𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 ( 𝐘𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐯𝐢 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥 )

25

Yashasvi Jaiswal paced in his hotel room, his footsteps leaving soft impressions in the plush carpet beneath him. Every step felt heavier, weighed down by a confusion he couldn't shake, no matter how hard he tried. The soft glow of the bedside lamp cast a warm light, but it did little to dispel the uneasy feeling gnawing at him.

He kept telling himself it was nothing, that his growing feelings for Jemimah Rodrigues were just a temporary byproduct of their fake dating arrangement. They were only pretending, after all—keeping up appearances for the media, dodging the whirlwind of rumors that constantly swirled around them. But lately, he was starting to question if his attachment to her was as harmless as he'd convinced himself it was.

"It's just part of the act," he muttered to himself, rubbing a hand over his face. Yet, the more he repeated it, the less true it felt. Every bickering exchange, every lingering glance, every time he caught her trying not to smile at one of his jokes—it all muddled the lines he'd worked so hard to keep in place.

But he was fine. Absolutely fine. Just... a little thrown off. That was normal, right?

A sharp knock at the door pulled him from his reverie. It was his best friend, Dhruv Jurel, whose timing was always impeccable—or, as Yashasvi liked to think, impeccably inconvenient.

"Hey, man, you in there?" Dhruv's voice came muffled through the door. "I need to borrow something for the tour. Can you let me in?"

Yashasvi hesitated, taking a deep breath to steady himself before opening the door. Dhruv walked in, his usual confident stride interrupted by a look of concern as he took in Yashasvi's restless demeanor.

"What's up? You look like you've seen a ghost," Dhruv said, raising an eyebrow.

"Just...thinking about the tour tomorrow," Yashasvi replied, hoping to sidestep the question. But Dhruv wasn't buying it.

"Come on, man, I know you better than that. You are not one to be nervous before a match. What are you really feeling ?"

"Honestly I didn't know. Everything feels so complicated. I don't know what I should do. I've always been so focused on my cricket that i didn't have any time for anything else to even think about. But this fake relationship with Jemimah is eating me alive. I don't know what—"

The words in Yashasvi's mouth died as he realized what he said as he looked at Dhruv's face

The room fell silent, tension thickening the air as Yashasvi's words hung there, impossible to retract. Dhruv's face shifted, disbelief washing over his expression before settling into something much harder to read.

"A fake relationship?" Dhruv's voice was low, steady in a way that made Yashasvi's heart pound faster. "You and Jemimah... this whole time? You've been pretending?"

Yashasvi opened his mouth, then closed it, feeling trapped. There was no way to walk this back now. "I... yeah. It started as a PR thing, you know? Rhea and Shreya thought it'd be good for both our images after some rumors were getting out of hand."

Dhruv exhaled sharply, stepping back and crossing his arms over his chest. "And you didn't think to tell me? I'm your best friend, Yashasvi. I thought we told each other everything."

"I know, I know." Yashasvi ran his hand through his hair again, feeling the sting of guilt. "I didn't want you to think less of me, or feel like I was just... playing games. And then it got complicated. I didn't know how to bring it up without sounding like an idiot."

Dhruv shook his head, hurt flashing in his eyes. "I already thought something was off between you two. The way you'd bicker, the tension—it didn't add up. But I kept telling myself that maybe this was just your strange way of showing you liked each other."