Page 102 of Pride and Protest

Put your mouth on me so I can die like I died before.

Bring me back to life in your arms.

“I need you to know that I’m well aware that I approached you poorly in Alexandria, Liza,” Dorsey said. He took a deep breath. He looked like he was bracing himself for a flogging.

Liza nodded. “I was wrong about nearly everything, Dorsey,” she said, meeting his eyes.

“Question number 26. You ready?” His eyes stayed on her.

Liza nodded. He was easing her back into their rhythm. She didn’t know how much she missed it until she heard him say it.

“Complete this sentence: ‘I wish I had someone to share... ’ ”

Why not just tell the truth?She had already lost everything. What else was there? “My bed,” Liza said.

Dorsey stepped closer. The muscle in his jaw pulsed andthose impossibly dark eyes were hypnotic and unmoving. He cleared his throat but said nothing.

“Now you complete it,” Liza said. “ ‘I wish I had someone to share... ’ ”

“My grief,” Dorsey said. “I wish I had someone to share my grief with.” His eyes traveled up to the photo of him and his mother in a forest chopping wood.

“Remember you caught malaria that trip?” Gigi’s question broke the spell. Liza shook her head like she was coming out of a fog. There was a whole damn room full of people here.

“You caughtmalaria?” Liza asked.

“Ugh, yeah,” Dorsey said.

“He was sick for weeks,” Gigi said. “And this is the school for girls Dorsey started.” Gigi pointed to another picture. Her smooth brown shoulders shimmered in the dim light.

“Hold on.” Liza held her chest. “Youbuilt that school for girls in Mozambique?” It was too much. Liza could see the joy on his face, how proud he was of this life. “I remember reading about that. I think half the team went down with malaria, but the school still opened on time.” Everything seemed to click into place. He was a philanthropist thrust into a CEO role—not the other way around. His heart was in this humanitarian world, and he was simply playing at the other one.

She looked up and caught his smoky eyes again, then darted away. It was too painful to look at him head-on. The light was so bright now and his true self was so obvious to her, and all it did was make her feel like even more of a fool. Her heart hammered in her chest. She wasnotabout to cry real tears in front of these people.Remember the time I defended a lying asshole when you told me you loved me? How about when I believed an Instagram post instead of just talking to you?Ugh, the guilt. It churned her stomach.Liza separated herself after a quick nod and tried to beeline for the exit. It was too uncomfortable to be here.

But Dorsey was faster, and he reached out and caught her wrist at the last moment.

“Don’t...” he whispered, then shook his head. “Liza, they’re starting a Sakuting dance. I would like to show you.”

Just keep your hand there.

Just stay holding me, and I’ll say yes to anything.

“What do I have to do?” she said.

“According to this program, this dance used to be only for boys, and it portrays a mock fight using sticks.”

“Wait, you’re reading the program? Why don’t you know?”

“Unfortunately, I know just as much as you do, Liza.” Dorsey pulled her near the dance floor, where a crowd of people were laughing and shaking bamboo sticks about one and a half feet long and tapered at the end, like a candle. Two people, one representing each side, circled each other and clashed bamboo sticks in a kind of imitation of martial arts sparring. It looked like a European quadrille gone off the rails.

“Is Dorsey Fitzgerald doing a communal dance?” Liza asked in mock horror. “This looks way too complicated. I couldn’t even begin...”

“The way I see it, there are two types of people in the world,” Dorsey teased.

Liza’s eyes widened, and Dorsey handed her a stick. “I’m not sure I want to give you a weapon after—”

But Liza did not let him finish and whacked his stick instead, like she had seen the others doing. Dorsey laughed and tapped the floor with his sticks. “Quick study, I see.”

Following his lead, she shuffled toward him while circling and interchanging positions with other dancers. She bumpedinto everyone and clashed the stick when she should have tapped and generally made a complete fool of herself. Eventually they were pushed to the kiddie practice play section.