I froze with a tight smile on my face, in posing mode. “Okay,” said the woman behind the camera, handing the phone back to her friend for photo inspection and approval. Relaxing, I turned to see what Hayes had been looking at. He was still staring in the direction of the sweet-faced brunette in the corner with Lola. The one with the dimples that glowed. Dimples just like his. Somewhere in my brain, a warning signal sounded: Something was off.

“Hayes,” the voice said again, and now I could see it was coming from Lola’s date.

I shifted my gaze from Hayes to the brown-haired woman to Lola, who met my gaze with a “What the hell are you doing here?” look. I tried to respond with just my eyes, but it was hard to say “First-date rule! I was just checking on you!” with facial expressions alone.

I looked back at Hayes, who was staring at me, perplexed.

“Do you know Perrine?” he asked.

“Huh? No, I…”

“My cousin,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And then suddenly, it was.

“I think your cousin is on a date with my best friend,” I continued. They were walking over toward us now, maneuvering their bodies around the candlelit tables to get to us. Crap.

“What?” He swallowed, his voice incredulous.

“I’m not sure why you’re here,” I said, “but I’ve definitely been caught spying on their first date.”

“Oh my god, he’s not even facing the camera,” Drunk Blonde interrupted, squinting down at her phone. “Do you guys mind if we do another photo really quick?”

“Sorry, we’ve got to go say hi to our friends,” I said, and grabbed Hayes by the forearm, which was warm and firm under my hand. I steered him over to where Lola and his cousin were standing, a few feet away.

“Franny,” Lola said when I arrived, looking both irritated and amused.

“Hi.” I wiggled my fingertips in a wave and then smiled at Hayes’s cousin. She reached out her hand to shake mine. Her nails were short and painted a clean white, the same color as the pearl studs dotting her earlobes.

“Perrine,” she said, introducing herself, her voice calm and smooth. “I see you found my cousin. Again.”

I turned and caught him out of the corner of my eye, large and looming at my side.

“He likes to check on me whenever I go out with strangers. It’s very kind, and also totally obnoxious and protective.” She gave me a knowing smile, and I liked her immediately. “He’s like that.”

“I’m sorry, how did the two of you…?” I looked between them like I was trying to solve a two-thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle, trying to figure out their connection. “Wait, Lo, this is the woman you met in the New York News bathroom?”