Sugar, Spice, and Can't Play Nice by Annika Sharma

Author:Annika Sharma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks

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AYAAN

Ayaan hated to admit it, but he’d been nervous in the hours leading up to dinner. High off the victory of landing Payal an investor and amped at the feeling of success—if Arun was ever right about anything, it was that success was addictive—he’d acted impulsively by inviting her to dinner with Dharm and Kai…exactly as he had when he’d texted Neha to begin with. He expected that there would be some awkwardness with the new group dynamics—but he hadn’t expected that Neha would show up and that the awkwardness would be his own, while Payal shined under pressure, winning over his friends in the process.

Dharm was watching her with admiration in his eyes, and Kai had raised his eyebrows more than once as Payal offered kindness for each of Neha’s attempts to embarrass him for their past.

The waitress reappeared with their drinks.

It was impossible to believe it had only been a few minutes since they’d placed their orders. Ayaan was certain it had been years.

“Thanks for handling that,” Ayaan murmured to Payal as his friends claimed their drinks and took their first sips, commenting on the taste to each other and drowning out his voice. “That could have gone a lot worse if you hadn’t been so relaxed about it.”

“Ten days?” she whispered back, and he could see the questions percolating on her face.

“Can we talk about it later?” Ayaan asked, meeting her eye. “I can answer your questions as soon as we’re alone.”

Kai had taken a swig of his drink, unaware of the conversation happening in front of him. “You were a champ, Payal,” he said. “That couldn’t have been easy, and you were really dignified.”

“Grace under fire,” Dharm said.

“Thank you,” she said. “I know she’s probably hurt from whatever history she has with Ayaan. There’s no reason to be mean. It wasn’t personal.”

“It must have been awkward talking about the line’s success, especially since so many of Ayaan’s fashion contacts came from meeting them at Neha’s shows, but you were really nice about it,” Kai said.

“Sorry…what?” Payal asked, shocked.

Ayaan cringed. “Some of the people I contacted about your line and who were sharing your social media posts were people who I met at Neha’s shows… She’s a model.”

Payal closed her eyes and breathed in, like she was trying to control herself. “So our paths will likely cross at some point in the future.”

“It’s possible.”

Ayaan snuck a look at Dharm, whose unamused face consisted of a straight mouth and eyeballs that were about to roll out of his head.

Their food came then, and there was a flutter of utensils being unwrapped from napkins, the clink of dishes, and first bites (and accompanying groans of delight). Ayaan glanced over at Payal, who was pushing her macaroni and cheese around on her plate, only taking a few bites before setting her fork on top.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Not too hungry,” she said with a smile.

When Dharm asked her how long she’d lived on the Upper East Side and what

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