Page 88 of Pride and Protest
That he could overcome the obstacles: her family and her inflexible economic views
He would manage it for her because everythingelseabout them wassoright. So right. God she tasted so sweet. Tonight was a slick, wet, hot fever dream. The smell of her—like the forest after it rained—lingered over him. Tomorrow his only goal would be feeling her clench and come all over his dick.
Would people be surprised that a man like him would date so far outside his social circle? Sure. But the people that thought they were in his social circle never were.
What would hereallybe giving up? Invites to country clubs? Golf tournaments? Charity balls? Could Liza suffer such terrible company when he, who was expected to join in at these events, could barely be bothered? Dorsey was feeling more and more confident about his plan. Go straight for logic. Go straight for the benefits. Smooth over the doubts.
He imagined Liza would probably need some convincing. He knew she didn’t enjoy living with her mother, so maybe he could talk about a new apartment—anything that would make her get over any misgivings.
She probably never dreamed she would be the center of a Cinderella story. She would also probably prefer to keep their relationship quiet until this whole Netherfield deal was done. Whatever Isaiah had said to convince Liza that their fight was winnable was the worst kind of lie. But theworstkind of lies were Isaiah’s specialty. What made women fall for such bullshit artists? Netherfield was a fait accompli. Lizahadeffectively slowed it down to a crawl, but she could never really stop it. Maybe he could build a community center next door? She might take this defeat hard, mostly because Isaiah had deluded her into thinking she could win. But he thought of a million ways to ease her out of her anger. When the car came to its gentle stop, he was still semi-erect with Liza’s too-tight shirt stretched across his broad chest. When the driver opened the door and frowned, Dorsey beamed back and shrugged. He had learned from Liza that the driver’s name was Raymond.
“Have a good night, Raymond.”
Chicho was pissed, and Liza could see it.
“Girl, I am so sorry.”
“Liza, it’s four in the morning.” Chicho leaned against the sofa.
“I know.” Liza fidgeted with her shirt.
“And you smell like liquor and cologne.”
Liza grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen. Her knees were shaking. She was still seeing stars. If she came like that with an appetizer the entree would kill her.
“Whose shirt is that? Park’s?”
“Chicho, I’m so sorry. I know tomorrow is really important for you.” Liza leaned against the wall.
“I know,” Chicho mumbled. “I’m not mad. Well, I am, but not for a reason you think. I wanted to hang out with Joseph Park too. The food at the senator’s was so terrible. I just knew Park was gonna prepare some fancy food for you.” Chicho raised a curious eyebrow. “You smell like you had fun.”
“No, no, that’s fish sauce.” Liza was mortified.
“Of course it’s fish sauce. What kind of fun did you think I was talking about?” Chicho and Liza shared their first genuine laugh in three months. “What did Joseph make?”
“We madearroz caldo, a Filipino dish. It was amazing and gone in five minutes.”
“What did y’all do for the other ten hours?”
“Um, just some research for my DJ spot.”
Chicho looked doubtful at this, then her expression cleared. “Liza, if you lie to me, I will never forgive you. Did you fuck Joseph Park? How did you ditch Dorsey?” Chicho leaned in, positively begging to be scandalized. “I know your face. You look peaceful AF right now. That happens when you’re listening to theLemonadealbum, and when you get a piece.”
“Chicho...” Liza begged.
“You got a piece! Joseph was paying a ton of attention to you tonight,” Chicho accused.
“Let’s stop talking about this and focus on your podcast. I’m gonna get a few hours of sleep, then we can plan.”
Chicho threw her hands up. “You smell like expensive cologne, you’re not wearing a bra, you’re in a man’s shirt,andyour panties are crammed in your back pocket, but we’ll stop talking about this,” Chicho said. Her voice had a sharp bite to it.
Liza padded off to her room. She didn’t know where to put her emotions. Liza wanted to stay in that car and sit on Dorsey’s hard-on until it went away; she wanted to punish herself for how much she wanted that man; she wanted to get back to right with Chicho. This was a moment she knew she wouldn’t get back with her friend. But there was just too much to explain.
A few hours later, Liza awoke to a phone call from Janae. She picked up on the first ring.
“Janae—”
