“Are you uncomfortable?”
Far from it. “Your arms must be getting tired.” Because the dirty martini is still in my system, I go on a talking spree. “I’m slim, but I have high bone density, which makes me heavier to carry. So, you know, I understand if you’re secretly wanting to-”
“Who told you this?”
His livid tone stops me short. “Excuse me?”
“Your tone suggests you’re reciting another’s words.”
“My fiancé-” My throat clamps up as I correct myself. “-ex-fiancétold me.”
His jaw clenches as though my words struck a nerve.
“He meant well.”I think?
“He’s wrong.” To prove his point, he hefts me higher until our faces are a hairbreadth away. Until I can see fury on my behalf swirl in his pupils. “He was too weak to pick you up and admit it, so he put it on you. If that’s not reason enough to dump his ass, I don’t know what is.”
Except I didn’t do the dumping.
I don’t tell him that.
We arrive on the ground floor, the door sliding open to let us into the lobby. The lingering crowd watches as Nathan carries me outside, where an SUV is waiting for us.
Noor circles around us, opening the rear door.
Gently, he bends and lowers me onto the plush seat. My stomach hollows out when he reaches for the seat belt and locks it around my body.
Before he can step back, I capture his wrist. “Thank you.”
“Goodbye, Arya.”
Straightening, he turns around and walks away without a backward glance.
***
“The man is sex on a stick,” purrs Anaya, swiping through photos of Nathan online on her phone.
“Yet his fiancée left him for his older brother,” utters a stunned Noor. “I mean, what chance or hope does the average male population have?”
I lie on the bed between these two, replaying my evening over in my head again. I’ve been so wrapped up in wallowing in my own misery to stay up to date with what’s happening in the world.
Nathan Singhania had been dating Iris Mannan for as long as I can remember. They always stayed in the limelight, more so after they got engaged. It wasn’t a surprise to anyone. It’s why the news that broke the internet was Iris falling in love with his estranged older brother, Kian Singhania, which I’m learning tonight.
“Losing your girl to your brother.” Anaya winces. “Man, that’s gotta sting.”
Was he also on the roof to run from the happy couples like me?
I didn’t realize we had so much in common.
Broken engagement. Failed relationships. Estranged siblings.
Is that why I felt so drawn to him?
He was so attentive and protective, like a knight in shining armor. How could a girl choose another man over him? It boggles my mind.
“You know what I think?”
Nothing remotely sane comes out of Anaya’s mouth when her sentence starts this way.
