Page 16 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

“Ha, typical American. First question is always what I do for a living.”

Evan isn’t sure how to respond to that. Itisa stereotypical American thing, one Evan learned while traveling. Most people in other countries don’t ask what a stranger does for work. Americans have a habit of making a job an identity, a habit Evan tries to break. Now he’s being called out on it.

“Since you care so much,” Nicole says, glancing at him sideways, “I’m in med school. Following in my family’s footsteps, as it were.”

“Oh, wow.” So not only is Dalisay supersmart, she also comes from a family of brainiacs. “That’s cool.”

She doesn’t ask him what he does for work in return. Instead, she says, “Are you single, Evan?”

Theputonearly comes back up. “Uh, yeah,” he chokes. “Yeah.”

Nicole laughs. “Don’t worry. I’m not interested, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“No, I wasn’t—”

“Glad we cleared that up.” She slaps him on the back, and it helps dislodge theputo.

“You have nothing to worry about,” she says. “I’m glad she’s giving you another chance.” Nicole’s gaze blazes like a fire, and she leans in, making her voice barely above a whisper. “But I love my sister more than anything in this world. She deserves nothing but the best. And I’ll protect her, no matter what.”

Now she’s speaking Evan’s language, saying exactly what’s on her mind. He smiles, matching her tone. “Thenyouhave nothing to worry about, because she made her intentions quite clear.”

“I know she did.”

“Then you’ll remember I’m here because my friends Pinky and JM”—he gestures to the two of them in conversation with Dalisay—“invited me.”

Nicole looks at him, a sharp smile of her own spreading across her face, and she tips her head. “I like you, Evan.”

Evan grins back, coy, and eats anotherputoas innocent as can be. While he knows this isn’t a game, it is becoming kind of fun. And because his guard is down, he doesn’t hear the clown coming up behind him.

Evan actually showed up. She can’t believe it. And yet here he is, eatingputoand chatting with her siblings.

She had her suspicions after her mom had mentioned the family had been invited to Angel’s party, but she didn’t actually think Evan would follow through with the first step. He’s lucky her mom couldn’t make it today or else she would have been hounding him for hours. Dalisay can’t stop herself fromglancing his way, and every time she does, she scolds herself for checking him out. These Five Stages aren’t real, she has to remember that.

His friends, meanwhile, have taken it upon themselves to see the first stage through to completion. Pinky wasted almost no time introducing herself. Even though this is the first time they’ve met, Dalisay feels like she’s known the short, chatty Filipina American girl for years. Pinky has that kind of extroverted energy that wraps introverts like Dalisay into a spiderweb of friendship so quickly that the introvert doesn’t know it’s happening until it’s too late.

Pinky’s shorter than Dalisay, with a round face and her hair in a high ponytail that bounces when she talks, she’s so animated. “I was telling your sister earlier, too. You should come to my store,” Pinky says. “We have tons of board games, and anyone can play for free. I have a feeling you’re into games.”

“What makes you say that?” Dalisay asks, amused. She likes Pinky already.

“You’re smart, you like strategy, and you have a competitive glint in your eye.”

That makes Dalisay grin. “Am I that obvious?”

“It’s only a theory.”

Pinky’s not wrong. Dalisay is a big fan of games, especially anything that has a booklet of rules and takes hours to learn. She used to play a game called Ticket to Ride with her father when he was in the hospital. She’d sit, pretzeled at his feet, and they’d play well past visiting hours. It didn’t matter if it was cards, or a board game, or chess, she and he were always the ones who enjoyed some friendly competition. They’d sitand talk for hours while playing. Papa was the one she went to first when she needed advice; he was a good listener.

Maybe it was naive of her, but she thought he would get better, and they could play together for years to come, but it was only after he died that she realized she always won against him, because maybe for him it was never losing. The memory pricks deep in Dalisay’s nose and she rubs it to clear the feeling away.

“Ihavebeen looking for something to do after work,” she says. “I need someplace to decompress after dealing with my American coworkers all day.”

Pinky’s lips curl knowingly as Dalisay’s eyes flick toward Evan.

Idly, she knows that Daniel is taking shots at Evan, probing him for information, and she’s surprised how well he seems to be holding his own, though she can tell Evan’s a bit on edge. He’s jumpy and keeps glancing over his shoulder for some reason.

“Speaking of, you two have so much in common,” Pinky says. “Evan and you.”

Of course. The oh-so-natural segue. “Really?”

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