Joseph Park came over at lunchtime with bags of groceries. He went over everything in his bags with Liza and Chicho and shared his butter chicken recipe as he made it. The entire time he cooked, he also chatted and flirted with every woman in the house, making Chicho blush and threaten him with her flip-flop. Liza watched the door, thinking that Dorsey would stop by, text, or call.

Park caught her eye and casually mentioned that Dorsey had meetings all day until the evening and would probably catch up with them separately. That was the last time Liza looked at the door. She settled into Park’s friendliness.

When Chicho left to take a conference call, Park sidled up next to Liza. “So explain something to me.” Park put fresh coriander and garam masala back into his bags.

“Sure.”

“Last night, my friend was pacing and smoking like a maniac in his loft with your tiny little shirt on. He’ll need surgery to get that shirt off!” Liza laughed.

“Seems like things got wild on your ride home, so I feel like I don’t even need to tell you that Dorsey is really one of the nicest guys that I know,” Park said.

“Wow, I’m getting the ‘don’t eff with my friend’ speech,” Liza said. Should she ask Park about Jennifer? About whether he had given her the same speech? Did men like this even see her in the same way as they saw a person like Jennifer?

“Well, yes, he’s serious about everything. And if you’re not . . .” Park let himself trail off. “I’m just telling you he’s a fantastic guy. He just recently stopped a friend from making the worst mistake of his life.”

“Oh really?” Gossip? Liza was all in. She didn’t care if she knew the parties or not.

“Yes, really. His friend was dating a complete ice queen. He says that the girl’s family was really embarrassing. And the girl was this beauty queen, but she didn’t really seem that into him except for his money. But this guy was head over heels for this girl, like about to go down on one knee. No prenup, no discussion, just like that.” If Park noticed Liza’s face fall, he said nothing. “My boy Dorsey was like, ‘Oh hell no.’ ”

“Was he?” Liza’s grip tightened on the plate. She knew it was Janae like she knew her own last name. Dorsey had plotted to separate her sister and David while dating Jennifer. It was exactly what men like him thought of women like Liza and Janae—fuck, don’t marry.