Detached

CHAPTER 33

*MEERA'S POINT OF VIEW*

   As I slowly started to drift into consciousness, the first thing I noticed was that my head was pounding. I groaned and rolled over, pressing my face into the pillow, trying to block out the light. My stinging eyes cracked open and raked around the room. Not recognising anything, I jerked up quickly with a horrible sensation brewing in the pit of my stomach. The last time I woke up not knowing where I was, I’d been with Smith.

I jumped to my feet and pressed myself against the wall as my breathing started to accelerate. The muscles in my body ached, as if I’d slept awkwardly or something. Slowly, it started coming back to me. College, I was with Riyansh, and this was our new apartment. I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, resting my head back against the wall. My eyes fluttered closed again and I groaned as another wave of pain started in my head. How much did I drink last night? I remembered having about four or five doubles, then we met a couple of guys and played pool. What were their names? Tim and someone else, and two girls…

One of the girls was flirting with Riyansh, and I got jealous and… oh no, I kissed him! I was all over him and begging him to take me home and… oh God no. I basically begged him for sex when we got back too! My cheeks flamed from the shame of what I’d done last night and how much I’d flirted with him. Thank goodness he’d said no though, not many guys would have turned down a free score, I’d bet. I’d have to thank him today for that because if I’d slept with him again, I was pretty sure I’d be feeling guilty over Ankush again afterwards. I covered my face with my hands in disgust. I really had no self-control, and I should have been thinking about Jack last night, not myself.

After a few deep breaths, I decided I should go and see if we were okay this morning after that. Maybe my drunken antics had frightened him away and he’d request that transfer that he was so adamant he wouldn’t be asking for. The smell of coffee and toast drifting from the kitchen made my stomach rumble as I made my way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. As I stepped into the room, I stopped. It wasn’t just Riyansh in there, Dean and a guy I vaguely recognised as the night guard, were there too. They were all standing around the kitchen island, drinking coffee.

“Good morning,” Riyansh chirped, smiling as he spotted me.

I waved a hand in response. He grinned and nodded down at my legs for some reason as if trying to tell me something. My gaze drifted down, confused, until I spotted that I was only wearing his T-shirt. Heat flooded my face for the second time in a few minutes as I realised that they were all looking at me. I grabbed the bottom of the T-shirt, trying to pull it down further; it already came to my mid-thigh, but I felt exposed in front of the other two. I actually didn’t care if Riyansh saw me like this. He’d seen me in much, much less.

“Um, hi. Sorry, I didn’t know you guys were here.” I winced, smiling apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Singhania,” the new guard replied, looking me over slowly with an appreciative look on his face.

I frowned at his obviousness. “My eyes are up here, Agent!” I snapped acidly, pointing to my face.

Riyansh’s body tensed as he stepped to my side, glaring at new Agent warningly. I moved closer to him, trying to discreetly hide behind him as he spoke. “Agent Vikas, I appreciate that you might want to keep the relationship of bodyguard and client informal, but that shit stops right now, understand? Plenty of other Agents would love a cushy job like yours, so if you want to keep your position, I suggest you be a little more respectful,” he stated, his voice angry and full of authority.

Vikas jumped, looking a little taken aback as he nodded in agreement. “Right. I’m sorry, Miss Singhania,” he apologised nervously.

I laughed uncomfortably. “Don’t worry about it,” I told Vikas, waving it off. “But can everyone just shush, please?” I winced and looked longingly at the coffee, trying to decide if I could be bothered to make the four steps over to it to pour some for myself.