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Chapter 2
KAVYA
I woke up in an unfamiliar room, the one I had never woken up in before. The Ivory walls, expensive furniture, heavy drapes filtering the pale morning light. Everything smelled faintly of polish and perfume, like a luxury hotel suite. For a moment, I lay still, listening to the soft, distant hum of a world that clearly knew me better than I knew myself.
This was a place I had dreamed of coming to God knows how many times.
A small smile curved my lips as I lifted the edge of my top and inhaled softly. His cologne still clung to the fabric as it was fresh, strong, and unmistakably his. As if he were still close. My gaze drifted to the door, I bit my lower lip when the image of kissing Saurav slipped into my mind. Butterflies erupted in my stomach.
I got out of bed and stepped into the hallway. The marble floor was cool beneath my feet, grounding and unreal all at once. I remembered him saying his room was just two doors down.
I stopped in front of the third door, my heartbeat pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. My hand trembled as I knocked the door softly.
I waited for a few minutes but no answer came. I knocked again, a little louder but still nothing.
After a brief hesitation, I slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. My breath caught when I saw him. He was sprawled across the bed, half-naked, sheets twisted around his hips. His T-shirt lay abandoned on the couch, and half the blanket was slipping off the mattress. I stepped closer without thinking, drawn in by the quiet intimacy of the sight.
He slept curled around a pillow as if it were someone he loved. Morning light glided over his bare back, softening the strength in his shoulders and tracing the slow rhythm of his breathing. His hair fell in careless waves. In sleep he looked unguarded, almost gentle.
“Saurav…” I called his name softly. My voice sounded too loud in the stillness. “I… I’m leaving,” I added, even though I knew he couldn’t hear me.
Suddenly, his hand shot out. “Don’t leave… ” He caught my wrist and pulled me toward him.
I gasped, stumbling forward, my heart slamming violently against my ribs. Heat rushed to my cheeks, to my neck, to places I couldn’t control.
“Please…” he murmured, eyes still closed, his grip firm but unconscious.
“Saurav… ” I tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let go. I shook him harder. “Saurav, wake up.”
Slowly, his eyes opened. For a second, there was only shock in them as if he were staring at a stranger. Then realization dawned.
“Kavya… ”
He released me immediately and sat up, putting distance between us as if he’d been burned. “I’m sorry.”
I frowned at his reaction. He looked at me like I was something dangerous. Something he needed to escape.
God knows who he was dreaming about. God knows who he had been begging not to leave. But whoever she was, jealousy curled bitterly in my chest.
I had fallen in love with Saurav the day I met him at Aryan and Avni’s wedding. Rhea had warned me about him. She said he was a playboy. She said he wasn’t someone to take seriously. But my heart hadn’t listened. It never did.
Saurav was different. He was charming, warm and respectful. He made everyone feel seen.
And with me there was always something. Something unspoken. Something that lived in the way he looked at me, in the way my pulse reacted to his voice.
I knew he would never give me a chance. Still, I hoped. I hoped that one day he would look at me the way I wanted him to. The way he was looking at me now.
Then I realized what he was actually looking at. My breath hitched as I glanced down and quickly tugged my top back into place. It had slipped just enough as heat flooded my face. Suddenly, the room felt much smaller.
“I also have two eyes,” I glared at him.
“Um … sorry. Again.” He looked away, running a hand through his hair.
“You were mumbling ‘don’t leave’ in your sleep,” I said. The words immediately caught his attention.
“Was I?” he asked, lifting one perfect brow.