CHAPTER 32 #3
As if sensing my gaze, she stirs. Her lashes flutter before she slowly opens her eyes. For a moment, neither of us speaks or moves. We are still trapped in that strange space between sleep and wakefulness.
Still half asleep, Siya shifts slightly and rubs her cheek against my shoulder, while her other hand grazes my chest beneath my sweater. The movement is innocent, almost unconscious, but it still does something to my heartbeat.
A second later, awareness returns to her eyes, and she immediately withdraws her hand.
The warmth of her touch against my skin is gone.
As her fingers move through her hair, fixing the mess, I straighten up a bit and relax my strained neck muscles.
I’m still waiting for her to tell me how this entire situation is somehow my fault.
Women usually find one reason… Siya finds ten.
So, I wait. But when she finally turns back to me, none of that happens. Only a slight frown appears between her brows.
“Are you okay?” she asks, catching me off guard.
That is not the question I was expecting. Her eyes remain fixed on mine, studying me.
“I mean… your eyes look swollen,” she says quietly. “As if you barely slept last night.”
I lean back slightly, never breaking our gaze.
“Of course I didn’t get much sleep last night. I’m a man, Siya. With you practically sleeping on me all night, your hand tucked inside my sweater and unconsciously touching me in your sleep… how exactly did you expect me to sleep?”
Her jaw drops. “I wasn’t sleeping on you.”
I let out a dry laugh.
“Princess, if there hadn’t been a door beside me, I would’ve been pushed straight out of the vehicle with the way you kept shifting in your sleep.”
Siya immediately smacks my arm. “Stop exaggerating, RK.”
“I’m not. You practically declared ownership over half my body last night.”
Her cheeks redden.
“I know the fault is mine. I’ve a habit of cuddling in my sleep. But it’s not a big deal. At least not as much as you’re making it sound. If you had a problem sleeping, why didn’t you just wake me up?”
“Not a big deal?” I raise an eyebrow. “If I had slept cuddled up to you last night, with my hand tucked inside your sweater, would you still be saying it’s not a big deal, Princess?”
That shuts her up. Her lips part, but no words come out.
Exactly.
I smirk. “You can take me for granted, but I can’t? You can touch me, even if it’s in your sleep, and somehow, I’m supposed to act like none of it affects me?”
Her eyes widen as I lean closer and brush a loose strand of her hair away from her forehead.
“No, Princess. I wasn’t built that way.” My gaze deliberately remain focused on her flushed face. “So the next time you tell me it’s not a big deal, ask yourself whether you’d survive me doing the same thing to you.”
Judging by the way she’s avoiding my eyes right now, I already know the answer.
“Fine, I got it.” She pushes the blanket aside. “Now take us home.”
And just like that, the discussion is over. According to Siya Vardhaan, she can accuse me, blame me, win the argument, and declare the matter closed, all within thirty seconds.
What the f*ck!
Without waiting for my response, she climbs back towards the front passenger seat from inside the vehicle, attempting the same ridiculous stunt she tried last night.
I watch her struggle with the narrow space again before she finally settles into the passenger seat and triumphantly fastens her seatbelt, as if she has accomplished something remarkable.
Only Siya can turn something so ordinary into a spectacle.
And only Siya can leave me staring after her like an idiot.
I look away first because something always feels different around her.
I’m not a kind who teases people or engages in meaningless banter.
People don’t laugh around me. People don’t casually hit my arm and argue over nonsense.
Yet with Siya, I say things I wouldn’t say to anyone else, do things I would never bother doing, and react in ways that isn’t me.
Why?
I recall Ayaan, Vishnu, and Krish warning me that marriage changes a man.
That the right woman never enters your life quietly.
She just walks in and starts rearranging parts of you that you didn’t even know existed.
And sooner or later, every man reaches a point where one woman makes him do things he never imagined himself doing.
I had always considered it nonsense, dismissing them as nothing more than a bunch of whipped men. Because I am Raghav Kundra. I don’t alter my life around another person’s existence. But now, I’m beginning to suspect they knew exactly what they were talking about.
F*ck.
What have I landed myself into?
“This isn’t one of those self-driving cars that will magically take us to RK Estate.” Siya’s voice breaks my chain of thoughts. “Either you take the wheel or let me drive.”
There she goes again. Unknowingly, Siya is already steering me like she’s a pro at becoming my wife.
Huh!
Shaking my head, I step out of the car, stretch my stiff muscles, and walk around to the driver’s side. Moments later, I slide behind the wheel and start the engine. Without another word, I pull the vehicle back onto the road and drive us back towards RK Estate.