There's Something About Sweetie(57)

She took the entire packet of yellow and dumped it onto Ashish’s head. He stared at her for a moment, totally covered. His hair was yellow, his face was yellow, his clothes were hopelessly stained.

Oh, crap. Crap, crap, crap. He looked really mad. Had Sweetie totally miscalculated?

But then he began to guffaw. And before she knew what was happening, he’d dumped an entire packet of purple on her. “Hey!” She shrieked with laughter and began to tear open another packet. But he got there before her.

He rubbed red powder into her cheeks, yelling, “Have some blush, Sweetie!”

They were both laughing helplessly, both trying to tear open their mound of packets before the other one. Sweetie lunged at him with a handful of blue just as he lunged at her with a handful of green. They met in the middle and were wrestling so hard to get the colors on the other that they fell in a graceless heap to the ground. The people around them scattered, everyone laughing. The air was smoky with color.

Sweetie was under Ashish, and he pinned her with his arms, rubbing green powder into her hair, dabbing it onto her nose. She fought him off, laughing, and colored his neck with a vivid fuchsia. They were both squirming, trying to get away from the other, when slowly they stopped. Ashish had Sweetie’s hands in his, splayed out to the sides. His knees were on either side of her. It suddenly occurred to her that this was all very … sexy.

He leaned down, looking at her lips. He was a riot of color, a total mess, but even so, she didn’t mind when he pressed his lips to hers. She could taste the chalky cornstarch of the powder, but it didn’t dampen the heat of this moment. She moved her hands to lock around his neck, and in that screaming chaos of the Holi Festival, he gathered her to him and kissed her until they were both light-headed, breathless, smiling.

When they pulled apart, he put a hand to his lips. The smile was suddenly gone, winked out like an imploded star in the night. Ashish scrambled off her and walked a few paces away.

Dizzy and struggling to catch up, Sweetie stood and went over to him. “What … what just happened?”

He turned to look at her, and his eyes were pained. “Sweetie, I …”

She could barely hear him. Shaking her head, she motioned to the parking lot, which was empty. He nodded and followed her off the field, both of them dodging the yelling, hollering, boisterous crowd of grinning, multicolored people.

She turned to him once they were alone and waited.

He rubbed his hair, unleashing a flurry of purple and yellow. It drifted down between them as he met her eye. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be unpredictable and bizarre.”

“Okay. So what’s going on?”

“I have this theory,” he said in a rush. “You know how I said I’m basically incapable of connecting with anyone now because of … of Celia?”

Sweetie could see how it hurt him just to say Celia’s name, and her heart clenched, both in sympathy and in envy. “Yeah.”

“So it turns out I’m completely, irrefutably attracted to you.” He swallowed, his big Adam’s apple bobbing. He looked away and rubbed his jaw. “Um … physically attracted is what I mean.”

Sweetie felt the warmth spread through her cheeks. “That’s … I’m attracted to you, too, Ashish.” She wanted to sing, just belt out something happy and upbeat and celebratory. But obviously she didn’t. Ashish Patel, could-be GQ model, found her attractive. If she were Christian, she’d say “hallelujah.” This was good news. This was really, really good news.




This was bad news. This was really, really bad news. Just look at her face, all glowing and happy, her innocent eyes so guileless and shiny. She was going to hate him when he finished.

“But … don’t you see? That’s why it’s no good. Kissing you and holding you is great. …” He sighed, a trembling thing. “God, is it great. But … that’s not fair to you.” He seriously could not believe he was saying all this. Out loud. To a hot girl. But Sweetie wasn’t just a hot girl. She was … Sweetie. Ashish took a breath and put his ego aside. “The truth is, I can’t give you the other side of the relationship. The, ah, emotional stuff, the commitment you deserve.” He stepped forward and took her hands. “You should have that, Sweetie. Not just some guy who’s going to swap spit with you.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Okay, first: ew. I’m taking back those romantic points. And secondly, we’ve already talked about this at Roast Me, remember? Seriously, I think you’re overthinking this a little bit.”

“I am?”

“We’ve literally been out on one and a half dates. Three weeks ago neither of us knew the other at all. I’m no relationship guru, but I imagine physical attraction comes easy, but emotional stuff takes time.” She shrugged. “And I’m willing to give it time. Are you?”

He stared at her. It couldn’t be that easy. Could it? “I … I don’t think it works that way.”

Sweetie shrugged again. “Why not?”

“Sweetie, I really like you. You’re cool. But—”

“Unless you’re planning on running back to Celia in the next couple of weeks, what have you got to lose?”

Ashish looked at her steadily. “I don’t want to hurt you.”