Page 119 of No Boss
She ran into it.
Arms wide, face lifted, catching the rain as she had since childhood. Her hair clung within seconds, clothes followed, outlining every line.
The ground felt alive under her feet.
“Finally!” Her voice rang out as she spun, once, twice, laughing.
When she turned, Abhinav was coming toward her.
Water traced his face, ran along his jaw, soaked through his shirt, defining every line. His attention fixed on her, unguarded in a way she had not seen before. As if he had stopped holding something back.
Her pulse stumbled. She stayed where she was, because she couldn’t have moved if she had wanted to.
He stopped close enough that the rain between them felt like the only space left.
“Hukum?”
“I can’t remember,” he murmured, “the last time I stood in the rain.”
The honesty in it unraveled her.
She wanted to go to him. That was the first instinct. Close the distance, hold his face and stay there.
The tenderness of her own thoughts startled her.
And then the fear came.
Because at the end of seven days, whatever he decided about the Haveli, he would leave. Return to a life that had no place for this place, or for her. And she would remain here, with everything she had allowed herself to feel. And she knew she would not survive this.
He was still looking at her.
She needed to move. Needed to break the moment before it showed on her face.
She pointed toward the boundary wall. “Race you.”
It came out almost right. Almost light. Almost like herself.
His brows furrowed. “What?”
“To the wall.” She tilted her head. “Unless Hukum is afraid of a little mud.”
Before her face could betray her, she turned and ran.
The ground softened fast, turning to mud that clung to every step. She ran through it, laughter rising again, heart racing for reasons that had little to do with the running.
His footsteps followed. Heavier. Closing the distance far too fast.
She glanced back.
He was cutting through the mud with ease.
“You cheated!”
“Head start, Hukum!”
She pushed harder. It changed nothing. He was closer now, close enough to reach.
She turned to throw another line over her shoulder. Her foot slipped on the slick ground.
