18-07-2025, 04:29 PM
She rested her hand lightly against his forearm when she reached past him for the bowl of peanuts.
Didn’t apologize.
Didn’t pull away.
Her touch was cool.
Casual.
Intimate.
And Abhi didn’t move either.
Across the circle, Madhavi laughed at something Vinay said.
She didn’t look their way.
But Shruti did.
She glanced sideways for just a second.
Madhavi caught the look, smiled faintly,
And looked away deliberately, her eyes down on her glass, taking a long sip of her chai.
Abhi caught that too.
And it did something strange to him.
His chest tightened, not with guilt, but with a deep kind of gratitude.
Madhavi wasn’t backing off. She was stepping aside.
Letting the moment belong to someone else.
Shruti nudged him gently. “Hey. What’s going on in that mind of yours?”
He looked at her, eyes clear.
“Just figuring out how dangerous you really are.”
Shruti laughed and leaned in closer. “Don’t take too long. I tend to vanish when I get bored.”
The round carried on, wild and messy, but for Abhi and Shruti, a new game had started.
One played in glances, whispers, and the careful shifting of distance between their bodies.
But under it all… Madhavi remained.
Not as a shadow.
But as the silent pulse beneath everything.
Didn’t apologize.
Didn’t pull away.
Her touch was cool.
Casual.
Intimate.
And Abhi didn’t move either.
Across the circle, Madhavi laughed at something Vinay said.
She didn’t look their way.
But Shruti did.
She glanced sideways for just a second.
Madhavi caught the look, smiled faintly,
And looked away deliberately, her eyes down on her glass, taking a long sip of her chai.
Abhi caught that too.
And it did something strange to him.
His chest tightened, not with guilt, but with a deep kind of gratitude.
Madhavi wasn’t backing off. She was stepping aside.
Letting the moment belong to someone else.
Shruti nudged him gently. “Hey. What’s going on in that mind of yours?”
He looked at her, eyes clear.
“Just figuring out how dangerous you really are.”
Shruti laughed and leaned in closer. “Don’t take too long. I tend to vanish when I get bored.”
The round carried on, wild and messy, but for Abhi and Shruti, a new game had started.
One played in glances, whispers, and the careful shifting of distance between their bodies.
But under it all… Madhavi remained.
Not as a shadow.
But as the silent pulse beneath everything.
-- oOo --
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