“No, it’s fine.” Liza pressed her lips firmly together and tried not to make any sudden moves. She knew Chicho would read her like a book. She would sniff out Liza’s wobbling facade of dislike before Liza even had a chance to truly understand it. Whatever this companionable texting thing that had sprung up between her and Dorsey was, Liza knew what it wasn’t. It wasn’t sex, and it wasn’t cheap. The depth of vulnerability they had shared with each other over text was just the tenderest thing in her fucking life right now. And she wasn’t ready to spoil that feeling just yet with flashlights and cross-examinations.

“Y’all, I thought we were going out tonight. But this one is better. We’ve been invited in!” Colin squealed. Chicho and Alfredo cheered.

“Invited in is about six times as personal as being invited out,” Alfredo said sagely before Colin could say it himself. Liza saw a tinge of pride in Colin’s eyes. It was clear he had come to love Fredo, and for that, Liza gave him a break and held up one hand in a limp “raise the roof” pantomime.

“The senator said he’s especially excited to see you again, Liza!”

Dorsey sat in the back of the town car peeling away calluses on his hands. He had a nervous habit when he was a child of biting the rough skin, which had suddenly surfaced again out of nowhere. He planned to close the loop on his strange preoccupation with Liza Bennett and had called in his closest friend for reinforcement. Park was one of the most affable people he’d ever met, with a rare combination of charm and substance that made him irresistible to ladies even when he’d had empty pockets. They had met when Dorsey was on an ill-fated date at a Korean dumpling class in New York, and Park was the instructor making ends meet. The girl didn’t last, but the friendship had.

“You look like you’re about to get hit by a bus, dude.”

“Maybe I am.” Dorsey shifted in the back of the car.

“Oh, I have got to meet this woman. Instagram is not enough. All the lovely ladies I try to set you up with come back and tell me you’re an impossible kkadonam.”

“I don’t know Korean, but I have a feeling that’s some kind of asshole. Why? Because you keep trying to hook me up with your chatty Korean cousins?” Dorsey rolled his eyes.