Page 45 of Since You Stole My Heart

Abhay straightened, his brows drawing together. ‘Swayam,bhai, why are you doing this?’

Swayam held his gaze head-on. ‘You said it yourself. You wouldn’t have let something like this happen if it were Siya.’

Abhay narrowed his eyes, studying him closely. His gaze swung to Luv and he asked, ‘So, we were right?’

Luv smirked, giving a firm nod. ‘Oh, yeah.’

Swayam tugged at Kashvi’s hand, drawing her attention back to him. ‘So, what do you say? Should I go get a new sherwani?’

‘Have you lost it? We can’t get married!’

‘Why not?’

‘Uh…’ Kashvi stammered, speechless.

‘Give me one reason,’ he said calmly, already prepared to deny it.

It made her patience snap. ‘Just because we kissed once doesn’t mean we should get married!’

‘You did what?’ Siya choked out, her eyes widening as she looked between them.

Kashvi felt the weight of their attention slam into her all at once. With horror, she realised she had said that out loud.

‘Okay, can we just take a second to understand what’s actually happening here?’ Dhruv added, his gaze flicking between Kashvi and Swayam, trying to piece together what he had clearly missed.

Luv was the only one who did not speak. He leaned against the wall, his arms loosely crossed, a faint, knowing smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Before Kashvi could gather herself, Siya stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Swayam.

‘What the fuck is going on, Swayam?’ she demanded, pointing a finger at him. ‘Why would you kiss my sister?’

‘It’s not what you think it is,’ Swayam said, lifting a hand in an attempt to reassure her.

It only infuriated Siya further. ‘I trusted you to respect that boundary when you moved in with Kashu. I never thought you’d cross it like this.’

‘Di, would you back off, please?’ Kashvi tried to steer things away from dangerous waters, but her sister was having none of it.

‘Are you nuts? I’m not staying out of this. I want answers, Swayam! Why the hell would you think it’s okay to kiss her?’

The way Siya directed her anger entirely at him irked Kashvi. Before she could think better of it, she said, ‘Because I wanted him to kiss me!’

Anxiety shot through her as she realised there was no taking it back.

Siya looked genuinely taken aback, her anger faltering, ‘You wanted him to kiss you? Why? Since when?’

Kashvi swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as she tried to gather her thoughts. ‘I mean, it’s not like he just… all I’m saying is, it wasn’t one-sided.’

When she noticed Swayam smiling up at her, she glared at him.

‘So is there something going on between the two of you?’ Siya asked, her irritation flaring as she shot Swayam a scathing look.

‘That’s not the point. This is just ridiculous,’ Kashvi muttered. She gave Swayam a pointed look. ‘I want to talk to you right now. Alone.’

Then she was moving down the hallway, desperate for the solitude of her room. Kashvi shoved the door closed behind her, and in the sudden silence, she could hear her breath coming in shallow pulls.

She paced the length of the room, running an agitated hand through her hair, driven by restless energy.

Swayam stepped inside and leaned back against the door after shutting it. His gaze stayed fixed on her as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his track pants. ‘Try to relax a little, Kash.’