Page 35 of What I Like About You

Zara inhaled deeply, trying to draw up the courage to ask the one thing she’d wanted to know for the last decade. She knew that if she didn’t ask him, she’d never be able to move forward with any kind of relationship, friendship or otherwise. She just needed to prepare for it to hurt.

“Why did you say those things to Chet and Jonah? I know you said you didn’t mean it, and I…I believe you. But if it wasn’t true, why’d you do it?”

Dalton shifted slightly, putting his plate down next to him. Zara could see him trying to find the words, and it caused a slight feeling of dread to form in her stomach.

“Because I was a shit,” he answered. “I meant it when I said what we had was special and that it was none of their business. But I was seventeen, and for some reason their opinion still mattered. I couldn’t get out of my own way and just admit my feelings. I had this idea in my head that if I told them the truth, that they would have found a way to use it against you, and that was supposed to be your perfect night. I didn’t want anything to ruin it.”

“They probably would have,” she said.

“That’s still no excuse for what I did. In an effort of full disclosure, I’ll tell you, it’s not like I hadn’t imagined sleeping with you. About being your first. I just had no intention of it being that night.”

“For what it’s worth, I would have slept with you that night, had you asked,” she admitted, turning away from him. It was the truth, but saying the words out loud still made her feel more than a little self-conscious, and she didn’t know that she could look him in the eye.

“I wouldn’t have slept with you.”

“What?!” she exclaimed, turning back to him. She could feel the look of confusion cross her face as her heart sped up. Hadn’t he just said that he’d imagined being her first? Or did she hear that wrong?

“You deserved better. You deserved candlelight and roses for your first time, not some sweaty, post-prom cliché,” he told her, his ocean-blue eyes laced with emotion. Between that look and his words, she couldn’t help but melt a little inside. She knew she should be trying to be careful, but she couldn't help herself. This was the guy she’d fallen for all those years ago, and sitting here across from him now, she knew that she was already part way to falling again.

“The sweaty, post-prom cliché would have probably been better than Antwan going ‘ew, ew, ew…this is gross…’ the whole time." A sad laugh escaped her lips as she revealed that little secret.

“Zara, please tell me that’s not how it went down.”

“Sure was. Junior year and too much tequila. He’d never been with a woman, and I was staring down my twenty-first birthday, V-card still intact, so one of us had the bright idea to experience it together. After, we agreed to never talk about it again.”

"Your secret is safe with me,” he said.

“Thanks.”

"Can I ask you something?” he asked.

“Of course,” Zara answered, curious as to what he wanted to know about her.

“You mentioned a TV show. What's that all about? You always talked about writing, never TV.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s something that I just kind of stumbled into, I guess. There is a new online travel channel starting up, and they want me to host a show geared toward younger people. So, how to travel on a budget, which tourist traps are actually worth it, best places to find certain foods, that kind of thing.”

“That’s incredible.”

“Yeah, a woman who follows the blog works for a media conglomerate up in New York, and she approached me about doing it. Antwan and I already shot a couple of videos here as a test run. I’m not really comfortable in front of a camera, so we’ll see how it all plays out.”

“I think you’re going to be fantastic.”

“Thanks,” she said, blushing for what felt like the hundredth time this conversation. “Can I ask you something else?” She knew he was trying to change the subject and not just talk about himself, but there was so much she wanted to know.

“I told you, you can ask me anything.”

“What happened after grad school? I only ever heard whispers, but I don’t understand why you just up and left Atlanta. And how you ended up here.”

“That…is a bit of a long story…”

* * *

Dalton suckedin a deep breath and exhaled slowly, preparing to tell this story in its entirety for the first time. When he'd told Kyle that night over Bushwackers, he’d only given him the Reader’s Digest version, reducing certain aspects to something as simple as “we had a falling-out.” When he’d told the rest of the group, they’d gotten even less. But this was Zara. She knew the players, she knew the backdrop—there was no reason not to let her in on all of it.

“After you betrayed tradition and went to Auburn—” he started.

“Not you too! My parents still haven’t forgiven me,” she cut in.