💖Bound by Runs and Dreams💖

Chapter 12: Crossing Boundaries🤞

The sun had barely risen over the London skyline, casting a soft golden glow across Utkarsha’s hotel room. She stood by the window, arms crossed tightly against her chest, her eyes staring out at the bustling city below, but her mind was far from the view. Sleep had evaded her all night, her thoughts circling around one person—Ruturaj.

“I want to get to know you, beyond this team.” His words from last night echoed in her mind, over and over, like a broken record. His voice, low and steady, had been filled with an intensity she couldn’t ignore. She’d tried to laugh it off at the time, pretending it didn’t affect her, but here she was—unable to shake off the feeling his words had ignited within her.

“Yeh sab mere liye nahi hai… career pe focus karna hai. Lekin kyun Ruturaj ke bare mein na sochna itna mushkil ho gaya hai?” she murmured to herself, frustration lacing her voice. (This all is not for me, I have to focus on my carrier but why is it so difficult to stop thinking about Ruturaj)

Her career had always been her focus—her anchor. Cricket had given her everything: discipline and a sense of purpose. She had trained relentlessly, shutting out distractions, emotions, and anything that might veer her off course. And yet, here she stood, distracted by the one thing she had sworn never to let into her life: emotions and love.

“Love is a distraction,” she reminded herself, her grip tightening around her arms. But as much as she repeated the mantra, the words felt hollow this morning.

Ruturaj had always been different. From the first day they met, he had a quiet intensity that unnerved her. During training, they barely spoke, yet there had been moments when the silence between them felt charged.

"kal vo ek lamha… jab usne mujhse baat ki bas hum ek second ke liye ruk gaye the. Us waqt ki chhoti si khamoshi, aisa laga jaise duniya ruk gayi ho.”
(That one moment yesterday... when he spoke to me, we just stopped for a second. That little silence of that moment, it felt like the world had stopped.)

She had shaken it off then, convincing herself it was just a fleeting thought. But now, as she stood in this hotel room, alone with her thoughts, she couldn’t deny it anymore. There was something about him—something that had unsettled her from the beginning. And after last night, that unsettling feeling had only grown stronger.

“Why is he so hard to ignore?” she wondered, pressing her forehead against the cool glass of the window.

She closed her eyes, trying to block out the images of him, the way his eyes had softened when he spoke to her last night, the way he had said he wanted to know her beyond the game. It had been so unexpected, so unlike any conversation she had ever had. And that’s what scared her the most. Ruturaj wasn’t just another cricketer. He wasn’t just another person she could keep at a distance. He was something more—and she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

“I can't afford to get distracted,” she reminded herself again, but this time, her voice faltered.

The pull she felt towards him was real. No matter how hard she tried to ignore it, deny it, push it away, it was there. And it terrified her.
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Ruturaj wiped the sweat from his forehead, staring blankly at the dumbbells scattered on the floor. His usual post-workout calm was nowhere to be found. His mind kept drifting back to Utkarsha—the way she looked at him last night, her guarded yet piercing gaze, and the subtle vulnerability she tried so hard to hide.

He was distracted, something that rarely happened to him. As an athlete, focus had been ingrained in him, a part of who he was. But this morning, everything felt off. Even during his workout, the weights seemed heavier, his movements less fluid, and worst of all, he had missed an easy shot during his early morning net practice with Rahul.