Ayesha's POV

“Yes. So much that all I can think about right now is kissing you so hard, so deep, that every time you even dare to think of ignoring me, this kiss will burn in your memory and haunt you.”
These words.

These damn words replayed in my mind like a recording on a broken tape recorder.

I hate him. I hate that infuriating jerk.

I hate that he affects me so damn much that every time I remember those words, my cheeks heat up.

I slammed my room door shut and punched the first pillow I saw, imagining him in its place.

“Woah, woah, who made you so pissed?” Ritika asked, looking surprised at my behaviour.

“That asshole. How dare he,” I muttered, glaring at the pillow.

“Mard ka chakkar hai babu bhaiya,” Ritika whistled.
(A man, I see.)

(Idk how to translate this 😭 I'm sorry)

“Shut up, it’s not like that,” I huffed. She looked at me, amused.

“Acha?”
(Oh?)

“Haa, anyways, you tell me where you were these two days?” I asked, raising my eyebrow. She looked at me like a deer caught in headlights.

“Woh I…-”
(That I..-)

“I stayed with my boyfriend,” she said. My eyes widened at her response. They do not allow that. She would’ve been in serious trouble if they had found out.

“Are you mad? You would’ve been in serious trouble if they’d caught you,” I whisper-yelled at her. She sighed and nodded.

“I know, that’s why I returned early in the morning. The warden was dead asleep at that time,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

“Wow,” I said, shocked. She chuckled at my expression.

“Your boyfriend is in this academy?”

“Yep, he’s a trainer here.” And ladies and gentlemen, another shock.

“No wonder you did this,” I said, amused by her daring stunt.

“I know. I’ll help you too if you ever want to sneak out, I know a way,” she said, chuckling mischievously. I chuckled and nodded.

“Come on, let's go, it’s time for dinner,” she said. I nodded and followed her out, wearing my slippers.

We had our dinner in silence. Later, I called my family and Jivu and introduced Ritika to them. They were happy to see me getting along with someone here.

After that, both of us freshened up and went to bed for some much-needed sleep.

The next day, surprisingly, Ritika woke me up two hours early, before our usual time, saying, “Let’s go for a jog in the dorm’s garden.”

I was tempted to say no, but her puppy eyes had me on my feet, getting ready.

“My boyfriend and his best friend are coming too,” she said as we reached.

“Shouldn’t you have told me that before we left?” I asked, glaring at her.

“I know, and I also know you would never have said yes if I’d told you this,” she replied, joining her hands pleadingly.

“Fine,” I sighed. She squealed and hugged me, chanting thank-yous.

“Are we interrupting something?” came a male voice. We turned to see two men — Zeeshan Kapoor and his best friend,  standing there.

What the hell?

Which one of them is her boyfriend?

Is that—

“Hiiiiiii,” the dramatic ass beside me squealed and hugged Zeeshan’s best friend.

“Hi, love,” he replied, hugging her back.

Honestly, I would’ve  awed if I hadn’t been stared at continuously by the man standing in front of me.

“Hi Ayesha, we meet again,” his best friend said, extending his hand for a handshake.

I smiled and shook it. “Hi.”

“Remember me?” he asked, smiling expectantly.

“Uh—I—” I was feeling bad.

“Vidit, you brought me here for this?” came his voice. Oh yes, Vidit. His name is Vidit.

“Ignore him, he’s got something stuck in his ass 24/7,” Vidit said, laughing. I chuckled and nodded, agreeing with him. He, meanwhile, looked like a volcano ready to erupt.

“You’re right, Vidit bhai,” I replied, smirking. He narrowed his eyes at me, which I ignored completely.

“You finally remembered, huh?” Vidit said, smiling softly. I remembered he was sweet.

“Okay, let’s do what we’re actually here for,” Ritika said. We nodded and started jogging. The couple jogged together — it was cute how Vidit tried to match his pace with Ritika.

I was jogging behind them, and he was jogging behind me.

“Still ignoring me?” came his voice from behind, startling me.

“You scared me, idiot,” I replied, taking a breath or two.

“Oh, I’m sorry, princess. I didn’t know I was dealing with a scared cat,” he said, smiling sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.

“You didn’t answer,” he said again. I rolled my eyes once more.

It’s fun riling him up.

“Do you want me to pick you up right here, right now, and take you aside to actually give you an example of what I said yesterday, baby?” he said. His words made me pause.

Damn him.

I could feel my cheeks heating up.

“Fuck off,” I muttered and went back to jogging.

“I’d love to do that. Or perhaps I should just do it here. How about that?” he said like the shameless asshole he is.

“You wish,” I scoffed.

“Oh, I wish for more than just a kiss, and, I could do that — no one would stop me, not even you.” he said, jogging alongside.

“I’d kill you before you even tried something like that,” I snapped. What is he actually thinking?

“Tsk, tsk, sad,” he said in a mock-hurt voice.

“What are you trying to do, huh?” I asked, stopping. He stopped too, looking confused.

“What am I doing?” he asked, still looking confused.

“First you act like you hate me to your core and spit hurtful rubbish on my face, and now you’re acting like a flirt. What are you trying to do? Trying to get me in your bed? It won’t work. I’m not a whore, even if you think—”

“Do. Not. Degrade. Yourself,” he said, grabbing my wrist and jerking me closer to him.

“Do not fucking do that ever again. You are not a whore but a fucking goddess in my eyes, and I’m not a saint. Don’t force me to ruin you just to prove my point.”

My eyes widened at his words.

“Leave me,” I muttered, my face close to his.

I was losing my mind because of the proximity.

“Leave me, we’re in public,” I gritted out when he ignored me and continued glaring.

I returned his glare, matching his cold, fierce eyes.

Exhaling loudly, he finally let go of my hand. I took a few steps back because his cologne was making me lose my mind, and I needed to stay sane to deal with him.

“Don’t ever do that again. I do not wish to be a part of any rumours,” I said, glaring at him before leaving, jogging further away.

He didn’t follow me this time; instead, he left. Good for him. If he thinks I’d let him do whatever the fuck he wants, he’s wrong.

After a minute or two, I told them I had urgent work to do and would join them some other time. They reluctantly agreed, so I went directly to the training academy. It was useless to go back to the dorm and return after just an hour.

There’s a room where we can work out or give our bodies some extra training. I was in the mood for boxing, imagining someone in particular in place of the punching bag. So I grabbed the boxing gloves and gear, wore them, and blasted some good music in my ears.

After warming up a little, I started with easy punches, and as I got my pace, I began hitting harder.

Midway, my earphones must have fallen out because I heard someone say, “You’ll hurt yourself. Punch me directly if you’re that angry at me.”

And that someone was obviously Zeeshan Kapoor, back again to ruin my peace.

“Do you not have anything else to do? Are you this free?” I snapped, turning around.

There he sat on a mat, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, looking straight into my eyes or probably my soul.

He simply chuckled at my words and went back to his workout, bench pressing 120 kg weight to be precise.  His heavy breathing was the only sound in the room.

Turning my gaze away, I decided it was better to ignore his damn existence. Boxing made me sweat a lot. I was wearing a workout set — tight-fit leggings and a sports bra and over that, a huge T-shirt I’d stolen from my brother.

Since it was just the two of us and the heat was unbearable, I took my T-shirt off, keeping an eye on him — but thankfully, he wasn’t looking at me.

Sighing happily, I went back to my boxing session, this time keeping my earphones in my pocket. I didn’t want to lose them again.

ZEESHAN’S POV

I stormed out of that park after the exact moment she said those words. I knew she was right and that her anger was valid, but I couldn’t stop myself when she called herself a whore just to rile me up.

She’s a goddess, a pure and divine soul, too hard to find these days.

She deserves nothing less than to be worshipped by someone who truly deserves her, and surely that is not me — that can never be me.

To calm my anger, I went to the academy gym. Working out seemed like the better option to both calm myself and punish myself for making her think the way she did—those exact words she spat those words at my face.

I was doing my push-ups when I saw her enter. She was angry — scratch that — she was fuming with anger. And the reason behind it? Me, obviously.

She didn’t notice me, didn’t even look around, and went straight to the punching bag and started punching after putting on her gloves and gear — slowly at first, then with increasing intensity.

I winced at the force of her punches. It could’ve been me.

I bet she was imagining me in place of that punching bag.

Her earphone fell; I saw it happen. That’s when I decided to intervene, because the way she was punching, she could easily bruise her knuckles.

“You’ll hurt yourself. Punch me directly if you’re that angry at me,” I said whatever came to my mind, making her turn abruptly, her glare fierce.

I was worried she might actually throw that punching bag at my face without hesitation.

“Do you not have anything else to do? Are you that free?” came her snap.

But I was here first?

A chuckle escaped my mouth before I could even think. Now that I think about it, I should’ve shut the fuck up.

And that’s exactly what I did — went back to my workout, this time bench pressing.

After a minute or two, I started hearing loud punches again, which meant she had gone back to her boxing.

Once I was done bench pressing, I grabbed two 35 kg dumbbells for dumbbell presses and when I tell you I almost knocked my feet off with those dumbbells, I’m not exaggerating. Because the sight in front of me was… damn, I can’t even name it.

She had taken off her T-shirt — the one piece of clothing that had been protecting her luscious assets from the gaze of others... and mine.

Don’t get me wrong, I am a man, and a man can very well stumble upon dumbbells and almost fall on his face if he sees his woman boxing in a damn workout set.

The sweat glistening on her body made my restraint falter. I was a man of control, in fact, I was trained in it, but I guess they never mentioned that even a man with complete control over his desires can lose it in such a situation.

Turning around, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself. My watch buzzed, indicating it was almost time for my class.

Thank the Lord for protecting my sanity.

Clearing my throat, I informed her about it. She nodded, and we left for the class, not together, of course.