“Kartik! Kartik banega partner.”

She squealed and quickly filled out his name. She submitted the form after paying the registration fees.

“Done! See you at the competition babe!”

Mansi blowed a kiss but the girl snickered.

“Kartik se puchh toh lo wo partner krega bhi ya nhi?”

She sounded so confident that Kartik would deny. Well, he did deny her when she asked so she assumed.

“Kya karega Kartik?”

Kartik asked, butting his head between the two girls. 

“Tum Shreya ke dance partner banoge na? She had to take part in this competition in two months.”

Kartik beamed and turned to Shreya.

“Ofcourse! I'll be Shreya's partner!”

‘In every step of our lives.’

He added in his mind.

“Well, see you at the competition then!”

The girl fumed and left the classroom.

“Ye kya kia tune Mansi! Maine aaj tak normal dance dhang se nhi kia. Salsa toh dur ki baat hai.”

Shreya cried and Mansi sighed.

“Agar mai nhi krti ye toh tu sunti rehti uss evil queen se. Start standing up for yourself. Aur thoda sa comfort zone se bahar jaana chahiye kabhi kabhi.”

“Pr dance!”

She cribbed again and Mansi held her hand.

“Idhar dekh! Tu kuch bhi kr skti hai agar thaan le toh. And don't think of it as a competition. Ye samajh ki bas kuch naya seekh rhi hai. Do it for fun.”

“Mujhse nhi hoga yaar.”

Kartik, who was listening till now, moved Mansi aside and stepped in front of Shreya.

“Hoga! You can do it and you will do it.”

“But I've never done Salsa before.”

“Then do it now. I'm there with you. Mai sikhaunga na. You just have to be a good and obedient student. Which you are. I have trust in you Shreya. Do you have trust in me?”

She held eye contact with him for a few seconds before she nodded. Kartik smiled which soon vanished when Shreya asked.

“Rohit? You don't have any problem with this?”

Rohit frowned at her and asked.

“Why would I have a problem?”

“Umm…I have seen boyfriends get jealous over their girlfriends like this.”

Rohit clenched his fists. How could he forget it? Kartik too clenched his jaw and looked away. Rohit saw Kartik's clenched fists and narrowed his eyes before he decided to test what he was thinking.

“Ofcourse not! I trust you. Besides, Kartik mera best friend hai. He won't do anything wrong with ‘my girlfriend’, right?”

And maybe he was correct because of the way Kartik's expressions changed. What game was his best friend playing?

Mansi got disheartened listening to his comment. She thought they had a moment in the theatre but maybe she was wrong. Maybe it was the dim lighting.

The following two months before the competition were a roller coster ride for both the couples.

As Shreya spent more and more time with Kartik practicing Salsa, she realised how similar he was to the flirty Rohit she had imagined. 

The person who texted her and the one who flirted with her. Kartik behaved just like that while Rohit showed no signs of similarity to his own flirty self.

Moreover, the intimate nature of their dance form, which involved an intimate play of hands and bodies made her even more inclined towards Kartik.

When Shreya and Kartik would practice in the college dance studio, Mansi and Rohit would wait for them.

She had found a unique way of communicating with him. She knew he loved studious talks and she always looked for a topic, did her research so that she could discuss it with him in pretext of just having a conversation with him.

Shreya and Kartik were in the studio, in the middle of a dance routine. The dance neared and end and Kartik had his face in the crook of her neck while his hands were wrapped around her back in a very sensual manner.

She should feel his breaths over her neck and he could see the baby hair on her neck rising due to goosebumps.

Did he affect her too? The way she affected him?

The moment the routine ended, Shreya sprang apart from him with the speed of lightning. They took deep breaths and huge gulps of water.

Shreya felt like she was betraying Mansi and Rohit. She should not be feeling all those things for her bestfriend’s boyfriend and her boyfriend’s bestfriend.

But lately, she found herself getting lost in Kartik more than often.

“Chale?”

He asked breaking her train of thoughts and she nodded while collecting her stuff.

“Umm…Shreya?”

She hummed while looking at him and he had his eyes lowered while holding out his shirt. He always carried an extra because of his basketball practice.

“Kya kru iska?”

She asked as she held it.

“Pehn lo.”

“It's ok. I'm fine. Besides mujhe garmi lag rhi hai.”

She said with an innocent smile and he gave her a warm smile back.

“I know. But still, pehn lo. Ghar jaake utar dena.”

With that he moved out and she frowned. She turned to the mirror and her eyes widened. Her white top had become see through and it stuck to her body due to the sweat.

She clutched his shirt to her chest and ran to the washroom to change. As soon as she wore his shirt, his scent engulfed her and she sighed in content.

Her eyes widened when she realised what she was doing. No! She couldn't do that. She didn't want to be a bad friend.

She'll talk to Mansi as soon as she could.

Mansi, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at Shreya's clothes. She then saw Kartik hide his grin and she herself grinned wide.

She gave him a discreet thumbs up and he punched her shoulder playfully. Rohit, unaware of the reason, fumed seeing their closeness.

“Isn't that Kartik's shirt?”

Rohit asked Shreya as his gaze fell on her form. She was desperately trying to hide her frame behind Kartik's.

She bit her lip and looked at Kartik who sighed knowing she might be thinking she's done some wrong by accepting his shirt.

“Haan. Her top was all wet from sweat and became see through.”

He explained and Shreya nodded frantically. Kartik smiled and his cutie and ruffled her hair.

“Start speaking. Koi offence nhi kr rhi.”

She nodded meakly again and they proceeded towards their homes.