‘You dirty girl,’ Ruby said, one eyebrow raised, but she was smiling and it was obvious she was mucking about.

That might have been the end of it – the moment slipping into the tidal pull of conversation and forgotten, as a new topic surfaced – if it hadn’t been for the fact that, just then, as they were all looking at the man, a woman approached him. Izzie gulped in a stunned breath and watched with disbelief as the smiling woman touched a hand to the man’s arm. In the next moment the two of them were locked in a passionate kiss. Izzie’s mind pounded. Her mouth dried to chalk. What the hell . . . ?

‘No way,’ Tej had whooped. ‘Is that your mum?’

‘Are you kidding me?’ Lily squawked. ‘Wait – so is that your dad?’

‘No!’ Izzie cried, her face scorching again. ‘I don’t fancy my dad. Jesus!’ She had blinked and stared, unable to believe what she was seeing, as her mum and this man – this handsome purple-shirted man! – eventually disentangled from their kiss and went into a nearby café together. Her heart was going nuts. Mum was dating? Since when?

‘Oh my God,’ Miko was laughing. ‘You fancy your mum’s new boyfriend. Awkward!’

‘No wonder she didn’t want to talk about him,’ Ruby spluttered.

‘This is like EastEnders,’ Tej added gleefully. ‘So are you two, like, rivals? So juicy!’

However hard Izzie protested, the teasing went on mercilessly, the subject apparently of the greatest hilarity to her friends. And of course ever since then, there had been sly digs and questions, raised eyebrows and smirks. Especially when Lily found out they were all going on holiday together. How’s the dad-bod looking in trunks??? Get in there!! she had put on the group chat just that morning, to Izzie’s mortification.

Yeah, we want pictures of the budgie smugglers!! Ruby added.

Go on, we’ll give you five points if you can get a flirty selfie with him, Tej wrote, with crying-laughing emojis.

Ten points if you’re both wearing swimming gear and actually touching each other’s bodies, Miko added. Dare you!!!!

Obviously they were only mucking about, but it was starting to get a bit annoying. Because Izzie totally didn’t fancy George, all right? She didn’t! He was old and kind of wrinkly around the eyes, and he told really bad dad-jokes all the time, and liked Formula One, which was surely the most boring thing on earth. This was what she kept telling her friends anyway. What she wasn’t telling them, and what she could hardly even bear to admit to herself, was that yes, okay, there was something about George’s laugh that made her feel peculiarly liquid inside. And how when he teased you, or really paid attention to you, it was like basking in the warmth of the sun; a sun that was almost too bright, too dazzling to remain comfortable under, after a while.