"Hey... B." His voice was quiet, careful, like he was afraid I'd flinch. "You've gotta tell me what I think happened."
His hand cupped my cheek, warm against my cold skin. I couldn't look at him. Couldn't look at anything. I just sat slumped on the edge of the bathtub, still in my party clothes, mascara smudged, knees pulled in like I was trying to disappear into myself.
Hayes knelt on the floor in front of me, eyes searching mine with this terrified softness he didn't let anyone else see.
"Can you do that for me?" he asked, brushing my hair back behind my ears with these steady, patient fingers. "I'm not going anywhere. I just need to hear you say the words."
Beau Sinclair, heiress to a dynasty of old money, has always had everything, wealth, fame, beauty, and a fiercely loyal circle of friends. But beneath the glamour, something essential is missing. When Hayes Hearst, the boy she grew up with, equally privileged and devastatingly charming, returns to their lavish Boston boarding school after a long absence, Beau is pulled into a seductive, dangerous romance. As their connection deepens, it begins to unravel the truths she's spent years hiding, exposing her vulnerabilities, addictions, and the darkness she's tried so hard to outrun.
"He doesn't say 'I love you.' But he changed in all the ways that yelled it."
••••••••••••••
Vaani Joshi never expected love from her arranged marriage - just respect, maybe some space, and silence she could live with.
Dhruv Deshmukh was exactly that: powerful, unreadable, and cold.
He didn't ask her what she liked. He didn't ask how her day was.
And she never asked for anything.
But then he started noticing.
Not her words - her silences.
Not what she wanted - what she gave up.
The man who never looked twice is now the one who watches her the closest.
And the girl who never expected anything...
is the reason he's learning how to give everything.
••••••••••••••••
"Why do you always notice the things I don't say?"
He looked at her for a long second.
"Because you never ask. And I've never wanted to give anyone more."
••••••••••••••••
Tropes:
Slow-burn romance | Arranged marriage | Contemporary drama | Indian diaspora | Urban luxury + emotional intimacy | Cold ML x Soft FL | Changing for her