Page 108 of Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar

“We’re not fucking,” Rudra and I say in unison, but we’re both smiling.

“Whatever. The ceremony is over”—wait, already?—“and the buffet’s on, and, well, it’s free food.”

Rudra looks at me. “What do you want to do?”

“I’m actually quite hungry, to be honest,” I say, clutching my stomach—my very empty stomach, I suddenly register. No wonder I’ve been feeling so faint. “We haven’t had lunch or breakfast.”

“All right, then,” Rudra says. “We’ll be there.”

“Cool. Nik and I are waiting by the buffet tables.”

The line clicks, and Rudra and I sit still for a moment, soaking up everything that’s happened the past week. I would love to make out more with him, but I don’t want to pass out halfway with hunger.

Rudra probably senses it too, because he doesn’t initiate kissing me again. Instead, he gives me one last peck on the nose in a manner thatmakes me want to squeal like a little girl. He’s looking at me with so much adoration and...lovein his eyes I can’t believe I was stupid enough to have missed it these past few days.

No,all this time.

When we’re inside the resort again, holding hands, I catch sight of Priti and Nikita by the buffet tables, as she said they’d be. They’re far away, but even from here, I can see Priti’s face, radiant with the sort of happiness and energy that can’t be manufactured or feigned. I hope I get to see her this happy for a very long time, and given that both she and Rudra are going to be joining me in the States soon, I think I will.

That’s when it suddenly hits me that I’m no longer going to be the sole bearer of Srishti’s One and Only American Cousin title. Not with Priti there.

But I’m not too disappointed, because after everything, I’ve earned some pretty good and brand-new alternatives. For starters—I’m the Cool American Cousin, the one with exciting, wild stories to remember and ones yet to be told. Or theBestAmerican Cousin, who helped Priti reunite with the love of her life.

And frankly? I can’t think of a better ending to this summer.