Chapter 23
Jaiman would rather have had a drink at VV with Harish than tolerate the rest of this exhausting event. At least that would distract him and keep him from thinking about the date with Jia and how he’d let his emotions—and desire—take over. Watching her with all those men hadn’t been easy; he was just trying to be her most memorable date. But maybe he stepped over the line. He’d apologize to her at game night with the Deshpandes later that night.
If only he could leave right now, but that would be rude and inconsiderate—especially to Kritika, who had been curiously eyeing him throughout the event. Going off of the seating arrangement, she would be his final date. Maybe this was his chance to apologize for ghosting her.
Jaiman pushed through his next three dates doing the bare minimum: smiling, nodding, giving one-word answers when prompted, until he sat across from Kritika, whose lips were drawn in a thin line, her hands in her lap. “I signed up for this event weeks ago,” she said quickly. “I had no idea you’d be here.”
He scratched the back of his neck. “And how’s it going for you?”
“It’s…going,” Kritika said. Then she leaned forward just a tad. “Is it depressing that you’ve been my best date yet?”
Chuckling, Jaiman asked, “Do you mean these two minutes, or before?”
Kritika shrugged. She sipped her whiskey sour, her lipstick leaving a red stain on the glass. She was attractive, no doubt, and Jaiman knew by the way her gaze lingered on his arms that she was thinking the same about him. But their kiss had been a mistake. No number of hookups or speed dates would help him move on from Jia, at least for now, and it was unfair to string unassuming women along. He’d made a mistake, and now he had a chance to make things right.
Just as he opened his mouth to apologize for disappearing on her, she spoke. “I’m sorry for ghosting you.”
Jaiman set his ginger ale aside and paused. Had he heard that right? “Excuse me?”
“I had a great time,” she explained, her cheeks tinged red, “but after we kissed and you left, I realized I can’t see you again. You said you don’t know if you’re ready for something serious, but I do. I kind of like someone else, and hookups won’t help me move on from them.”
“Kritika—”
“I know I should have texted you and communicated, like an adult,” she sighed, “but I chickened out.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Jaiman held up a hand. “I was the one who deleted your number.”
“You did?” Her eyes grew wide. “I didn’t realize. I blocked you the next morning so you wouldn’t be able to text me again.”
Jaiman bit his lip to hold back a grin. “Well, I guess I can let go of my guilt, then. I had a good time too, but I didn’t think I could see you again. I”—he finally smiled—“kind of like someone else too.”
“Then we’re good.” Kritika raised her fist, and he bumped it with his own. She sipped her cocktail, pulled a face, and added, “So there’s this woman at work, and we’ve been friends for three years. I’ve had a crush on her for nearly that long. And she has no idea.”
“There’s this family friend I’ve known since I was in diapers,” Jaiman said, “and I’ve been in love with her for years. She has no idea. In fact, she’s the one who dragged me to this event because she’s that clueless and I’m that much of a coward.”
Kritika raised a brow. “We’re just two unlucky fools in love, aren’t we?”
He nodded slowly. “We really are.”
When the final buzzer sounded, Kritika scoffed. “Well, this event was a bust. And these free cocktails suck more than the men here. No offense,” she added hastily.
Jaiman laughed. “You should try the cocktails at my pub. I bet our whiskey sour would cheer you up in one sip.”
“Look at you, trying to capitalize on my misery.” Kritika stood up, amusement in her eyes. “I think I’d much rather take a long walk by the sea and drink some chai.”
Jaiman followed her to the bar, where the host was ushering everyone closer and collecting their comment cards. Jia stood alone, her narrowed eyes on him. “Enjoy your night, then,” he said to Kritika. “And no hard feelings about the ghosting.”
“Same here.” She handed her comment card to the host, then turned back. “Why don’t you join me?”
“What?”
She nudged her head toward the exit. “Maybe we both deserve a venting session about our depressing love lives.”
Jaiman thought for a moment. “Maybe we do.” He wondered if he should talk to Jia first, but she probably needed more space from him, given how annoyed she still looked. So he waved at Charu in the distance, smiled weakly at Jia, whose mouth was open in a soft O, and headed out the door with Kritika in tow.
Jia would never understand Jaiman Patil. Despite his lecture about speed dating and all the confusing things he’d said to her, he wasn’t leaving this event alone. His final date, the woman who had shown up later than everybody else, had followed him to his car, talking his ear off the whole time. Whatever. Jia rolled her eyes. Why would she care? He could do as he pleased with whoever.
Because Jia hadn’t checked the Yes box for wanting to meet any of her dates, she stood by herself at the bar, empty drink in hand, while the other singles who had a nice time exchanged contact information. Three women stood not far from her, gossiping about the event and all the men they’d dated tonight. When the topic went to Jaiman, Jia’s shoulders straightened, and she listened in. “…hottest guy here, but kind of a bore, didn’t you think?”
“Yeah, he barely said four words throughout our date,” another woman said. “Why is he even here if he doesn’t want to put in the effort? No wonder he’s single.”
“I wouldn’t mind a night in bed with him, though,” the third woman said, her voice teasing.
All three women burst into giggles. Jia’s teeth ground together so hard her jaw clicked. She should stop listening. She exhaled and headed over to Charu, who was saying goodbye to one of the men.
“Jia!” Charu grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her around. Her eyes were bright, a giddy smile on her face. “This was such a great idea. I got a mutual yes from three men, and one of them already said he wants to meet next week. You’re the best!”
Jia smiled back tightly. She tugged the name tag off the front of her dress and hoped it hadn’t ruined the fabric. “Well, I’m glad at least you had a nice time. As for me—”
Charu waved her hand around dismissively. “Don’t worry, Jia. We’ll both find The One in divine timing. And Jaiman too, hopefully.” She looked around, smiling. “He left with that woman, didn’t he? We had such a sad conversation on our date, but I’m glad it worked out for him in the end anyway.”
Sad?Curiosity urged Jia to ask, “What did you both talk about?”
As they headed out to Jia’s car, Charu smiled politely at the other people leaving the event before returning to the conversation. “I spoke almost the whole time about my dates, and then when I asked him about his experience, he looked discouraged and said he didn’t see a future with any of the women he met tonight.”
“He said that?” Jia’s skin prickled. She unlocked the Mercedes and slid into the driver’s seat, buckling herself in.
Charu adjusted the length of her seat belt before replying. “So I told him he should give his dates another chance, because you never know who you might end up falling for. And then he said that he’d been in love before, and it was overrated.” She frowned. “Did someone break his heart, Jia?”
Jia stared straight ahead at the road as she drove, shaking her head. Jealousy curled in her stomach. Was Jaiman talking about Flora? “He only had one girlfriend in college, and she’s now one of his best friends,” she told Charu. “I don’t know if he loved her. Maybe he did.”
“I hope he lets someone into his heart again. We all deserve to find love.” Charu tinkered with the car stereo until a romantic Taylor Swift song came on. She smiled. “I haven’t been this excited about the possibility of finding love in so long. Thanks again, Jia.”
“I’m so happy to hear that.” Jia glanced at her for a brief second before turning her attention back to the road. Charu was singing along to the love song, so Jia let her thoughts drift to the most confusing man in her life.
Jaiman had been in love before. She gulped. Was he making zero efforts to find a real relationship because he hadn’t moved on from this woman yet? Who had left him so cynical and heartbroken? What if it was that woman he left with? They looked like they’d had…history. And she’d been staring at him throughout the event. It didn’t make sense for Jaiman to leave with her after a speed date if he didn’t already know her—he’d clearly told Jia seven minutes wasn’t enough to get to know someone.
After dropping off Charu, Jia headed home and parked inside the driveway, thinking. Jaiman and Jia hadn’t talked about their love lives with each other in a long time. Jia had always assumed he had continued with his casual, hookupy ways and simply stopped telling her about it, since their kiss had made things awkward between them.
Maybe Jaiman had fallen in love with this woman, and now she was back in his life. He was probably taking her on a real date that lasted much longer than seven minutes. Would he flirt with her like he did with Jia? What if he took her to J’s Pub and made her a personalized cocktail?
Jia stayed in her seat, her fingers clutching the steering wheel. No. No, it was game night. Jaiman had only missed a few game nights in all these years; he was as competitive as Jia when it came to board games. He was probably being a gentleman and dropping Mystery Woman home, and then he’d come home to the Deshpandes, like always.
Jia adjusted her rearview mirror and touched up her lipstick. She didn’t need to overthink anything…at least not until she gave Jaiman a chance to explain.