The whole thing felt kind of heavy and icky to me in the beginning. Obviously, I’m not concerned about it anymore, and it turns out that we make really great friends, so there’s that.
“He took the whole mail-order husband thing okay?” Jash asks, amused.
I roll my eyes, glaring at them on the screen. “I told them we met online.Howwe met and for how long we’ve known each other was information I didn’t disclose.”
“I’m really sad you’re leaving,” Alok says. “We don’t even have time to throw you a party or something.”
“I don’t think my family would mind if you wanted to come over tonight to celebrate with us. Dad says he was going to have Mom prepare a feast.”
“We’ll be over then,” Anil says.
Jash nods. “I’m bringing my family. You need to cuddle my kids before you disappear from their lives.”
“Ouch,” Alok says.
“It’s not forever,” I say, but that might be a lie. What if I never come home? The thought makes my stomach flip. “I will visit,” I promise, and that’s one I’m sure I can keep.
After all, I promised Dad we’d be here after hockey to celebrate our marriage, too.
I’ll be honest; I have no idea what hockey is aside from the fact that it’s a sport played on ice. As soon as I saw Julian’s potential match come through and read his profession, I looked it up. As it turns out, the popularity of the sport is growing in India, and I had no idea. It was even declared the official sport of Ladakh recently.
Who knew? Certainly not me! Apparently, there are a lot of games and everything. Even right here in Mumbai. If there was more time between when I ‘met’ Julian and flying out to him, I’d attend a game so I could at least say I’ve seen one.
A knock on my door has me glancing at it. I close the suitcase with my dildos. Regardless of who’s at the door, they don’t need to see that. My only hesitation with leaving the majority of my collection behind is my snooping siblings. There are just some things that they don’t need to know about their brother.
Then again, serves them right for snooping.
“I’ll see you guys tonight,” I say and disconnect from the call. “Yeah?” I call.
It opens, and my older brother stands in the doorway, looking at me with a brow raised. “Really?”
“What?”
He makes a pointed look at my luggage and crosses his arms, leaning against the doorframe. “You’re going to play dumb, huh?” Kiaan asks.
I sit on the edge of my bed and don’t answer. I’m not sure what Dad told them, but I’m not offering any information.
“How long have you been talking to a guy online and keeping it a secret?”
Two days. I shrug, not offering that information. “Did you just run over here to give me a hard time?” I counter.
Kiaan shakes his head. “No, Arush.” He steps into the room and comes toward me. His arms unfold, and he places something in my hand, closing my fingers around it. “I’m happy for you,” Kiaan says. “I’m glad that you found a home and a place with someone who will bring you the life you’re looking for.”
“What life is that?”
“You’ve always been a little unsettled here. I think exploring the world with your partner is a good thing. Maybe you’ll decide to come back to India to raise a family if that’s what you choose. Maybe you won’t. But I hope this man you’ve deemed good enough for your heart gives you everything you deserve.”
Not going to lie. I wasn’t expecting that, and his words bring a lot of heavy emotions into my chest. “Thanks,” I whisper.
Kiaan nods. He squeezes my hand before turning to leave my room again. The door shuts quietly behind him. I look at the object he left in my hand, finding a small glass jar of turmeric.
I smile, closing my eyes. This is going to work. Everything is going to be perfect.
CHAPTER 4
ARUSH
I’ve beenon a plane many times. But I haven’t been to the United States yet. We’ve always focused on more local sites like Nepal, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and as far north as Mongolia. The only place I’ve visited off the Asian continent is Egypt.
