Sweetest Sin

Bold Steps, Quiet Questions ✨

Dev's POV.

"Compare your best crush with bade bhaiya!" Kiara demanded.

Eesha's eyes went wide, a delicate flush creeping up her neck. She started fidgeting with the edge of her saree – that nervous habit I'd noticed whenever she felt put on the spot.

"Come on bhabhi, there must be someone, right?" Kiara teased, eyebrow raised. Eesha hesitated, visibly caught off guard by the direct question. But then, gathering herself, she looked up, and with a quiet bravery, finally admitted. "Actually...There was.... In college."

Every muscle in my body tensed. Someone? My Princess had a crush? Before me?

"Ooooh!" Kiara bounced forward eagerly. "Details, bhabhi! Compare him to bhai!"

Eesha bit her lip – that unconscious habit that usually drove me mad with want, but now just heightened my sudden, irrational surge of... was that jealousy? Over some college boy who'd caught her eye before I'd even met her?

Ridiculous.

And yet.

"He was... quiet," she began hesitantly, still focused on destroying that corner of her saree with her nervous fingers. "Always in the library. He used to help me find books sometimes..."

Of course. A bookworm. Safe. Non-threatening. Probably wore thick glasses and had zero social skills.

I wasn't jealous. At all.

"And?" Karan prompted, clearly enjoying my barely concealed tension.

"He was nice," she continued softly, that blush deepening. "He'd save me a seat sometimes, when the library was crowded. And once..." She smiled at the memory, and something dark coiled in my gut. "Once he shared his umbrella when it was raining, even though it meant walking all the way to the girls' hostel."

How... convenient of him.

"But nothing happened!" she added quickly, sneaking a glance at me that she probably thought was subtle. "I mean, I never even really talked to him properly. Just... about books."

"And how does he compare to bhai?" Ananya pressed, and I could hear the mischief in her voice. They were all enjoying this far too much.

Eesha shifted slightly, unconsciously moving closer to me even as she spoke about him. The possessive beast inside me purred at that small victory.

"He was... softer?" She gestured vaguely. "Like... gentle and quiet all the time. But He is..." She snuck another glance at me, then quickly looked away when she found me watching. "He is quiet but... different. More... more..."

"Intense?" Ira supplied helpfully, making Eesha's blush deepen further.

"Yes!" Then, realizing how eagerly she'd agreed, she ducked her head. "I mean... the library boy was nice, but he was... safe? Like a warm cup of tea on a rainy day."

"And bhai?" Veer prompted, clearly fighting a grin.

I watched her struggle for words, fascinated despite my lingering irritation about this library Romeo.

"He is more like..." She was practically radiating heat now, her blush spreading down her neck. "Like lightning. All... contained power and... and..."

She gestured helplessly, clearly out of her depth trying to describe it. But her unconscious metaphor shot straight through me. Lightning, was I? All barely contained power?

Interesting analogy, Princess. Do go on.

"The library boy was..." she continued, seemingly determined to finish her comparison now that she'd started. "He was predictable. Nice. But your bade bhaiya..." Another shy glance. "I never know what he's thinking. What he's going to do next. It's... exciting? But also..."