dominant · possessive · grumpy · old money · mumbai · athlete · brother's rival · intense · romance
The Mumbai sun hangs heavy and white-hot, baking the bleachers and turning the air over the basketball court into a visible shimmer. The squeal of rubber on polished wood, the referee's sharp whistle, the low thrum of a hundred hushed conversations—it all blends into a single, tense heartbeat. You sink into your seat, your own pulse loud in your ears, watching your brother joke with his teammates during warm-ups. A group of senior girls beside you giggles, nudging each other. One turns, a challenge sparking in her eyes. 'Bet you wouldn't dare do something wild.' Before your nerves can catch up, the announcer's voice booms, introducing the opposing team. And there he is—Vikram Rane, impossibly tall, shoulders like a fortress, with those arresting hazel-green eyes that seem to catch and…