Page 12 of Game on, Love
It wasn’t that the noise coming from outside was unusual—given that I lived with Vedant and Rihaan, the occasional bickering was something I had grown used to—but after last night, a celebration that can only be described as a disaster, I expected them to avoid each other.
My eyes scanned my surroundings, the cold blue of a cloudy London morning covered my room, the navy blue walls making it even blue, my training gear was tossed across the sofa next to window, my old cricket memorabilia gathering dust on shelves, a few books scattered here and there, and a championship-winning bat leaning in the corner.
A chill seeped into my skin, but the noise downstairs? They were anything but chill.
I frowned, still half-asleep, as I threw a hoodie over my head and padded down the stairs. As I was walking down, I recognised the voices. Rihaan and Vedant, their tones were unmistakable, but today, there was a third voice, softer but equally edged with frustration.
Reaching the ground floor, I followed the noise into the open dining space that connected to our kitchen, where they were standing. Rihaan had his arms crossed, looking bothaggravated and defensive as hell. Vedant, who was once again the peacemaker, still looked exasperated as he looked at Rihaan. But it was the woman standing between them that caught my attention.
Her back was to me, the tension evident in her stance, but when my heart skipped a beat, I immediately knew who it was. Her long dark hair was pulled into a low ponytail today. Her small frame was covered in an oversized jumper that looked like it belonged to a boyfriend and a pair of yoga pants. Despite the tension in the room, there was a calmness that radiated off her.
“Look, I only took you up on your offer because I assumed it was because you lived alone and didn’t require permission,” Her voice was cool but firm as she looked at Vedant. “But had I known that it meant being here withhim, who is clearly uncomfortable, I wouldn’t have accepted. I also don’t have to stay.”
Vedant’s eyes narrowed at Rihaan, clearly expecting him to jump in and correct her, but he stayed quiet again,and I got a sense of deja vu from last night.
Rihaan could be the life of the party when he wanted to be, but right now, as he watched his siblings with a guarded look, he’d decided to play the part of his moody, self-important jerk self that I had only ever seen appear in front of his dad. He didn’t want her here, and he was making it obvious.
Vedant sighed, shaking his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”
The three of them still hadn’t noticed me, and a strange feeling passed through me as I watched her. Her stance was fierce, but I saw an undercurrent of restraint that passed her as if biting her tongue to hold in a remark. It wasn’t anger I sensed in her though, just exhaustion. This wasn’t a surprise, and after last night, it had me thinking that this was a conversation she and Vedant had had too many times before.
I knew they weren’t close with their sister. I had only heard about her in passing, the way you hear about people who exist on the fringes of conversations, andonlyfrom Vedant. Because Rihaan? He never spoke of her. But this tension, this unease that rolled off of him, was something I hadn’t expected. I mean, I had seen him around his dad, and there were times he looked more at ease than he did right now.
I cleared my throat, in the hopes to shake off the feeling but also to make sure they knew they had company.
Three heads turned in my direction at once. Vedant, ever the diplomat, smiled faintly. “Oliver. Morning, mate. Sorry about the noise.”
I tried my best not to look at her, afraid of what I might see. Last night, the hurt in her eyes damn near broke my heart, and today, seeing her in that position again was making me feel things I had never felt, and I didn’t even know her name yet.
She turned to face me fully, her eyes meeting mine for the first time and the same current I felt run through me last night buzzed all over me. She shifted slightly as if welcomed with the same feeling. Her face, though soft with sleep still lingering in her features, held an edge of guardedness and surprise. She wasn’t expecting me.
I blinked, uncomfortable with the sudden attention. “Morning,” I managed, my voice groggy. “Didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You’re not interrupting,” Vedant said quickly. “We were just.. talking.”
I offered a small smile and hoped it would be enough to convince them that I believed it.
Her eyes were still on me, silently watching me, but there was a little shift in her gaze that told me she didn’t agree with his assessment, and she clearly wasn’t convinced of me.
“Raina,” Vedant cleared his throat and gestured to her. “This is Oliver. And Oliver, this is Raina—our sister.”
“Nice to meet you,” Her voice was polite but still felt measured as if trying to figure out why I was here.
“You too,” I gave her a casual nod, but I was there with her.
Raina turned to her brothers for some explanation, but both kept quiet. Moments like these made me glad I was an only child. Sure, when me and Dad used to train for hours, I had spent some days wishing I had a sibling who would join us, but watching them stand around each other in awkwardness, the kind which felt so familiar to them, to an outsider watching in, it felt nothing but discomfort.
My life had its own challenges—balancing cricket and my family’s legacy, the certain expectation of the spotlight and the situation with my dad—to have the constant emotional tug of war that came with a difficult sibling dynamic of lifelong grudges and unresolved history was something I wouldn’t want to navigate.
“So,” I started, trying to inject some calm into the situation. “What’s going on exactly?”
Vedant’s shoulders dropped. “Raina’s flat is completely trashed, a water leak… and well, I offered her to stay with us while everything is being sorted.”
I nodded. “Right, yeah. Makes sense.”
Raina’s head snapped in his direction, clearing reading between the lines. “Wait.. you all live together?”
Vedant froze for a fraction of a second, and Rihaan just sighed. Her tone was laced with genuine confusion and a bit of disbelief, that a small chuckle popped out of me and instantly the tension eased slightly in the room.