Page 6 of What I Like About You

Chapter Three

The words felteasy and natural as they left her mouth, but there was nothing easy and natural about the way her body was reacting to seeing him again. For years, she’d run through all sorts of scenarios in her head about how she would feel, how she would react to, seeing Dalton Royce Sutherland III in person again. While she hated to admit it, she always knew on some level that her body would betray her as soon as he was within a few feet of her, and she’d been right. The years had been very kind to him, and if it was somehow possible, he was even better looking now than he had been growing up.

It was hard to believe that it’d been nearly a decade since they’d spoken. Since the last harsh words were exchanged between them. Even though he’d had them coming, she still regretted saying them. That wasn’t who she was, then or now. But she’d been so hurt, felt so betrayed by the one person she had thought was different from everyone else they’d grown up around. The one person she thought actually liked her for who she was. Hell, the one person who had liked her at all.

Senior prom was supposed to be a magical night—one that she would look back on for the rest of her life and smile. Leading up to it, it had all the makings of a fairy tale, and then it had all come crashing down around her thanks to a few words from Dalton.

Telling him off had been the start of something though. It was the first time she’d ever found the strength inside to stand up for herself. The irony that the reminder that she had it in her came from a bracelet he had given her wasn’t lost on her in that moment. But she’d chosen to simply view it as a warning he did not heed. He put the motto on the bracelet—he knew what she was capable of. That was why she still wore the bracelet. It was a reminder of her finding that strength for the first time.

But standing here now, she was somehow at a loss for that magic strength she had summoned that evening and held on to for all these years. She could feel his blue eyes drinking her in, and she wasn’t sure if she should feel flattered or self-conscious. She hated that she could feel herself start to flush from the attention and that her body hummed with the excitement of being this close. The last thing she needed was to be attracted to Dalton Sutherland.

“How are you, Zara?” he asked, his southern accent peeking out. Hearing his voice hug her name like that made her melt a little. She needed to firm her resolve before she said something she regretted.

“I’m well. Yourself?” she asked, trying to keep it as formal as she could.

“Likewise,” he said, mirroring her formality. “What brings you to the Indigo Royal?”

“I…we…were invited for the opening of Cherish Spa,” she sputtered. “We run the blog Relaxation InSPAration.”

“Ah, that’s the online thing Leona was talking about,” Cullen said to Dalton, like he was putting puzzle pieces together. Zara briefly wondered who this Leona was to Dalton, but forced herself to stop just as quickly. It didn’t matter who she was, because he no longer mattered to her. She just had to remember that.

“We?” Dalton asked.

“Yes, this is my boyfriend, Antwan,” she answered. Turning to see that Anwan was still ogling the athlete, she nudged him slightly, giving him a glare that she hoped only he saw.

“Yes!” Antwan said, flamboyantly gesturing between the two of them with his hand. “Madly in love we are. Nothing compares.”

Zara shot Antwan another look. Couldn’t he at least try to make it convincing?

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Dalton.”

“Well, hellllooooo,” Antwan said, shaking the tall blond’s hand. “Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Scott Eastwood? I mean, day-um!”

Zara cleared her throat. No one was ever going to believe they were together if Antwan kept saying things like that.

“Darlin’ don’t be rude,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’m sure Tripp doesn’t care who you think his celebrity doppelgänger is.”

Sensing how tense she was feeling, Antwan stepped in closer to her right hip and threw his arm around her shoulders, letting his hand dangle right at her left breast. She could not have felt more awkward and out of place if she tried.

“I hear that about once a week, actually,” he responded, his sweet, panty-melting smile creeping up his cheeks. Zara could feel herself being sucked in, but turned her head to look away before she said anything else embarrassing.

“See, honey bunches of oats, he understands me,” Antwan said, batting his eyelashes at her. As he did, a sly smile crossed his face, and Zara knew he was up to something. Antwan only smiled like that when he had some evil-genius-type plan and couldn’t be stopped. Sure enough, before she could open her mouth to respond, she felt the hand that had just been hovering a moment before suddenly latch on.

Peering down to her left, she found Antwan’s hand clasped to her breast, holding it, as if her breast had gotten tired and needed some extra support. What the actual fuck is he doing? She glanced up quickly to see Dalton and Cullen Cruz suddenly look very uncomfortable at the sight before them. This is not happening, this is not happening…

“Babe, would you mind going and grabbing us drinks?” Zara asked, giving Antwan the most saccharine smile she could manage. She needed to get a handle on this situation, and the only way she could do that was without him trying to oversell this.

“You have a drink in your hand,” Antwan pointed out.

“Yes, but most of the ice has melted. I…I could use something fresh,” she responded, letting her own southern accent shine through.

“Sure, lover muffin,” Antwan purred. He shot a look over to the two men who were still standing awkwardly across from them. “But let me just get a selfie first!”

Releasing her breast as quickly as a child playing a game of hot potato, Antwan removed his arm from around Zara and leaped over toward Cullen. He whipped his phone out of seemingly nowhere and had it up and flipped to take the photo in no time flat. Cullen seemed caught off guard for a moment, but quickly recovered like the pro that he was, plastering his GQ-ready smile across his face. Zara had always thought Cullen was a good-looking guy. It was what had gotten her through watching all those games with Dalton growing up. But standing before him now, she had to admit that he might just be better looking in person. Yet he somehow didn’t quite excite her body the same way the man to his right did, despite all her mental protest. Zara heard the shutter sound of the phone’s camera click at least a half dozen times before Antwan finally separated himself from Cullen.

"Be back in a jiffy!” he said, before sauntering off toward the bar.

“Lover muffin?” Dalton asked, one eyebrow raised skeptically.