Hope to Love

Chapter 26 - Affection Unleashed!

Abhimanyu

The friendship, the proposal, the I love you. Nothing was planned.

Everything happened naturally with her. The most unexpected thing of all has always been her reaction.

She is unpredictable, which is probably an understatement of the century. But she's also the best thing that's happened to me.

The slip-up from Rudra pissed me off to no extent. Still, she didn't fail to stun me with her words. Even though she doesn't know a thing about my family.

I have to give her something, but I'm just not ready yet.

"I need time, Chubbs," I whisper, leaning closer to her. I tighten my hold around her, needing assurance that she'll stay even after knowing the truth about my family.

She leans closer to me, looking up at me and staring into my eyes. She smiles, relieving me in an instant. "We have our entire life."

She's irresistible whenever she smiles like this. I've been controlling my urge to hold her and kiss her breathless for a long time now. I don't know how long I can hold up.

Her smiles and soft touches will have to do for now while she's still unaware of my hunger for her.

"I thought we'd go to MILF today," Mihika says.

Nakul gapes at Mihika while Nirvaan clarifies, "She means the café."

That girl needs to improve her vocabulary. She'll give a panic attack to someone someday. Today, Nakul is the one to get it. And Ishaani's innocent enough not to understand a single thing.

"Welcome to the club," Rudra says.

"Grow up, will you? You're all acting like none of you ever had a crush on their teacher's or friend's mom or basically any older girl." Mihika scoffs.

"Why?" Ishaani asks innocently.

"Nakul will explain." I tease.

Nakul looks like he has seen a ghost. The ghost that I unleashed on him.

"Have you explained that to Fire?" Nakul asks.

"I've grown up with Mihika." Chubbs shrugs.

Ishaani looks around with a lovely frown. Her gaze eventually settles on Nakul to search for answers while he's busy avoiding her eyes.

Mihika rolls her eyes, "What's a big deal? MILF means Mom I..." I'm grateful to Nirvaan for shutting Mihika's mouth. With his hands.

"Ishaani, do you mind sharing your number with me?" Chubbs asks softly.

"Of course not." They exchange their numbers, and immediately Chubbs texts her the actual meaning and also the cafe Mihika is referring to.

Ishaani's face flushes deep crimson as she reads the text.

Nirvaan frees Mihika after warning her. We all order our food, and of course, my girl orders her Samosa chaat.

"You will gain more weight," I mumble.

She stills in her place before turning towards me. "We need to set some rules."

I wonder if I crossed some boundaries. "Rules are meant to be broken, Cupcake."

"I doubt you'll want to break this one." She says with fire in her eyes and warns me, "Don't ever come between me and my food."