The Dating Charade ✔️

Chapter-71

Dedicated to the birthday girl- logastellus_x! ❤I cannot emphasize enough on how much I love you, baby! You're a gem, and I wish I was half the person you are, when I was your age ❤

**

Shivaay stretched his arms, flexing his muscles a little before resuming the game. He was having a lot of fun, admittedly- it had been long since he had spent some quality time with his brothers and friends, and was glad that Annika had forced him to join them. There was strong heat and the sun was shining the brightest at this point of the day, and after a while the guys decided to end the game. They were all sweating profusely and the warm sand was starting to burn their feet. Running a hand through his damp hair, Shivaay jogged towards where the girls sat. Grabbing a towel, he starting wiping away his perspiration and took a seat next to Annika. She seemed a little disoriented, and wasn't making eye contact with him, opting to look at the sea instead. Shivaay frowned.

"Annika?" He called out. She was facing the other way, and when she turned to look at him, she gazed down at his chest and blushed furiously, before looking away again. It was then that Shivaay realized what had her in a mess, and he smirked, feeling childishly proud. His girl was shy seeing him shirtless, and there were few other things that made him happier than this fact. And because it was usually she who had the upper hand in getting him all nonplussed, he decided to take advantage of the situation and scooted closer. He could feel her stiffen.

"Babe," He whispered into her ear, sliding an arm around her waist. Annika was taken aback and looked at him in the adorable horrified expression she could do, mouth wide and all. Shivaay had to try really hard to hold back his laughter.

"Are you alright?" He asked, hiding his grin. Annika nodded, a little too quickly. She was fiddling with her fingers and it was all too cute for Shivaay to handle. Deciding to up his game, he started to reach for the bottle of water kept on Annika's other side, leaning over her in the process and bringing his bare upper body extremely close to hers. Annika gasped at that, and Shivaay, retrieving the bottle and achieveing what he wanted, took back his position. 

"I didn't know seeing me shirtless would have such an effect on you," He said casually, taking a sip of the water. Annika looked embarassed, before trying to mask the expression with a non-chalant one.

"Whaat? I didn't even notice you were shirtless! Pfft!" 

Trying too hard to act oblivious, Annika only ended up over-doing it and making Shivaay laugh hard, holding his stomach. His very well-defined stomach. Wrapping an arm around her neck, Shivaay placed a long smooch on her cheek.

"You are too adorable, baby," He told her, and Annika, realizing that all her attempts were futile, pouted and shoved at his chest.

"You look super hot, though," Annika told him, running her knuckles lightly along his chest hair. Shivaay gulped. Her compliment was a surprise in itself, and the way she was touching him, without any inhibitions, was really turning him on. Thankfully, his youngest brother came to his rescue, and suggested they all get the party rolling with some music. Annika was up for the idea in an instant, but before Shivaay could follow her and get up, she stopped him.

"Put a shirt on first, will you?" She asked, rathered ordered him authoritatively. She wasn't any less than him when it came to being possessive, and Shivaay, smirking at that, went and put on his tee shirt. Rudra started up the sound system, and they all grooved to some dhinchaak bollywood music, enlighting the atmosphere of the beach with all the fun they were having. Shivaay was constantly at Annika's side, because all the dancing made her exposed leg look even sexier and he didn't like the look some foreign guys were giving her. They played in the water, took many pictures, before finally making their way back in for lunch, all exhausted.