Page 18 of The Five Stages of Courting Dalisay Ramos

“That’s ten,” Evan says, and JM heaves the bar back into place, and they switch. Evan plops down on the bench. “Dalisay probably already thinks I’m an ass, though. Good thing I’m not actually trying to date her. That ship has sailed.”

“You seem to really care a lot about her opinion of you.” JM pauses for a moment, then asks, “You sure this is about a bet?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind. Don’t overthink it.” He slaps the bar. “Quit slacking. Ten reps, go.”

Dalisay is the first thing Evan sees when he walks into the kitchen at Overnight. She’s got her back turned to him, but she looks over her shoulder when she hears him come in. A flush threatens to creep its way up his neck, but he tamps it back down as he walks toward her.

She’s making herself a cup of mango green tea and offers Evan a tea bag, which he accepts gladly. She doesn’t seem mad about what happened at the birthday party at least.

“So, did I pass the first stage?” he asks as he pours some still-hot kettle water into his mug.

Dalisay brings her own mug to her lips without taking a sip and instead gently blows on her tea. “Technically yes, the teasing of friends did occur.”

Evan smiles. “And you thought I’d back down.”

“That remains to be seen. You’ve barely even started.”

“Whatever you’ve got, bring it.”

Dalisay’s eyes sparkle and her lips part into a wider smile. She sets the mug down and levels her shoulders. “Stage Two is the Presentation of Gifts.”

Evan lets out a laugh. “For real?”

“Flowers, notes, little things. Think Valentine’s Day but all week, starting next Monday.”

“What, you think I’m made of money?”

“I’m giving you five chances to impress me.” She tips her head back to look down her nose at him. “Or are you giving up?”

Evan drags his teeth over his bottom lip and grins. “Joke’s on you. I’m anunbelievablegift giver,” he says.

“We’ll see.”

Evan shakes his head and laughs. This was starting to sound like bribery. “Okay, Ramos. You better be prepared to have your socks knocked off.”

“Socks better not be one of the gifts.”

“They aren’t now.”

“Impress me,” she says again. Her nose wrinkles when she smiles wider and Evan’s heart thumps. She moves to leave but pauses. “Oh, and I looked over your article for the holiday rollout. I sent you some notes on it. You might want to review before you send it to print.”

“You edited my article?”

“I saw it in the shared submission folder and noticed there were some errors, so I made the appropriate changes, and gave you some suggestions on your next pass. You can thank me later.”

A pang of annoyance shoots through him. “I didn’t ask you to do that.”

“Is it a problem?”

Heat rises on Evan’s cheeks as he lies. “No.”

Dalisay turns and dips her chin into her shoulder as she shrugs. It would be adorable if Evan wasn’t so flustered.

Before work the following Monday morning, Evan makes a quick stop at a boutique near the office called Gifts & Such. He chooses a huge, white teddy bear, a bundle of shiny red balloons, and a fancy, embossed card. Sure, it’s cliché, but isn’tthat kind of the point? To be ostentatious? Or is ittoocliché? It takes him a second to remind himself that the gift itself doesn’t really matter. This is simply about getting through Stage Two. And one stage closer to the tour. He’s not going to let Dalisay win that easily.

The fact that Dalisay critiqued his work is still a sore spot whenever he remembers it. Sure, he types fast and autocorrect is his worst enemy, but he doesn’t need her to be his editor. They don’t work in the same department, why should she care? But if it had been anyone else, would he have gotten that flustered about it? There were some embarrassing mistakes in there. He might have even been grateful. Maybe it’s because of the bet that he feels like he’s in constant competition with her. He needs to really wow her with Stage Two if he wants to win. He grabs another balloon.

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