#EXPOSED

CHAPTER - 25

'Mood for mayhem.' 

Kunal

2020

I popped the can open and swept my gaze on Vaanya. She was so damn sexy—those curves tempted me more than anything. CSU had a bunch of gorgeous women but they never held a candle when it came to Vaanya Mittal. Her beauty was unnatural. I leaned my back against my chair as I assessed her effortless movements. In my head, I had imagined exploring every nook and cranny for her delicious soft body and the best deal was the fact that she was single—which implied she was also available.

I was all ears to catch a snippet of her soft laugh when Ranveer took his seat beside me. "Man you're spacing out." I scoffed before I looked at him. "You should ask her out if you're so interested."

I narrowed my gaze on Vaanya far across the room, laughing with her friends. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"More like, who," he retorted and I tore my gaze away from her. Ranveer smirked. "Maira is good people, man. I'm sure she'd agree for a date or two."

I nearly laughed at his poor judgment.

"You think I'm interested in Maira?"

He scowled at me before he grabbed my drink. "Isn't she the one you're checking out?" he drank from the soda can and set it back on the table in front of me. I toyed with it mindlessly to craft my answer. "Never mind," he told me and rose to his feet. "I may have read the wrong signals."

"Yeah, no, I like Maira, she's cool." I was positive Ranveer wasn't ready to acknowledge my interests in his best friend or whatever Vaanya was for him. They seemed tight and admitting my interest to him didn't seem like the right thing to do.

He arched a brow and flashed a knowing smile. "I'll burn you to the ground if you mess with her." Ranveer had imposed a permanent ban on bullshit. I'd failed to remember the last time he made a joke that wasn't a dark comedy or a real joke.

"Why so serious, man?" I asked and he rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I'd mess with her and why are you even concerned about her? That girl over there thinks you're a fucking criminal."

"And for all the right reasons, I might add." He gave me a dark look. "I was after all a juvenile delinquent. It's better if she isn't my friend."

My jaw clenched. I didn't want people around to hate him for something that happened a long time ago. He was a good guy and probably the only guy who cared about actual life. "So what? Your father's the real deal, isn't he?"

"Drop it fucker," he growled lowly and I drank from the can. "Don't push your shitty luck. My father is nobody's business and that doesn't give me some wildcard. You better not act like scum or I'll break face the next time I see you."

That made me laugh but Ranveer was dead serious. He was always around making sure that I wasn't in deep trouble for womanizing. "So you mean to tell me that you won't help me next time I wind up in shit?"

"There will be no next time," he demanded gruffly. "I've had enough of your fuckery. Stop messing with women. I mean it."

"You said that same thing last time," I asserted and then he was glaring at me. Damn it. My day was filled with those looks. What did these people take me for? "And the time before that, and the time before that, and—"

"I've been helping you enough with your shit only because I don't want you to wind up in prison. If you so much as repeat that ordeal then I'm involving my father and dragging your ass down to jail myself. Do you fucking understand?"