4
Oliver
THE ALARM BLARED THROUGH the silence of my room, a soft but persistent sound that pulled me from the haze of sleep. I groaned, shifting under the warm covers, as I tried to remember why I had set an alarm when it was supposed to be my day off. But before my brain could make sense of anything, a faint yell echoed outside my door, and my eyes shot open.
What the hell?
It wasn’t that the noise coming from outside was unusual—given that I lived with Vedant and Rihaan, the occasional bickering was something I had grown used to—but after last night, a celebration that can only be described as a disaster, I expected them to avoid each other.
My eyes scanned my surroundings, the cold blue of a cloudy London morning covered my room, the navy blue walls making it even blue, my training gear was tossed across the sofa next to window, my old cricket memorabilia gathering dust on shelves, a few books scattered here and there, and a championship-winning bat leaning in the corner.
A chill seeped into my skin, but the noise downstairs? They were anything but chill.
I frowned, still half-asleep, as I threw a hoodie over my head and padded down the stairs. As I was walking down, I recognised the voices. Rihaan and Vedant, their tones were unmistakable, but today, there was a third voice, softer but equally edged with frustration.
Reaching the ground floor, I followed the noise into the open dining space that connected to our kitchen, where they were standing. Rihaan had his arms crossed, looking both aggravated and defensive as hell. Vedant, who was once again the peacemaker, still looked exasperated as he looked at Rihaan. But it was the woman standing between them that caught my attention.
Her back was to me, the tension evident in her stance, but when my heart skipped a beat, I immediately knew who it was. Her long dark hair was pulled into a low ponytail today. Her small frame was covered in an oversized jumper that looked like it belonged to a boyfriend and a pair of yoga pants. Despite the tension in the room, there was a calmness that radiated off her.
“Look, I only took you up on your offer because I assumed it was because you lived alone and didn’t require permission,” Her voice was cool but firm as she looked at Vedant. “But had I known that it meant being here with him , who is clearly uncomfortable, I wouldn’t have accepted. I also don’t have to stay.”
Vedant’s eyes narrowed at Rihaan, clearly expecting him to jump in and correct her , but he stayed quiet again, and I got a sense of deja vu from last night.
Rihaan could be the life of the party when he wanted to be, but right now, as he watched his siblings with a guarded look, he’d decided to play the part of his moody, self-important jerk self that I had only ever seen appear in front of his dad. He didn’t want her here, and he was making it obvious.
Vedant sighed, shaking his head. “Un- fucking -believable.”
The three of them still hadn’t noticed me, and a strange feeling passed through me as I watched her. Her stance was fierce, but I saw an undercurrent of restraint that passed her as if biting her tongue to hold in a remark. It wasn’t anger I sensed in her though, just exhaustion. This wasn’t a surprise, and after last night, it had me thinking that this was a conversation she and Vedant had had too many times before.
I knew they weren’t close with their sister. I had only heard about her in passing, the way you hear about people who exist on the fringes of conversations, and only from Vedant. Because Rihaan? He never spoke of her. But this tension, this unease that rolled off of him, was something I hadn’t expected. I mean, I had seen him around his dad, and there were times he looked more at ease than he did right now.
I cleared my throat, in the hopes to shake off the feeling but also to make sure they knew they had company.
Three heads turned in my direction at once. Vedant, ever the diplomat, smiled faintly. “Oliver. Morning, mate. Sorry about the noise.”
I tried my best not to look at her, afraid of what I might see. Last night, the hurt in her eyes damn near broke my heart, and today, seeing her in that position again was making me feel things I had never felt, and I didn’t even know her name yet.
She turned to face me fully, her eyes meeting mine for the first time and the same current I felt run through me last night buzzed all over me. She shifted slightly as if welcomed with the same feeling. Her face, though soft with sleep still lingering in her features, held an edge of guardedness and surprise. She wasn’t expecting me.
I blinked, uncomfortable with the sudden attention. “Morning,” I managed, my voice groggy. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You’re not interrupting,” Vedant said quickly. “We were just.. talking.”
I offered a small smile and hoped it would be enough to convince them that I believed it.
Her eyes were still on me, silently watching me, but there was a little shift in her gaze that told me she didn’t agree with his assessment, and she clearly wasn’t convinced of me.
“Raina,” Vedant cleared his throat and gestured to her. “This is Oliver. And Oliver, this is Raina—our sister.”
“Nice to meet you,” Her voice was polite but still felt measured as if trying to figure out why I was here.
“You too,” I gave her a casual nod, but I was there with her.
Raina turned to her brothers for some explanation, but both kept quiet. Moments like these made me glad I was an only child. Sure, when me and Dad used to train for hours, I had spent some days wishing I had a sibling who would join us, but watching them stand around each other in awkwardness, the kind which felt so familiar to them, to an outsider watching in, it felt nothing but discomfort.
My life had its own challenges—balancing cricket and my family’s legacy, the certain expectation of the spotlight and the situation with my dad—to have the constant emotional tug of war that came with a difficult sibling dynamic of lifelong grudges and unresolved history was something I wouldn’t want to navigate.
“So,” I started, trying to inject some calm into the situation. “What’s going on exactly?”
Vedant’s shoulders dropped. “Raina’s flat is completely trashed, a water leak… and well, I offered her to stay with us while everything is being sorted.”
I nodded. “Right, yeah. Makes sense.”
Raina’s head snapped in his direction, clearing reading between the lines. “Wait.. you all live together?”
Vedant froze for a fraction of a second, and Rihaan just sighed. Her tone was laced with genuine confusion and a bit of disbelief, that a small chuckle popped out of me and instantly the tension eased slightly in the room.
“Yep,” I said, stuffing my hands into my hoodie pockets. “I live with these idiots.”
Her gaze flickered between the three of us, staying on Rihaan the longest. She opened her mouth to say something, but a faint thump made her stop. I looked behind me, and two cats entered the room—both had a dense coat, though one was slighter darker than the other. One of them parked by the couch and rubbed its face against the soft material, though the other one made a beeline for Raina and leaned on her legs. Raina bent down instinctively and picked the cat up into her arms. It was a swift motion as if they had done it a hundred times before. The cat stretched out, dangling its front paws and head over her shoulder.
It was like they owned the place—or at least, Raina.
Rihaan was the first one to break the silence. “You have cats?”
I bit my tongue; he sounded so shocked, as if he just learnt that his little sister was part of an underground fighting club.
Raina hesitated, indicating she knew why her brother was so perplexed. “Yeah.”
He was clearly expecting her to elaborate, and damn it, with the way they were acting, so was I.
I wasn’t being nosy— no, I was intrigued. She’d come off as tough and no-nonsense at first, even when she was upset. Now, as she gently held her cat, her guard seemed to slip, even if it was just a little.
Rihaan’s face scrunched up. “But.. When did you—”
“I’ve had them for a while now, Rihaan.” Her tone was tense, but there wasn’t any hint of surprise, as though she expected it from him.
“This one is Lilli,” She lifted her shoulder as though introducing them to us before nodding to the one by the couch. “That’s Milo. They.. help with my anxiety. They are my family.”
Guilt flashed across Rihaan’s eyes.
“Anyway, I’m not here to disrupt anything.” Raina looked at Vedant, and his face dropped. “Thanks for last night, I honestly do appreciate it. But if this is going to be too much, I’ll find somewhere else to crash while I find a new place.”
Before Vedant could even argue, Rihaan spoke again. “You don’t have to go.” His voice was low, but there was no hint of reluctance. “We are your family, too.”
Raina looked at him, surprised. He didn’t meet her eyes, but the words hung in the air, heavy as a dark cloud.
“Okay.”
Vedant nodded, relieved, while Rihaan shifted uncomfortably.
“Well,” I said, stepping in, trying to shift the mood. “It’ll be nice to have someone else around here. Especially someone who’s not constantly telling me to go for a run at the crack of dawn.”
Rihaan chuckled, shaking his head as he met my eyes. “That’s because you need it, mate.”
Raina glanced at me, her expression lightening just a bit. “Yeah, I’m not a morning person, so you won’t have to worry about that with me, ever.”
“We’re going to get along just fine,” I replied with a grin.
Her mouth twitched, almost a smile and instantly a wave of current ran through me. It was as if I had clicked open the door to the fortress she was hiding behind, and I saw a lighter side to her.
Something I wanted to see more of.
“Alright then, if I’m really staying here, I need to grab some stuff,” Raina said as she put her cat, Lilli, down. “Can’t exactly walk on set with your hoodie and yoga pants.”
A strange sense of relief washed over me, but I didn’t let myself dwell on it. They both nodded, and I could see the surprise hidden in their posture. I frowned slightly, but once she turned to face me, I dropped my expression and offered her a small smile.
She returned it and walked past me. Her presence was a mix of quiet intensity and grace. For a moment, I found myself watching her leave, her cats trailing right behind her, my curiosity piqued.
“Well, that went better than expected.” Vedant raked a hand through his hair. He shot a glance at Rihaan, who just glared back at him.
“You couldn’t have warned me?” Rihaan’s voice was still low, clearly not wanting her to hear.
“Exactly when should I have done that? She already looked like she was going to cry after the stunt you pulled last night. I went after her to do damage control, and I didn’t expect her flat to be another disaster waiting for her. And I sure as hell wasn’t going to leave her stranded!”
Rihaan stayed quiet; he hadn’t expected this harsh tone from Vedant, but after last night, I wasn’t surprised.
“She has cats— ,”
“Get over it, or learn to live with it. I honestly don’t care.” Vedant’s voice cut through. “She’s staying here and if you are not ready to fix this mess, that’s now on you. But if you make her feel like she’s a goddamn inconvenience for any longer—I swear to you, Rihaan, It won’t be her looking for a new place; it will be you.
“I’ve taken your side long enough. Longer than I should have. Maybe you can pretend not to care about her for the rest of your life, or maybe somewhere, you stopped pretending. But I can’t. She’s our little sister, and I’m done being a stranger to her. Ma would’ve hated this.”
My eyebrows shot up. This was twice he had mentioned their mother in a conversation about Raina.
That had to be a record of some kind. Usually, they would avoid bringing either of them. So much so that I hadn’t realised that their sister was no longer a kid staying with her grandparents in a different country, that she was now a full person.
Who had just moved into our house with us.
Truthfully, with the amount of time either of them spent in this house, it would be more like she was moving in with me.
Rihaan spent the majority of his off time holed up in his gaming room or… somewhere that I’ve always known not to ask.
Vedant travels for 23 weekends of the year for his job, and by the time he does get off, he is either at his team’s motor home or living out of his flat in Monaco.
Rihaan stayed quiet, and something close to disappointment bounced off Vedant and me.
Shaking his head, Vedant turned to face me fully. “Thanks for being cool with her, mate.. and all of this.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“You meeting with Sean this morning?” It was Rihaan who’d asked me that, but I didn’t bother to look at him.
I just nodded, still focused on the unfamiliar unease that ran through me. I had never been one to be involved in their family drama before, but something about seeing it unfold in front of my eyes didn’t sit right with me. Not just because I felt a pull towards Raina, but the way she had taken it—both last night and today. It was like she was used to being treated that way by Rihaan.
In the seven-odd years we had known each other, I had never seen him act like this with his brothers, much less a stranger. But it felt like he crossed a line, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to just sit by quietly if this happened again.