Thrill on the rocks. 

Ranveer

2015

I despised it.

The delivery was stealthy and quick. It surprised me how insanely people craved crack.

I was lying to everyone I loved and it made me sick—ashamed of myself. How was I going to explain myself to my folks? To Vaanya? I had no fucking idea.

I dropped that kid right where he belonged, with his family. That was as far as what kept me sane under the circumstances. I walked into the den in a dark alley up north after I finished my business in the city.

Tossing the roll of cash on the table, I strode through a couple of rooms. It was shrouded with cheap lightning and local hysterical music played in the background. "I suppose our deal ends here." One man approached me out of nowhere and handed me a bundle of cash. "I have seen more money than that." I scoffed and looked away. "Thanks but you can keep that for yourself."

I didn't pay enough effort to remember their names because I was convinced we didn't have to cross paths again.

"Not so fast," he said and exhaled a dense fume of smoke. I clenched my fist as I glanced at the familiar faces circling me with arms again. "We aren't over yet."

I grounded my teeth together. "We are," I told him sternly as he pushed to his feet and walked to me. "The deal is over and I'm out." I stepped away from him but stopped as the weapons pointed in the direction of my head. Fuck!

I shot out and slammed him against the wall behind him. I didn't care if these fuckers shot me through my skull but I wasn't going down without a fight. He struggled and I wrapped my hand around his neck. "We agreed," I snapped and he directed his men to lower their weapons.

"You offered," he argued. "We never agreed."

My lips twisted, having had enough of the shit. I wasn't going to be a part of something I didn't want to. "Those were the terms I had signed up for. Don't push your luck when you know what I'm capable of."

"And how do you think your father will take it when he knows that you are involved with us?"

My grip loosened on his neck and I sneered. "You think my father will trust anyone more than he trusts me?" That was not how my family operated.

"If he has every reason to believe that you were indeed lying to him," he told me and I remained rooted to my stance. "A son of a proud police officer delivering drugs must be a good headline."

I slammed my fist against his jaw and the sound of the blank shot of the gun pierced through the air. "Go ahead," I bit out and veered to my right to face the man who had shot the gun. "Are you going to use that or what?"

I was convinced they needed me alive more than they wanted me dead. I wasn't going to waste my time functioning with fear for the inevitable.

"How about this?" he asked and I turned my gaze on him. "One more round and that's it?"

"You must think I'm a fool to fall for that," I growled as I pulled away from them. I was resolute. "This was indeed the last of it all. I'm not falling for your shit again."

"You don't have a choice," he said and I stilled a look on him as his lips curled to a sinister smile. "We won't back away from violence so you better pick and choose your battles."

"One last round is all we are asking," another man pitched and I sighed heavily before I walked out of the room.

Fuck! Did I have another choice?

*

The next delivery wasn't assigned until a few weeks later. By the time I was too jacked up with my lies, I was too deep to involve my folks in my shit. It was fucked up and I couldn't devise my way out of the mess. The only thing that served any comfort to my raging mind was the fact that the kid was doing alright with his folks.

I stared long and hard at the text on my burner phone that reflected the details for the next consignment.

"What are you looking at?" Vaanya ambushed me from behind and I jerked away from her but she was too quick to snatch the device out of my grip.

"Goddamn it Vaanya," I grunted lowly as I darted for the fucking phone but she dodged me and read the text. "Give it back to me."

"What the hell is this?" she queried quietly as her face grew ashen and I blinked hard. I reached for the phone but she ignored me and pushed away from me. "Why—I'm asking you something," she bellowed, shouting in my face.

I looked at her flatly. "It doesn't concern you."

She thinned her eyes on me, expecting more explanation when I wasn't in a condition to offer anything further. "I know you're lying to me. I know something has been off for weeks now. You have been shutting people out."

"I don't wish to explain," I muttered conclusively as I snatched the burner phone from her hand and shoved it back in my pocket. "Don't butt into my business Vaanya. I don't appreciate the invasion of privacy."

Her eyes flared as she growled and launched herself on me, shoving me back. With her hands pushing my chest, her strength sent me stumbling back a few steps. "Don't talk about privacy when it involves shady business. Is that what you are up to? Do your parents know what your business is?"

I narrowed my eyes as my heart picked up the speed. Shit.

*

Unease weighed down on my shoulder and I breathed hard as I watched Vaanya cast disdain through her eyes after I finished explaining the events. My stomach was in thousand knots when she remained silent.

"You're not doing this alone."

I lost my breath. Rubbing both of my hands up and down my face, I groaned. "Are you out of your fucking mind?" It was precisely why I didn't want to indulge her.

She pushed to her feet. "Not as much as you have," she shot back and I tilted my head to look at her as she walked around the lawn. "How could you even agree to deliver drugs?"

I felt my eyes heavy with a growing headache. "What choice did I have?"

"Calling your father. Texting me so I'd have gotten your father onto this...?" She threw her arms up and I peeled myself away from the wall I was leaning on. "Anything besides doing the deed yourself."

"I was already a part of it," I grumbled and strode to her. "I didn't want you guys in deep with me too."

"You do realize your father wouldn't have let that happen."

I swallowed the dryness in my throat and looked at her. What the hell. She had a fair point. I had screwed up. "I know but it's too late and there's nothing I can do right now except go through with it."

"No you're not going through with it anymore," she snapped at me and the vein in my neck began to throb. I had a feeling Vaanya was going to make it harder for me.

"This is supposed to be the last of it," I told her resolutely as my lungs emptied. "I'll deal with his in my way. Keep my folks out of this." Vaanya searched my face and I turned my gaze away. "That's what I want and I'm hoping you would consider that."

"So you just want me to be okay with this?" Hurt and sorrow filled her eyes as she caught my gaze and I shook my head slowly. "You want me to pretend that you're not playing with fire?"

Clenching my teeth, I backed away from her. "Look, my father is more powerful than you know. I'll find a way to get out of this in my way. All I want from you is to steer out of this. Do you understand me?"

Vaanya's nod was quick and silent when I charged out of the lawn and headed to the location.

*

"You make it a point this is the last one, right?" I reached for the packets on the table in the den and the man laughed insidiously. "Say it," I demanded and he nodded his head. "I'll drop by to get you the cash later." I shoved the packets in the inner pocket of my leather jacket and pushed away from the thickly smoked room.

As I pivoted to head out, my heart started to pound as I stared at Vaanya standing at the threshold of the den. "What are you...?" My mouth went dry as I watched her walk into the room. "You followed me?" What the hell was happening?

"I'm sorry but I couldn't leave you at it," she said and the wind knocked out of my lungs. "I refuse to leave you alone in this."

I ran my fingers through my hair as a layer of sweat covered my back. "What the actual fuck, Vaanya?" What did she think she was doing by showing up in a place like that? I turned to look at the armed men and face the tall guy. "She is with me and we're leave—"

"I want in." What?

The walls began to close up on me. I glared at Vaanya as she stepped beside me and ignored me. I grounded my teeth so hard together, my jaw ached. Vaanya wasn't helping me—she made it worse.

I growled under my breath. "You don't want to be doing this."

The tall guy smirked as she stood up and looked at me. "You didn't tell me you had more people interested in my business."

"She isn't." My jaw steeled as rage wrapped every inch of my body. "She is a friend and she is mistaken."

"I'm not," Vaanya snapped at me and turned her gaze on him. "I'm sure you need more women in your business since nobody suspects us much."

This was my fault.

I was never going to make it right. I was going to hell.

"You do have a point—"

"No," I bit out and charged at him. "You keep her out of this or I swear to god—"

"Or what?" Another man daggered in as he slid in front of me. "You choose your words carefully with us. We blew that kid's head off. You don't want the same end for your friend here, do you?"

I backed away as my stomach roiled with sickness and disbelief. "You..." I stared at the men in the room. "You people killed him?"

"You killed an innocent homeless kid?" Vaanya yelled and I felt the room spin around me. Goddamn it. None of it would have happened if I were alert. I should have kept that kid with me at the boathouse. It was all on me. "How could you? Why did you?"

"He served no purpose so he had to die," a man said flatly and rage coiled through the base of my stomach. "You must know by now that the only way out of this depends on your life."

I glowered at Vaanya and I failed to shake the sickness away. I couldn't lose her too—I couldn't have managed to live with that. I was a weak son of a bitch. I had no other choice.

Vaanya

2015

Vaanya Mittal—my name was the epitome of gentle feminism in the community. I was the good girl—the obedient one, the best one there was and I despised that. Good girls were boring—I wanted fun. Sure being the sunshine had its perks but I wanted to explore the nights. That image was given to me by my family, the pressure of being the goody-two-shoes gnawed at me. I didn't want the warmth; I wanted fire.

I was scared but more than anything I wasn't going down without a fair fight. The thrill of the unknown made me so high, I couldn't curb my anticipation. Sure I felt pity for the poor kid but people died every day, besides by the looks of it, it was better the kid got out of his miserable life in the streets. May he rest in peace.

I caught Ranveer's bloodshot gaze, pain and fury flashing in them, and held his hand gently. He didn't have to be scared for me. He thought I was weak and gullible but he had no idea what I was capable of. "It's okay," I assured him but he didn't seem convinced. He didn't pay attention to my words and I decided to shelve our conversation for later. "Where do I begin?"

"You mark my words," Ranveer bit out as he charged onto the man who seemed like the ring leader. "I'm calling quits after this round. I don't care about the blood bath but if you so much as pester me one more time, I'll make sure this little business is as good as busted."

The stout man chuckled. "Fine, fine. This was supposed to be the last anyway."

Ranveer was seething with brutal fury. "You don't reach me out anymore, especially here, are we clear?"

"Fine but the offer is always open for both of you if and when you want to get back here with us next time," the ring leader said and Ranveer clenched his fist.

"There will be no next time," Ranveer told him solutely and I smiled at him.

The room was filled with multiple men, short, tall, sturdy, and scrawny but all of them had one thing in common—they seemed scary. I was tempted to challenge them. I stared at the fresh little packet of what I assumed was cannabis. I ran my finger over it and smirked. I was about to have a night of my life.

When I read the text details on Ranveer's burner phone earlier, I knew I had found my thrill on the rocks. I was bored and this seemed like the perfect smokescreen for a little adventure. I was dying to get out of my mundane house and have a night to remember.

I stood there and barely paid any attention to the man who explained an exit plan post-delivery. I didn't care about that—I wanted to hit the road already. I nodded silently and shoved the little packet in my back pocket as we headed outside.

Ranveer didn't speak with me as he strode to his car and I caught his hand. "Why are you being so grumpy?" He was a little more intense than I was used to.

I hated that Ranveer had to be the good boy; exactly what people expected the son of an IPS officer to be—disciplined, smart, and charismatic.

He grunted low under his breath as he slammed his hand against the hood of his car. "Are you asking me that despite the number you pulled inside?"

"If you expected that I would let this be then you have another thing coming," I snapped bitterly and he glared at me. "We will always do shit together." I wasn't lying when I said that. It was partly correct that I didn't want him alone in the mess; the other part of me, however, was excited to indulge.

He remained silent as I tiptoed to kiss his cheek slightly and smiled at him. Bewilderment was evident in his features. "You have no idea what you got yourself into Vaanya—"

"I don't care," I interrupted and shrugged. "As long as we are in this together?"

"No you heard them," he roared and I backed away from him. "They shot a kid for the sake of it. You think this is some kind of joke?"

I lowered my gaze and sighed. "In that case, we don't give them a reason to shoot us, okay?"

Ranveer's gaze turned on me and he glowered. "What part of drugs and arms, do you fail to understand, damn it?"

I opened my mouth to retort and immediately saw another dealer step out in the dark alley. "Why don't we do this later?" I wanted this to be over with sooner than later. "We can talk about this tonight at your place, please?"

Ranveer heaved a breathy sigh and ran his hand over the top of his head. "Fine, shit. Okay. Let's finish your round first."

"Yeah, okay," I said and drew my set of keys from my pocket. "We will drive in our respective vehicles okay? Just to be on the safer side."

He agreed and I hopped in my car and ignited the engine. My fingers hummed with excitement as I drove through the city.

Ranveer never bypassed my vehicle, made sure I felt safe and assured. I didn't like that he did that. I wanted to seek the risk of my action, it was an adventure that I dared to partake in and the novelty of the circumstances riveted me.

When I reached the location, I shut off my engine nearly a mile away and began to walk to the spot instead. It wasn't an abandoned street but it was far away from our community which rooted more courage inside me.

I straightened my back as I walked towards the couple across the sidewalk after looking at either side of the road. I glanced back to check if Ranveer was anywhere near me, keeping an eye on my move. The thought of him watching me somewhere from distance stirred something inside me. He was going to know that I wasn't fragile. I wanted him to know that I didn't back down, I roared and breathed fire. All my life had been so mundane—I always wanted something that was out of the ordinary and I was never going back.

I drew the packet out of my pocket and slipped it in the hands of the guy discreetly, and the girl handed me the roll of cash furtively, quickly. I grinned. The thrill of doing something forbidden enticed me even further. It was rewarding and satisfying. I pivoted to head back and Ranveer joined me.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here," I mumbled as we began to walk back to our cars.

"Where else did you hope me to be?" he asked instead and we halted in our tracks as we saw a group of cops near his vehicle across the street. "Shit." Ranveer hissed under his breath. "Fuck!"

My breath shook and my mouth went dry. It wasn't an adventure anymore. I saw them search his car and Ranveer seethed with tension, sweat breaking out on his face and neck.

"Vaanya, you must go," he muttered under his breath. A pulse pounded in my ears and I glanced at the cops flashing torch lights in his vehicle. "Vaanya, don't be stupid, please leave. Get out of here."

My eyes burned, every inch of my skin crawling with so much fear. "Where's the stash?" I asked, trying to sound less nervous than I was. "You have it in there, don't you?"

"You have to get the fuck out of here." Ranveer's growl was impatient and sharp under his breath. "I'll deal with this."

"What if they catch on to you?" I was seriously afraid of taking any chances. "Why don't you run instead?"

"Don't be moronic," he bit out and I winced at the bitterness of his gruff tone. "You have done enough for one night. That woman card won't save your ass all the damned time. Get the fuck out of here."

My phone was in my car and my keys were in my sweatshirt. My only hope was hiding away from them until they got by. Without wasting another minute, I bolted to the other side of the street, my blood ringing in my ears as a slow whimper escaped my lungs and I backed against a wall.

I spun around and leaned against the wall to look at the cops, now heading towards Ranveer in a deadbolt. I gasped as they caught on to him. The voices were faint murmurs from where I was standing. Fear smothered me as I began to hear their raging conversation.

"Where is the girl?" One cop asked. "You had a girl with you. Where is she?"

Ranveer mustered a chuckle as he backed away from them. "I don't know what you're talking about. I have been here all by myself."

"We saw her deliver something to that couple."

"What couple?" Ranveer asked and I pressed my hand against my mouth to stifle my gasp. "Oh, you mean those idiots? I have no idea what happened to them." He was doing a brilliant job so far. I was convinced it was a close call but not close enough. "And what girl?"

"The girl with the gray sweatshirt?" the cop said and Ranveer shook his head, rubbing the back of his nape. "About five feet and six inches tall, short hair, thin?"

Ranveer stared at him flatly. "Doesn't ring any bells," he told them and shrugged. "Are you sure you saw her here?" He swept his gaze across the streets and briefly caught my gaze for a flickering second until he tore his gaze away and looked back at the cops in front of him.

"Search him," the cop ordered and my chest caved, liquid heat pouring under my skin like a sickening dread.

Ranveer stumbled back in disbelief. "Why do you need so—you don't have to—" He dodged the cop and pushed away from them. "What did I do?"

My skin crawled as I darted my eyes around, mentally debating over showing up as a distraction but before I could think of anything, they caught on to the contraband from Ranveer's jacket regardless of his protests. Everything happened so fleetingly, I failed to catch my thoughts. Within no time, he was ducked into the van and they drove off to the local police station.

After the van disappeared into the darkness of the night city, I walked to my car and my burner phone buzzed in the pocket of my sweatshirt. Drawing it out along with my set of keys, I checked the text message from the ring leader that read: Let's see how you get out of this. I don't have to worry about getting busted anymore.

I felt the ground shatter beneath me. They called the cops over me when they knew Ranveer would protect me at every cost. He wouldn't have gotten into this situation if it weren't for me. I did that to him.

It took months to procure a bail order regardless of the crime committed by a juvenile. Ranveer wasn't released any sooner because the court anticipated that he will get back to his ways of drug pedaling since the contraband was indeed seized from him. His father had to pull strings to get his son to walk out of the juvenile center after a few years but the bail was granted under the condition that Ranveer was not to be seen involved with drugs again.

Ranveer threw himself under the bus to save me that night while my need for the thrill only brought on devastating consequences on him. I was the reason why Ranveer Goyal was damned—why he had grown into a stone.  

~~~~

Hello Darlings! 

Phew! So here goes what really went down with Ranveer and Vaaya. What do you guys think? Let me know all about it in the comment section? I'm so nervous and excited for this one.

Thank you so much for reading, please don't forget to vote, comment and share! <3 

Happy New Year. :)