My Ex - Crush

Episode 25

Deepika's POV:

Is he still looking at me? Yes. Now? Yes.

This Arjun has gone mad or what? What is he thinking about me?

I gulped hard and intentionally avoided him, trying to focus on anything else.

"This work is all done. Finally!" Meera said, stretching her arms.

"Yeah, Sanjay asked us to help with the outdoor work," Lavanya said, standing up.

"I am starving," Joshitha whined.

"You guys go first, I'll inform Vignesh and join you later," Arjun said, his eyes flicking towards me.

I walked out of the exhibition room with the girls, my heart pounding. I tried to avoid any eye contact with Arjun, but I could feel his gaze burning into my back.

"Why are you unusually quiet?" Joshitha asked, nudging me.

"I'm not," I replied, my voice sounding defensive even to my ears.

"And it's strange that you're behaving like this only after being alone with Arjun. It raises so many questions about what you two did," Meera teased, laughing.

"Nothing happened," I said quickly, signaling her to keep it down.

Sanjay was working with Vinoth on an outdoor bamboo sculpture that was nearly done. As we sat in the corridor facing the portico, Manoj arrived with a huge pack of litchi juice bottles.

He distributed the small juice bottles, and we eagerly gulped them down, quenching our thirst in the evening heat.

Most of the symposium decoration work was done, and students were beginning to go home. We were emptying the juice bottles one after another, and in no time, almost 20 empty bottles were lying around.

"And what did Mithra say?" Manoj asked Sanjay curiously.

"She said I'm boring and need to be more creative with my proposal," Sanjay said, and we all burst out laughing.

In the midst of our conversation, Arjun quietly joined us, sitting beside me with a deep breath. I ignored him and focused on the group, my pulse quickening at his proximity.

"Don't laugh, Manoj. You don't know how hard I'm trying," Sanjay complained.

I reached for my juice bottle, but it was missing. I looked up to find Arjun silently gulping down my juice, an evil smile playing on his lips. He intentionally grazed his lips over the top edge of the bottle, looking at me with a mischievous glint in his eye. I turned back to the group instantly, feeling my cheeks heat up.

"Love is hard, bro. That's why I've taken an oath to be single forever," Lavanya declared.

"Look who's talking! I think Naveen would have something to say about that," Joshitha teased, and Lavanya launched an empty juice bottle at her.

It mistakenly hit Manoj, who was sitting close to Joshitha. He ignored Lavanya's apologies and threw an empty bottle back at her, which she diverted towards Sanjay.

In the chain of events, I got hit by Meera's bottle. I grabbed a nearby bottle and retaliated. Soon, a bottle fight ensued, and we were breathlessly running around, laughing.

Arjun sat quietly, watching the scene unfold with a smirk.

I couldn't find a bottle to hit back at Vinoth, so I ran to my spot to grab one. Unfortunately, Arjun was holding that bottle. I pulled it towards me, but he wouldn't let go.

He stood up, still holding on to the bottle. With one last pull, I landed against his strong frame, our eyes locking for a moment before I broke the eye contact, my heart racing.