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25.2 - Infinity

i think you guys are going to enjoy this chapter veerryy much ;))))

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25.2 - Infinity

Maya Sumedh

 I’m not stupid.

 As soon as the words were out of Luke’s mouth (sounding absolutely ghastly in his accent), despite the emotions that flooded through me on an impulse, I knew something was off. I mean, that was hardly a confession worthy of Luke’s standards. Where was the eye contact, the sexual tension? He wouldn’t just blurt the words out like that. That is to say, if he ever does say them to me. Which he won’t. Of course. What am I thinking?

 His expression as I grabbed his sleeve and pulled him away from a still giggling Arjun was absolutely gobsmacked. I rolled my eyes internally.

So you unintentionally said the three dreaded words to me, it’s not the fucking end of the world.

Did he think I would cling to the words, try to make him mean it?

 I decided to dispel any awkwardness he might feel trying to take it back.

 “Luke,” I said firmly as we reached the food counters.

 “Y-yeah?”

 I turned to face him.

 However strong I was being, inside I think I was crumbling of disappointment just a little. Or a lot. Of course there was a part of me that wished he would feel that way for me, because I think I was becoming more and more sure of the terrifying fact that I had fallen face first, completely ungracefully, for him.

 He was watching me carefully. I felt like the situation needed to be handled like a ticking bomb.

 “Forget about that,” I blurted.

 He blinked.

 “What?”

 “Forget about what you just said. I don’t want things to be awkward between us, with both of us leaving it hanging there, so I’m saying it now, forget about it, we both know it was just a joke, Arjun was being an idiot. You don’t have to tell me you mean it or anything, it was a joke. Don’t look so shocked.”

 He swallowed as he looked down at me. A few seconds of silence passed, which were filled mostly by the nervous roaring in my ears I had been refusing to acknowledge, our breathing, the chatter of the people around us, clinking plates and cutlery and the shehnai floating in the air.

 “You can let go of my sleeve now.”

 I dropped my hand from his arm.

 “Yeah.”

 As I looked down at the tile near my feet, embarrassment pricking at me for reasons unknown, his arm snaked around my shoulder and he quickly kissed the side of my head.

 “Sorry. No awkwardness.”

 “Just a joke,” I said, nodding.

 “Just a joke.”

 *

 For the next forty minutes, I was swamped with relatives congratulating me on my performance and commenting on my growth, as usual. I had hugged so many old people I was sure I was smelling like a hospital geriatric ward by the end of the ordeal. The upside was that I was left with a handful of money that ran into thousands whereas Sam was holding a large bar of Dairy Milk. He eyed my loot disdainfully.