’t want to marry me?” she joked, expecting him to react as he’d done many moons ago when she’d first brought it up.

All he did however was watch her with that disconcerting expression that made her nervous.

Assuming that he was still not fully recovered from his bout of panic, she struck a deliberately exaggerated pose like the ones she’d seen in magazines, with her elbows sticking out in awkward angles. When he still didn’t laugh, she twirled once, asking him in a bright and breezy tone, “What do you think?”

“It’s. . ." Rian cleared his throat, trying to get words out. “You look beautiful.”

Surprised by his candor when she was trying to be silly, Aditi stared at him, unable to control the rush of blood to her face. She watched him pull out a small paper packet from the pocket of his kurta, and extend it to her.

Oddly nervous, she unwrapped the package to reveal thick strings of jasmine bunched together to form a heavy and luscious-looking gajra.

“For me?” she asked, glancing at him in surprise. Before she could take the flowers out, Rian held the garland on one end. “Rian?” she questioned when he gestured to her to turn.

Aditi felt his body close in behind her, his warmth engulfing her. She felt the weight of the gajra settle against the back of her head when he delicately adjusted her hairpin to keep the flowers in place.

For a man as big as him, his capacity to be so sweet and gentle with her made her heart clench. The pads of his fingers brushed against the naked skin where her neck met her shoulder, and her breath caught. Unable to help herself, she threw him a glance .

“Perfect,” he murmured, running one knuckle down her cheek, utterly enchanted by her deep blush. “Now, you look perfect.”

Her body broke out in goosebumps, his husky declaration causing her gut to develop knots and her nipples to harden. She turned towards him, placing a tentative hand upon his chest. Was it her or was his heart beating hard as well?

The sound of Nanamma calling them had him taking a step back, gulping audibly as he pulled out his phone to instruct his driver to bring the car around.

Aditi, however, couldn’t move on from that moment.

She was wrapped in a feeling she couldn’t recognize.

She’d expected the attraction between them to lead to something fun in the bedroom. While their encounters so far had certainly whetted her appetite for more, she hadn’t expected his gifts and compliments to affect her so much.

There was something different about him today and try as she might, she couldn’t explain why she felt that way. She made no progress in understanding his changed behaviour as they drove to the Diwali party. Even after the enthusiastic welcome they’d received at Kaya and Arjun’s home, Rian remained silent and contemplative, leaving her with only Nanamma and her new friends for company.

Vihaan, glad to see her once more, seemed happy to entertain her when the others dispersed. She shot him a polite smile, walking alongside him in the garden and trying to focus on what he was saying instead of letting her mind remain mired in solving a puzzle she wasn’t certain existed.

Unbeknownst to her, the man who’d jumbled her thoughts stood just inside the widescreen patio doors, watching her like he would never tire of the view. There were a hundred people at this party, but only one who could keep his attention riveted like this. Now that he’d understood why, there was no sense in denying that these emotions felt permanent .

Which is why her unserious proposal from earlier kept playing in his mind over and over again. He knew she’d meant it as a joke, because she’d asked him exactly this question before when she’d been frustrated after her many failed dates. He’d shut her down immediately that night. But today? He sighed, held by the invisible binds her question had wrapped around him. Binds that led to her. He was her captive, and she held the keys to his freedom.

No, he corrected himself. She was his freedom.

“There you are. I brought you your favourites.” He turned to see Nanamma hobble towards him with a plate of snacks in her hand. She came to stand beside him, sighting Aditi strolling across the lawn with Vihaan beside her.

Chitra pointed towards Aditi with a jalebi in her hand. “She’s a nice girl, isn’t she?”

He nodded. “Yes, she is.” The best.

Nanamma seemed pleased with that response. “I was afraid you wouldn’t see that after how you reacted when you met her the first night.”

He had to bring a fist up to his mouth, coughing behind it to hide his laugh. He’d very literally fallen head over heels. He would never forget it.

“I’m glad you two have become friends,” his grandmother declared.

Friends? Sure. He could accept that. They were friends who had touched, hugged, kissed, and tasted each other’s bodies. Rian felt his collar grow tight.

He declined the delicacies his grandmother offered to him. Picking up her weathered hand in his, he placed it on the crook of his arm and led her down the deck to get some fresh air.

“She hasn’t had the best of luck on those arranged dates that her parents or I suggested,” Nanamma piped up again. For some unknown reason, she seemed determined to continue discussing Aditi today. Rian had no clue what sort of input was expected from him. As far as he was concerned, he was fucking ecstatic that those dates had been terrible. “Maybe I haven’t been searching in the right place. I should have been looking for a boy a lot closer to me.”

Rian’s pulse thumped eagerly. “Nanamma, I. . .”

“Vihaan and Aditi seem to be getting along well.”

What the fuck? He whipped around to see his grandmother, not bothering to conceal his shock.

Nanamma pointed towards the two of them in the distance, laughing at something together. Rian felt the warmth drain from him.

“Look at them,” she said, watching her grandson with a calculative look he missed due to his preoccupation. “They seem happy and make a good-looking couple.”

No they don’t! he wanted to yell, barely tamping down the urge to throw a fit at the mere suggestion.

“Vihaan is not interested in settling down right now.”

Did he sound anxious? If he did, his grandmother didn’t pick up on it.

“Nonsense,” she guffawed, as if Vihaan’s opinion wasn’t worth a consideration. “I was talking to his mother just inside and she is desperate to see him get married soon. He’s thirty-one already.”

“So?” Rian argued. “I’m thirty.”

“You're only thirty, and you don’t want to be married,” Nanamma volleyed right back, the smile on her face borderline sinister. “And you heard how happy Vihaan was to see Aditi, right? I’m sure if I bring her proposal to Mrs. Oberoi, something good will come out of it.”

Rian was positive he was going to lose his mind. The world was conspiring against him to drive him insane. He should tell Nanamma. He should speak up now before he lost Aditi.

“Nan. . .” He fell quiet when a group of ladies hailed her.

He watched his grandmother walk away, possibly continuing to plan Aditi’s wedding with his friend instead of him, and it felt like a cruel joke. He had only himself to blame, of course. He’d denied wanting to be in a relationship so many times, no wonder Nanamma had given up.

His mood dampened considerably when he caught sight of Aditi happily chattering away with Vihaan. Possessiveness threatened to rear its head once more, like it had the evening he’d crashed her date.

But he wouldn’t make that mistake again.

A bottle of water in his hand, Rian stalked off to find a darkened corner to sulk in.

This time, he would wait until she came to him.