Ishan’s POV

I was exhausted.

Completely.

Morning 5:30 AM practice.

Then office drama.

Then PR circular submissions.

Then rushing home, shower, changing clothes.

And now—

I was standing in front of the party venue.

Beside me stood Abhishek, looking equally tired.

But his eyes were shining.

Because we both knew what this night meant.

Chaos.

Inside the venue, the Gill family, my mom, Bua, and dad were already there.

We were late.

Because apparently humans need showers and clothes before parties.

“Ready?” Abhishek asked.

I cracked my neck.

“Always.”

We entered.

The hall was huge.

Lights.

Music.

Players everywhere.

The moment we stepped inside, familiar faces appeared.

Tilak.

Nitish.

Head.

Surya dada.

Miyan (Siraj).

Jaddu (Jadeja).

Chahal bhai.

Cummins.

And many more.

“ISHAAAAAN!” Siraj shouted dramatically.

I laughed and walked over.

Soon we were surrounded.

Handshakes.

Back slaps.

Jokes flying everywhere.

Surya dada hugged me.

“Office boy aa gaya,” he teased.

“Practice zombie aa gaya,” I replied.

Everyone laughed.

For a few minutes we were just talking.

Laughing.

Cracking jokes.

Then suddenly—

The DJ dropped a banger.

Hardik bhai looked at me.

A very knowing look.

I looked at Abhishek.

He grinned.

Tilak smirked.

Oh.

It was starting.

We all walked to the dance floor.

Dragging Sarpanch ji (Shreyas) with us.

“Arre mujhe chhodo!” he protested.

Too late.

The music blasted.

Desi Boyz.

And that was it.

We started jumping and dancing like maniacs.

Tilak screaming lyrics.

Siraj doing terrible dance moves.

Abhishek laughing like an idiot.

I was jumping with both hands up.

After a few seconds—

Shivay and Manik joined us.

Perfect.

Now the chaos level doubled.

We tried to drag Ro bhai and Vi bhai to the floor.

But both of them refused.

Standing there like disappointed principals watching their students.

Fine.

Their loss.

We went back to the dance floor.

Then suddenly—

The chatpati playlist exploded.

The speakers blasted a Bhojpuri banger.

Pawan Singh.

And the whole floor went mad.

🎶

नैन तोहर कजरारी

दिलवा पे करे बमबारी

लपकेला कमरिया ऐसे

जैसे लपके बा सवारी

🎶

I, Tilu, and Abhi lost our sanity.

Completely.

We started swinging our bodies with the beat.

Jumping.

Spinning.

Laughing like idiots.

Then another song blasted.

🎶

Gulab jaisan khilal badu

Tu bhawra se milal badu

Karat dil ke katal badu

🎶

Now the entire dance floor was shaking.

People cheering.

Whistling.

Phones recording.

But honestly—

At that moment we forgot the world.

Then—

My eyes met Shubman’s.

Standing near the bar.

Watching.

No expression.

Cold face.

Cold eyes.

Cold bastard.

…

Sorry.

Cold husband bastard.

Then I noticed something.

Sara.

Standing beside him.

Leaning slightly toward him.

And he was silent.

Oh.

So we are playing games now.

Good.

Very good.

But unfortunately—

I am the mastermind of chaos.

I suddenly jumped on Abhishek’s waist.

He caught me easily.

Didn’t even protest.

The DJ dropped another song.

🎶

Bhool jaibu labharwa ke apna

Pyar de denge hum tumko etna

🎶

The crowd screamed.

I pointed dramatically at Abhishek.

He acted along immediately.

Hardik bhai burst out laughing.

Then—

He opened his shirt.

The crowd roared.

“AREY!” someone shouted.

Next—

Shivay opened his shirt too.

Now the chaos level was officially illegal.

Then the next song blasted.

🎶

Jeene Ke Hain Chaar Din

🎶

And that was the final trigger.

Everyone started removing their shirts and swinging them above their heads.

Like absolute lunatics.

Siraj screaming.

Tilak spinning his shirt.

Hardik dancing like a Bollywood hero.

Abhishek nearly dropping me because he was laughing too much.

Phones everywhere.

No one could stop us.

Because tonight—

It was our night.

Especially my night.

Then I suddenly noticed something.

Across the hall.

My family.

Mom covering her mouth.

Dad shaking his head.

My Bua looking like she might faint any second.

Oops.

But I don’t give a f—

…leave it.

Then I noticed something else.

My mother-in-law.

She wasn’t embarrassed.

She was laughing.

Actually enjoying it.

I smiled at her.

She smiled back.

And then—

She blew me a flying kiss.

After almost twenty minutes of nonstop madness, the dance floor finally slowed down.

We were all out of energy.

Completely finished.

Tilak bent over, breathing heavily.

“Bas… main… mar gaya…” he gasped.

Siraj collapsed into a chair dramatically.

“Ambulance bulao.”

Abhishek was wiping sweat from his forehead.

Hardik bhai laughed.

“IPL shuru hone se pehle hi stamina khatam.”

I was also breathing heavily.

My shirt half open.

Hair messy.

Sweat running down my neck.

“Main washroom jaa raha hoon,” I said.

No one even responded.

They were too busy recovering from the dance war.

____

The music outside was still loud but slightly muffled here.

I walked to the sink and turned on the tap.

Cold water.

I splashed it on my face.

Once.

Twice.

My heartbeat slowly calmed.

I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

Hair messy.

Eyes slightly red from exhaustion.

“Disaster,” I muttered.

Then—

I felt it.

That presence again.

Behind me.

Slowly I lifted my head.

In the mirror—

Shubman was standing there.

Right behind me.

Leaning against the door.

Arms crossed.

Watching me.

Silent.

His eyes were darker than usual.

Oh.

The jealousy lake was rising again.

Interesting.

I dried my face slowly and turned around.

“What?” I asked casually.

He didn’t answer immediately.

His gaze moved from my face…

To my half-open shirt.

Then back to my eyes.

“You enjoyed the dance,” he said.

I shrugged.

“It’s a party.”

Silence.

Then he added quietly,

“You seemed very comfortable with Abhishek.”

Ah.

There it is.

Jealousy.

Finally.

I leaned back against the sink.

“And you seemed very comfortable with Saba.”

He sighed slightly.

“It’s Sara.”

“Same thing.”

His jaw tightened.

“We were talking.”

“She was leaning.”

“She always does that.”

“So you noticed.”

I smiled slowly.

Of course I noticed.

Every second.

Then I stepped a little closer.

Not too close.

Just enough.

“Jealous, Mr Gill?”

His eyes locked with mine.

“No.”

Lie.

A very bad lie.

I hummed softly.

Then stepped even closer.

Now we were standing very near.

“Good,” I whispered.

“Because you should see yourself when she stands near you.”

His eyes flashed.

“And you should see yourself when you jump on Abhishek.”

Oh.

That bothered him.

Interesting.

I tilted my head slightly.

“You caught me.”

Silence stretched between us.

Heavy.

Electric.

Then I said softly—

“You looked angry.”

“I wasn’t,” he said.

Another lie.

I leaned closer again.

Now our faces were just inches apart.

“If your jealousy is a lake…”

His breathing slowed.

“…mine is a sea.”

I could feel his warmth now.

His hand suddenly moved to the sink beside me.

Trapping me slightly between him and the counter.

His voice dropped lower.

“Then stop provoking me.”

I smiled.

Slowly.

“No.”

The word barely left my lips when—

His hand suddenly grabbed my collar.

And pulled me forward.

Then—

He kissed me.

Hard.

Not soft.

Not careful.

A real kiss.

Passionate.

Intense.

Like weeks of restrained emotions finally breaking.

For a second my brain completely stopped working.

Then instinct took over.

I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer.

The kiss deepened.

His hand moved to my waist.

Mine tangled in his hair.

The world outside disappeared.

Music.

Party.

People.

Everything gone.

Only us.

When we finally broke apart—

Both of us were breathing heavily.

My heart was racing like I just ran another marathon.

His forehead almost touched mine.

For a moment neither of us spoke.

Then I smirked slightly.

“Well…”

I whispered.

“That escalated quickly.”

Shubman stared at me.

Still holding my waist.

And for the first time tonight—

The cold husband bastard looked completely affected.

Good.

Very good.

Because if this was a game—

Then the real war had just started. 😌🔥