Reckless Rival : An Indian college romance

Chapter 3

Nami's heart started to race at the thought, and her lips started to tingle. She pushed away the erratic emotions and walked to the nearby stall that had water and soft drinks. She reached for a bottle of water and noticed it was the only stand where no one was around.

She scanned the open space and saw everyone running around to hide, moving from one hiding spot to another in hopes of winning the game. For her, she was more interested in how the game would unfold rather than be a part of it. She stepped into the shadows, amused by some of the locations people were choosing to hide.

Girls were trying to fit under boxes, behind rocks, while the boys ran into shrubbery and climbed tall trees and stood hugging the branches. Nami let out a laugh and waited for the explosion of fun that Ramya promised. She was pretty sure she was outside the game boundary and would be disqualified but could not miss out on the craziness.

Nami walked slowly in the shadows cast by a large tree and a big sign attached to it. From where she stood, she could see the game's organizers talk to the first group of seekers. The tall guy was not hard to spot.

She was surprised to find herself eagerly looking forward to how the game would play out. After she overcame her initial shock when she heard the name of the game and the rules, she thought it was cute. All participants were introduced to each other before the game, and she thought that was a good way for people to participate with no inhibitions. Folks seemed pretty chilled about the game.

She stood by the fence on the beach that separated the official grounds of the lighthouse from the beach where the party was happening. She saw students being found and kissed by the seekers. And the ones who were found joined the group of seekers as the newly added kissers.

Whom would she choose to kiss or be kissed if she were playing? The tall biker?

She once again shook away the feisty thoughts and laughed when she saw the first person get caught, hiding behind a stack of boxes. Based on the rules, the first few hiders, when caught, could be kissed on their hand, or they could kiss someone on the back of their hand. It was a peculiar game, but it was fun to watch how the disappointment of being caught soon translated to excitement to either kiss someone or be kissed.

As time passed, the group of seekers grew as the students who were found took on a new role. She noticed that every girl who was found wanted to be kissed by the tall biker. He kissed them on their hand, and as the next batch of girls were found, they demanded a kiss on their lips but had to settle for a kiss on the cheek from the handsome dude.

Halfway through the game, another group of bikers arrived, a smaller one this time. There were sudden squeals of joy as one specific guy took off his helmet and started blowing kisses to all the girls at the party. A couple of the boys who had just arrived were as tall as the other handsome one. The guy who blew kisses joined the seekers' group and continued the game.

The longer it took to find the people in hiding, the kisses went from being a peck to a slow graze of lips on the cheek. When one girl wanted a kiss on the lips from the tall biker Nami's eyes had been following, he shook his head, but the newly arrived one gave the girl what she wanted and more.

"Rana," someone called out, and he excused himself from the game to talk to the guy who called out to him. All along, Nami stood frozen, shamelessly gawking at the beautiful stranger from the shadows as he chatted with a couple of guys.

Even as he spoke to the boy next to him, his eyes were intense while still having a charming smile on his face. As if he felt her eyes on him, he looked in her direction, making her heart somersault. He looked away almost immediately, but she couldn't help but wonder how it would be if he kissed her. Even a gentle brush of his lips on her cheek sounded thrilling.