Page 23 of What I Like About You

The ache in Dalton’s chest grew with Cullen’s words. Saying those words about the only girl he’d ever really cared about was easily the worst thing he’d ever done. He turned away from Kyle and Cullen, frustrated and embarrassed by his behavior back then.

“And you haven't spoken to her since that night?” Kyle asked.

Dalton spun back around and swayed back and forth in time with the boat, shifting his weight from left to right. He looked his best friend in the eye and let out a long breath.

“That’s not entirely true.”

“You got the chance to apologize?”

“Oh no. She ignored all my calls and texts and wouldn’t answer the door when I went to her house. But, she did tell me to go fuck myself on the night of graduation. Those were the last words between us.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to university together?” Cullen asked.

“After I so loquaciously admitted my fictional attempt to deflower her, she changed her mind and instead of attending UGA with me, she went to Auburn. Fucking Auburn.”

“Ouch. Could have been worse. At least she didn’t go to Tennessee,” Kyle offered.

“Or Florida,” Dalton retorted, smiling slyly. Kyle flipped him the bird, and they both laughed. The two of them loved to bicker about their rival alma maters, and the moment of levity felt good.

“Do you still have feelings for her?” Cullen asked.

Dalton paused, the question catching him off guard. He absolutely still had feelings for her; he never stopped “having feelings.” But just what those feelings were, he was unsure. And he certainly wasn’t sure about admitting to them.

“It’s a fair question, mate,” Cullen continued, sensing the hesitation in Dalton. “And if there is anyone who understands the damage that ignoring your feelings for a woman can do, it’s us two.”

“Pretty sure what I did was unforgiveable.”

“You seem to forget I tried to pay Lee off like a whore.”

“You left out accusing her of harboring a secret love child and then taking off with another woman,” Kyle added in.

“Because you telling Drea to ‘have a nice life’ was your best moment?” Cullen quipped back.

“Touché.”

Dalton looked between his two friends, thinking about what they just said. Both of them had been pretty big assholes to their women at one point. Dalton would know better than anyone. He’d been the one ready with the "heartbreak special” bottles of booze for both Drea and Leona, trying to help cure a broken heart—all while he secretly nursed one himself. The difference was that Drea and Leona had loved these two and had wanted a future with them. Even if Zara had wanted that at some point, it’d been nearly a decade, and Dalton knew from experience that time did not really heal all wounds.

“Even if she could forgive me, and I think that’s a pretty big fucking if right about now, I wouldn’t even know how to start.”

“Well, I was once in a similar situation,” Kyle said, an impish grin on his face. “I lost my shit and accused the woman I love of hooking up with my best friend behind my back.”

“Seriously? Drea and this guy?” Cullen said, laughing, hooking his thumb in Dalton's direction.

“At the time it made sense in my head,” Kyle defended. “Regardless, a wise man told me in that moment that there was only one thing left to do to try and win her over again.”

“Yeah?” Dalton asked, remembering that moment in the alley behind the kitchen. “What’s that?”

“Grovel.”