Page 8 of Born in Sin (Phoenix #3)

“You’re annoying.”

“I’m annoying?” Celina slapped her hand on her chest dramatically. “You are the pest in this friendship.”

“Friendship.” Virat snorted. “We’re not friends. You’re like a tick I can’t get rid of.”

“If I’m the tick, then you’re the dog I’m stuck to,” she retorted, her grin blinding in the dark, cold, winter’s night.

“So original, Fernandez!” He rolled his eyes at her, but his lips twitched.

They were walking around the school grounds, keeping to the wall that went around the perimeter.

In the distance, where the football field was located, they heard an aggrieved shout go up.

In silent accord, they turned away from the noise and towards a quieter corner of the ground.

“So, what plans for the winter break?” she asked now, shivering a little as she pulled the flaps of her jacket closer.

Virat thought about the house he’d go back to. Not the one his father lived in with his wife and children, but his father’s manager’s house. A house where he was tolerated as the boss’s son. It was still better than the house, his father’s house, he was despised in.

“Nothing much,” he said now when he realised Celina was still waiting for a response.

“No vacation? No Christmas plans?” Celina was chattering away, her exuberance spilling out of her.

“No.”

“My dad is going to come back from Dubai for Christmas,” she said now, a big smile on her face. She clasped her hands in front of her face. “We’ll be together again as a family. I love it when Dad’s home.”

Virat didn’t think her mom loved it when her dad was home. If Mrs. Fernandez did, she wouldn’t be doing what she did on campus. But he couldn’t say that to Celina. He couldn’t be the reason she stopped glowing like a lit bulb.

For now, all he made was a noncommittal noise.

“Would you like to come to my house for Christmas?” she asked artlessly. “My mother makes the best Christmas cake.”

Maria Fernandez would choke on her Christmas cake if Virat Jha showed up at her house for Christmas.

“Thank you but I won’t be able to. I’ll have to spend time with my family,” he lied smoothly.

“Two and a half years we’ve been friends now, and you still lie to me?” she asked, coming to an abrupt halt, her delicate profile turned away from him, the dimming light of dusk gilding her perfect features.

“Let it go, Celi,” he said roughly, not meeting her gaze.

She stayed quiet for a moment, before turning to face him, her hand going to cup his cheek and turn his face to hers.

“Promise me one thing.”

He stared into her eyes, his heart in his own. “Anything.”

“Don’t get hurt when I’m not there to bandage the hurts for you.”

Virat’s gaze dipped away from the bright warmth of hers. Her hand dropped away from his face.

“I’ll do my best.” His heart felt too full, this friendship, a beacon of hope in his life. Hope, warmth, joy, and … maybe love?

“I’ll miss you,” she whispered.

“I’ll miss you more.”