“I’ve never been kissed like that.” Zara’s fingers went to her lips. Even now she could feel the softness of his mouth, the slow, gentle sweep of his tongue. She could hear the rasp of his breath, see the fire in his eyes, and feel his hot, hard body beneath her.
“If you want more of those kisses, you’d better do something before Indra runs away with your man or Rucha’s cousin Binita gets her claws into him. Rucha put her beside Jay at your table. She thought they would hit it off.”
“He’s not my man.” Zara sipped her drink. “He had a head injury when he kissed me. He wasn’t thinking straight. He probably regrets it and that’s why I haven’t heard from him all week. I sent him some dating profiles and he didn’t respond. He wasn’t even at the sangeet last night. And who doesn’t think a zombie party is fun? We have nothing in common.”
“Maybe you scared him away. I’ve seen some of those dating profiles. If I was a guy, I’d run away as fast as I could.”
“You’re not helping, Parv.” She swallowed the last of her mojito, warm and sickly sweet. “If he and Indra are together, then I’m happy for them. Really. I am.”
“That’s great.” Parvati said absently, staring at Vivek Kapoor, the wedding’s celebrity guest and a minor Bollywood star. A distant cousin of the bride, he had moved to the Bay Area with big dreams of switching from Bollywood to Hollywood. So far he’d played the funny desi sidekick in several action and rom-com films, but had been unable to land a leading role.
Zara’s eyes narrowed as Vivek posed for yet another selfie with a fan. “Seriously? He’s all flash, no substance.”
“All that flash is going to be at the singles table with you,” Parvati said. “Look how he moves his hips. It’s like they’re not even part of his body.” She groaned in frustration. “Of all the times to be stuck in the bridal party. I’ll be at the front of the room and he’ll be at the back.”
“I think that’s a good thing. He’s not worthy of you.”
“I don’t want worthy. I want hot. I want a man who knows how to move his body beneath the sheets.” She finished her drink in one gulp. “I need you to be my wingwoman tonight. If ever you needed to use your matchmaking chops for a good cause, tonight is the night.”
Zara shook her head even though they both knew she couldn’t deny her best friend. “I need to take a matchmaking break. I feel burned out.”
“I neeeeed Vivek.” Parvati grabbed her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “Be a good bestie and sit beside him at the table so no one else steals him from me. Tell him you have a fabulous friend who is desperate to meet him.”
Zara surveyed the room, charting a path between her present location and the table. Rishta aunties were lurking everywhere, trying to appear innocent while they searched for their prey.
“I’ll do my best.” Taking a deep breath, she focused on her goal, walking as fast as she could to build up momentum so she couldn’t be stopped.
“I have someone for you to meet. Very robust. Forties are the new twenties . . .”
“。 . . doctor says the rash isn’t contagious.”
“Look who is here. So nice. Ten cats . . .”
“。 . . just out of prison but it was a false charge . . .”
“He sings soprano in the choir . . .”
“。 . . all men have flatulence. It’s no big deal.”
Zara made it to the table unscathed and quickly checked the name cards. She put herself between Vivek and some dude named Clive, leaving Jay and Rohit on the other side of the table. She had only just finished rearranging the seating when people started to arrive, introducing themselves as they sat down.
The dude beside Rohit was the groom’s college buddy who was clearly hungover from the night before and didn’t seem inclined to talk. Beads of sweat clung to his clammy forehead, and his hand shook when he reached for the bread rolls. Beside him, Binita, a pretty woman with a sleek black bob, was busy taking selfies from every angle while Kamal tried to photobomb her every shot. The bride’s work friend, Clive, a Jason Momoa miniature with an extra helping of beard, gave Zara an exaggerated wink when he took the seat beside her, clearly thinking he was getting lucky tonight. Desperate to escape her fate, a woman in a white dress kept leaving her seat every two seconds to talk to people at a couples table nearby.
Vivek arrived and spent a few moments basking in adulation. It wasn’t going to be easy to sell Parvati when she wasn’t around, especially when the woman in white spotted him and raced back to the table at double speed.