'Mood for mayhem.' 

Kunal

2020

I popped the can open and swept my gaze on Vaanya. She was so damn sexy—those curves tempted me more than anything. CSU had a bunch of gorgeous women but they never held a candle when it came to Vaanya Mittal. Her beauty was unnatural. I leaned my back against my chair as I assessed her effortless movements. In my head, I had imagined exploring every nook and cranny for her delicious soft body and the best deal was the fact that she was single—which implied she was also available.

I was all ears to catch a snippet of her soft laugh when Ranveer took his seat beside me. "Man you're spacing out." I scoffed before I looked at him. "You should ask her out if you're so interested."

I narrowed my gaze on Vaanya far across the room, laughing with her friends. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"More like, who," he retorted and I tore my gaze away from her. Ranveer smirked. "Maira is good people, man. I'm sure she'd agree for a date or two."

I nearly laughed at his poor judgment.

"You think I'm interested in Maira?"

He scowled at me before he grabbed my drink. "Isn't she the one you're checking out?" he drank from the soda can and set it back on the table in front of me. I toyed with it mindlessly to craft my answer. "Never mind," he told me and rose to his feet. "I may have read the wrong signals."

"Yeah, no, I like Maira, she's cool." I was positive Ranveer wasn't ready to acknowledge my interests in his best friend or whatever Vaanya was for him. They seemed tight and admitting my interest to him didn't seem like the right thing to do.

He arched a brow and flashed a knowing smile. "I'll burn you to the ground if you mess with her." Ranveer had imposed a permanent ban on bullshit. I'd failed to remember the last time he made a joke that wasn't a dark comedy or a real joke.

"Why so serious, man?" I asked and he rolled his eyes. "Why do you think I'd mess with her and why are you even concerned about her? That girl over there thinks you're a fucking criminal."

"And for all the right reasons, I might add." He gave me a dark look. "I was after all a juvenile delinquent. It's better if she isn't my friend."

My jaw clenched. I didn't want people around to hate him for something that happened a long time ago. He was a good guy and probably the only guy who cared about actual life. "So what? Your father's the real deal, isn't he?"

"Drop it fucker," he growled lowly and I drank from the can. "Don't push your shitty luck. My father is nobody's business and that doesn't give me some wildcard. You better not act like scum or I'll break face the next time I see you."

That made me laugh but Ranveer was dead serious. He was always around making sure that I wasn't in deep trouble for womanizing. "So you mean to tell me that you won't help me next time I wind up in shit?"

"There will be no next time," he demanded gruffly. "I've had enough of your fuckery. Stop messing with women. I mean it."

"You said that same thing last time," I asserted and then he was glaring at me. Damn it. My day was filled with those looks. What did these people take me for? "And the time before that, and the time before that, and—"

"I've been helping you enough with your shit only because I don't want you to wind up in prison. If you so much as repeat that ordeal then I'm involving my father and dragging your ass down to jail myself. Do you fucking understand?"

"Poster boy of the year, aren't you?" I chuckled and he balled his fist on the table. I got the silent message that was starting to lose his cool and I wasn't in the mood for his wrath. "Alright, fine." I averted my gaze on Vaanya and saw her smile at something Ella had said. "I'm not gonna mess around with Maira."

Then Ella reminded me of Aagnay and my hands twitched to know where he was. He wasn't in the hall and the professor had canceled the lecture last minute. "I'm not talking about Maira, fucking hell. I'm talking about women here in general. All those shitty things you do with them. I need you to wipe your drive clean."

That wasn't happening. "Sure." He narrowed his gaze on me bewildered. "I'll do that tonight." I knew he didn't buy that crap. He knew I wasn't serious about that.

He sighed and drank from the can. "Where did you even get this from? I thought the cafeteria was done with their supply."

"Ah yes." I glanced at my phone on the table. "I saw them restock the other day." I ignored my phone and looked at him. "Have you seen Bhasin since the morning?"

Ranveer's brows furrowed. "What's your business with Bhasin?"

I chaffed my fingers against my scruff. "Can a person not be a tad curious? What the fuck is wrong with that?"

He smirked and edged away from the table. "Any person has a liberty to be curious about Bhasin. My deal is why are you?"

"It's nothing," I told him dismissively. "I just needed some help with calculus."

He arched a brow challengingly. "Calculus?" he shot and popped his knuckles. "And you?" He laughed. "You're losing your skills. Your excuses have been less convincing."

I rolled my eyes of my own volition. "You have grown more maternal for some reason."

"And you're forgetting who you're speaking with." He turned to glare at me. "Need I remind you that Bhasin isn't someone you should be fucking with? That game might cost you more than just jail time."

"That fucker can barely touch me," I muttered and concern flittered through his face. I quickly added, "It's not what you think. I mean it, I need an update on Calculus and that's all."

"You better not be lying about it because I won't be held accountable if shit spirals out of my fucking hands," he told me and lumbered out of the room.

I watched Vaanya gaze in his direction and my teeth clenched in their own accord. I always thought she had a thing for the guy but Ranveer was an ass for letting it all slide like she didn't even exist beyond a certain line. I didn't hate him for that—I thought it was better if they never noticed each other. I wanted Vaanya to myself and I had my plans to achieve that.

*

"Hey handsome," Maira dipped her head near my ear and whispered, "Did you miss me?"

I was damned near in awe of her gall. She was brazenly flirting with me and I had no clue as to what she had been discreetly insinuating. "Did I have a reason to?" I grinned at her and she huffed before she took her seat beside me.

"Do you even have to ask?" She fidgeted with her lip ring and I was spacing out on her lips again. Damn it. What was it with her lips?

I looked away and wandered my gaze around the cafeteria. "How's Vaanya?" I instantly regretted my impulses and winced furtively.

"Why do you want to know anything about Vaanya?" She scowled at me.

Fucking shit. "What do you mean? I'm not allowed to check up on your friends now?" I smiled lopsidedly and she released a series of pent-up breaths. Why the fuck was she holding her breath anyway?

"She's doing just fine," she said gingerly and tugged on her piercing. "Okay, so I was wondering if you'd pick me around eight-ish tomorrow?"

"Whatever happened to seven in the evening," I deadpanned and she laughed. It was a sexy sound. Her laugh was throaty and I didn't know if it was an attempted seduction but if it was, then, I was hooked.

"Well, I figured I still need time," she told me and scooted closer to me. "Also, I was thinking if you'd like to..." She glanced around the hall and caressed her hair. "I don't know maybe want to grab coffee later this week?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I drawled and she pursed her lips to refrain from her smile. Maira Anthony blushed; I thought I had seen enough weird sightings for one day.

"Only if you want to," she pressed further. "You don't have to though, but I'd like it if you do."

How was I supposed to deny her after that? I honestly didn't want to but I also wanted to get laid and she was easy—she was practically willing to spread her legs and I wasn't stupid to turn that down. "If I don't have to then I won't." Damn those lips, they were parted and I'd imagined shoving my dick in that lush mouth. I wondered if she could have taken it all the way down to the back of her throat. My dick stirred to the thought of that.

She thinned her lips and pushed to her feet instantly. "Gotcha," she muttered lowly and trudged away from the table. I opened to mouth to clarify but she interrupted, "See you around." And then she was gone like the wind.

I laughed lowly because it was too hilarious to ignore. I hadn't realized that she had the vanity, to begin with. All that fake vanity of her father's legacy must have taken up a lot for her to be like that. These people were shallow, including Maira and I was no different, except, I didn't have much to care about and these people did.

*

Maira

2020

Fucking asshole.

How did he even dare to make me feel so worthless? It was almost like I meant nothing. I had never been huge on the chase—in fact, it was always the men who made the first move and I was freaking desperate, I'd forgotten who I was.

Who did he think he was? Grr. I was so fucking furious. I wanted to throw a boxing ring in the middle of the cafeteria. What a bastard.

"Why the long face?" Ella asked and I gritted my teeth when I looked at her. She searched my face and dropped her nail filer in her satchel. "Don't tell me that living STI just turned you down for tomorrow's party."

"Don't you fucking dare," I bit out acidly and she laughed. It sounded more like a snarl that grated on my nerve. "You can shove that remark right where it came from."

"Gee M, calm down the hell down, will you?" She winked at me and I scowled at her. "That bitch will be your date whether he likes it or not."

That caught my attention instantly. "What do you mean?"

"I just know my ways," she singsonged and my scowl was only deepening in bewilderment. She looked at me and smirked. "You just have to trust my charms and know that you owe me one."

"You aren't fucking serious right now," I barked at her. "I won't let you coerce him into dating me."

She narrowed her perfect eyes on me. "Oh please, what do you think this is?" She averted her gaze on Kunal and I followed her. "He will have plenty of reasons to agree to date you."

I didn't understand what she meant by that. "Can you stop being so cryptic and tell me what's going on?"

She turned to face me and chuckled. "Nothing as if now sweetie, let's just grab Vaanya and get down to the café instead. Sharing the same air as him isn't wise right now."

I agreed with her because it was the most rational thing to do and besides, the food at the cafeteria sucked. I wanted some cooler and fries in my system before I could have kicked Kunal in his gut.

*

Vaanya plopped on the couch beside me before she dropped her bag on the table. "Sorry I was late," she mumbled and looked at Ella. "So what did I miss?"

"You missed M's classic meltdown over Kunal at the cafeteria," Ella teased me and I mock glared at her. Vaanya stared at her blankly and then her brows creased in bewilderment as she turned to face me.

I threw my arms up in the air exasperatedly. "She's joking."

Ella gasped dramatically. "No sweetie, I'm not. Stop lying to her." Vaanya was looked like a lost puppy. Did she believe that I'd have a meltdown at none other than the fucking cafeteria? What the hell.

I rolled my eyes. "I thought we were done discussing that subject E—"

"Is that right?" Vaanya intervened and I was quick to shake my head in silent denial. "Goodness! You guys scared me. I'd be worried if you're after that guy."

Then I was scowling at her. "What do you mean 'that guy'?"

"I mean—" She sighed and looked away. "Kunal's reputation precedes him if you haven't noticed already."

Ella chuckled as she popped an olive in her mouth. "Eh, he's harmless."

I averted my gaze on Ella. "Thank you." Ella was never the one to defend anyone and it was surprising coming out of her.

"Why are you defending him?" Vaanya inquired pointedly and I growled under my breath. She ignored my agitation and went on, "Why do you want Maira to wind up in that endless list of Kunal's victims?"

Ella picked on her manicure. "Perhaps I'm in the mood for mayhem."

I scowled at her and Vaanya's jaw dropped. "So you'd push your best friend off the edge?"

Ella shrugged offhandedly. "It's not like she doesn't want to go down that line. I'll just help her achieve what she truly wants."

"I'm sitting right here," I snapped at both of them bitterly. "For starters, Kunal isn't what you think of him." I turned to face Ella. "I don't need your fucking help. Don't meddle into my case."

She scoffed. "Are you sure you don't need my help at all? I mean my persuasion skills are the best so think again."

"No, this isn't happening," Vaanya retorted. "Don't you dare screw Maira over, I'm warning you."

"I can bloody speak for myself thank you," I told Vaanya acidly and she sighed again. "I know you're the jinn Ella but I also know those wishes come with a price tag and I don't wish to pay."

Ella cackled. "Hey, this one's on the house."

"Can you not find another person to crush on?" Vaanya asked acidly. "Are you so blind to catch the red flags?"

"What red flags?" I bit out and she winced to herself. "You don't even know his side of the story. There has to be a reason as to why he is acting the way he has been. At least give him a chance."

"Are you kidding me?" She snorted and I couldn't believe Vaanya was acting so out of her element. She was always the kindest, the rational one. "Sure. I don't know his side of the story but do you?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," I told her and she deflated. "I need to be around him to know his side of the story."

"You're mistaken." Vaanya laughed mockingly. "The only thing you'd know is that guy is sick."

"You don't know that for sure," Ella jumped to defend Kunal. "He might turn out to be Maira's type. Who knows?"

"I don't need either of you around me," I muttered exasperatedly and focused on my food.

Vaanya was agape. "Of course you don't need us. You need a guy who loves to torture women for some reason."

"You don't know that for sure," I muttered through my clenched teeth. "You don't know the first thing about Kunal so you better not speak a word."

"Why are we even fighting over a dude?" Ella snorted and sipped her decaf. "He might as well not exist for all we care."

"Except, he does." I was furious for their audacity to shade people they knew nothing about. "How would you feel if I said something awful against Aagnay?"

"I'd say you're dang right," she told me and I gaped at her. "Men are easy anyway," she scoffed. "I mean I can score a hottie anytime I want." Jesus. She had issues. That made me laugh and Vaanya chuckled.

Time drifted by as we indulged in our plans for the upcoming party. I was thrilled to spend a whole evening with Kunal. I had it so bad for him; it surprised me.

I paid the bills and fetched my belongings from the couch.

"Please be careful around him," Vaanya told me softly and I groaned incredulously. I thought we were done with that subject. "He isn't anything like he seems. I know you're enamored by him and I get it but people like Kunal are predators."

"He isn't a fucking rapist," I snapped at her violently and glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed my outburst. I didn't care about the prying glances in my direction. "Do me a favor and never speak another word against him," I said lowly and her lips pursed.

"Maira, I—" I didn't wait for her to finish and got on my feet back to the campus alone.

I was so damned furious, I needed to break something. I thought I'd lose my mind if I heard another word against him. I was glad the lectures were canceled for another hour because I needed a release and I knew just how. 

~~~~

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