The Boyfriend Bracket by Kate Evangelista

Author:Kate Evangelista
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

NINE

THANKSGIVING MISGIVING

“That movie was awe-some!” Stella declared while sitting in her favorite booth in her favorite diner, sipping her favorite milk shake, on a date with one of her favorite people. Bright eyes. Even brighter smile.

Will shook his head and smiled. “I have to be honest, I never pegged you as a Marvel movie kind of girl.”

“Uh! That is totally sexist! I’m a DC girl too. I don’t discriminate.” She pointed at him. “Girls can watch all the movies we want and be just as big of fans as you can be. You’re forgetting that when Wonder Woman came out, there were female-only screenings and all the guys were butt hurt about it. So please!”

“I’m loving this side of you. Why did it take me this long to ask you out?”

At first, Stella didn’t know how to react. A part of her wanted to blush profusely. But another part of her knew the reason why they had been officially going out only recently. All the weekends after Halloween, Will made it a point to come home, not only to visit Nana, but also to take Stella out on dates. They had been having the time of their lives, discovering new things about each other with each date they had gone on. Like this day. Will had just discovered Stella was as much of a comic-book geek as he was.

The awkwardness stretched between them until Stella decided to change the topic. “What are your plans for Thanksgiving? Tell me you’re coming back here.”

Will was in the process of drinking from his strawberry milk shake. He swallowed, then grimaced. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that.”

“What?” Her heart sank. “Don’t tell me you can’t come.”

“It’s not that.” He waved both his hands. “Cam and I can only stay for the night. Our schedules are packed, and we have to drive back to UCLA the next morning.”

“Setting aside the fact that I completely forgot my brother is coming home…” She rolled her eyes and Will chuckled. “That’s all we have?”

Will reached out and took her hand in his. “Hey, however many hours it is, we’ll make it count, okay?”

“So no Black Friday bodyguard, huh?”

“I completely forgot about that!”

It was tradition. The day after Thanksgiving, it was Will and Cam’s mission to protect Stella, her mom, and Nana while shopping on Black Friday. They also ended up carrying all the bags.

“We have to skip this year, sorry,” Will said, but it didn’t seem like he was sorry at all. More like relieved, really. But Stella let him off the hook as he added, “I’m really looking forward to your mom’s adobo. I wait for it all year.”

“It’s not like she can’t cook it at any time,” Stella teased.

“Yeah, but it somehow tastes better on Thanksgiving.”

She laughed. Adobo was a traditional Filipino dish, the basic ingredients of which were soy sauce and vinegar. The meat could be pork or chicken or a combination of both. Stella’s mom told her that what made the dish special was—no matter how simple—each family had a different way of preparing it.

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