The Bachelor

Chapter 10 : The Illusion Of Choice

No! It's not me! He's the giant!

"Listen, Godzilla! Why am I in your room?!" I spat.

"Woh kya hai na, the bed in your room was so small, that I wasn't able to sleep comfortably! So, I tried to come back to my room, but you...you were talking in your sleep, you know..." He said, with his eyebrows dancing.

I'd been talking in my sleep?! What?

Manik cleared his throat and said in an effeminate voice in a bid to imitate me. "Manik...please mujhe chhod ke mat jaana...mujhe darr lag raha hai...please..."

My face immediately reddened when I heard his words. Had my nightmares really resulted in me becoming that paranoid?! This was beyond embarrassing!

A moment later, Manik burst out laughing and exclaimed. "Look at you! Look at your face! It's epic! You actually believed me!"

What the hell?! He'd been playing a prank on me?!

I groaned in frustration and picked up the nearest pillow I could find and flung it at him with the maximum strength I had!

"I let you into my room, and this is what I get?! You're such a monster, Manik!!" I screamed as I threw another pillow at him.

"Listen, what are you doing? Nandini...stop it!" He said as he dodged the second pillow.

However, I was in no mood to calm down! I picked up all the cushions and hurtled them at him one after the other.

He seemed extremely annoyed by this, which just gave me more of an incentive to continue...

He quickly came forward and caught hold of my arms, resulting in me struggling to get out of his grip.

"I'll kill you!" I gritted my teeth at him as I tried to yank my wrists out of his grasp.

I wasn't about to give up so easily! I'd made a mistake letting my guard down with him last night.

I continued to push him off with all my might, but the soft mattress of the bed wasn't helping my case. Suddenly, my foot twisted in such a way that I lost my balance!

I yelped as I found myself falling over and shut my eyes, for fear of the impact. I fully expected my bottom to hurt substantially once I hit the ground, but no such thing happened.

I opened my eyes in confusion only to find myself in Manik's arms. He'd caught me on time and thankfully, because of it, I had zero cracked bones.

I gulped as I realized that I was clutching his bare chest with both my palms. I suddenly remembered one of the errant thoughts I'd had when I'd seen Manik at the gym. I'd imagined how it would be to feel his chest beneath my palms...and now it was actually happening...

I drew my hands back awkwardly, and finally mustered up the courage to look up and meet his gaze.

When I saw the intensity in those orbs, my throat ran dry. That innately carnal look that I'd seen in his eyes two nights ago was back...

I couldn't take it...the way he was looking at me...it was messing with my hormones...

The fresh scent of his body wash was invading my senses as well, which made him all the more alluring.

Come on, Nandini! Look away! Look at the door, the window, the fan...up at the ceiling...down at the floor...anywhere, except into his eyes...

I must have seemed like an indecisive cock-eyed idiot, due to my actions!

However, his voice forced me to look at him once more.

"I woke up last night, and realized that I'd kind of been squashing you. Your bed was just too small. I tried to leave, so that you'd be more comfortable. I don't know how it happened, but we'd somehow ended up in a position where you had a really tight grip around my chest. I didn't want to wake you...you just looked too peaceful...so I carried you here instead because I have a bigger bed?" He completed his explanation in a slightly quavering voice.