Aayna’s POV
There are three kinds of people at functions:
1. The ones who blend in, plate full of snacks and no eye contact.
2. The ones who own the room like they were born in it.
3. Me.
Awkward, overdressed, and already regretting coming.
“Aayna, stop pulling your dupatta up like that!” Aarzoo scolded, fixing the net dupatta over my shoulder for the tenth time. “You look cute. Just relax.”
Cute? I felt like a walking firecracker in this sky blue lehenga she made me wear. Light makeup, small bindi, jhumkas... the works. Definitely not what I’d wear to my cousin’s shaadi back home.
I clutched my potli tighter and whispered, “Aarzoo... everyone’s staring.”
“Because you look like a lost puppy.” She laughed, dragging me into the main hall.
Her house was buzzing. Fairy lights, soft music, and so many men. Tall, intimidating Rathore brothers each of them looking like they stepped out of a mafia movie.
Especially him.
Rudra Pratap Rathore.
He was standing near the puja corner, wearing a simple black kurta and rudraksha beads, talking to someone with a straight face, and still looking like he could kill a man with just one look.
I tried not to stare.
Failed.
There was something... heavy about his presence. Like silence had decided to take human form.
I caught him glancing at me once.
Very briefly.
But I swear I stopped breathing.
He looked... disappointed? No, confused. Maybe curious? Ugh, I don’t know. Why am I even thinking about this?
I turned to Aarzoo. “Uh... that’s your eldest brother?”
She smiled softly. “Rudra Bhaiya. Don’t be scared. He’s a little... intense. But all heart.”
Yeah right. Intense is an understatement. That man looks like he hasn’t smiled since the Mughal era.
But my heart wasn’t confused about him.
It was beating for someone else.
---
Later, I found myself on the terrace with Aarzoo. Fireworks in the sky, her dupatta flying, and me finally breathing properly.
“I have a crush on someone,” I confessed, blushing like an idiot.
She turned so dramatically I thought she’d fall over. “WHO?”
“Maan.”
She blinked. “My baby brother Maan?”
I nodded, hiding my face in my hands. “He’s so... kind. And tall. And his smile? Uff. But he's too old for me.”
Aarzoo choked on her drink. “Too old?! He’s literally the youngest of the five!”
“Exactly!” I said. “He’s still, like... a proper man. I’m just a first-year girl who still uses a teddy bear as emotional support.”
She burst out laughing and hugged me. “You’re too cute. But who knows? Maan’s heart might just be soft enough for teddy bear girls.”
I sighed. “It’s just a silly crush.”
But my eyes... they drifted back down to the garden where Rudra Pratap was standing again, lighting a diya with perfect stillness.
And my silly crush suddenly felt... confusing.
---
YOU ARE READING
Only His✔️
RomanceI thought monsters lived in nightmares. Then I met him. Rudra is powerful, feared, and impossible to defy. When he took me into his mansion, I thought it was to save me. I was wrong. His kindness hides chains. His touch burns like fire and freezes l...
