“I’m sorry, what?” Hayes said, sounding like a clueless dad discovering what TikTok was for the first time.

Both women suddenly looked sheepish. “We bumped into each other before your segment,” Perrine said, offering Hayes a smile.

“Before we shared that memorable cup of coffee together,” I said to Hayes, who was still processing what was unfolding before us.

“I slid into her DMs,” Lola added with a wicked smirk, like it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

“When did you figure this out?” Hayes asked his cousin. He was chewing on the small red straw that must have come in his drink. I watched his long, tan finger tap on the glass, just below a slice of lime teetering on the rim. Water fizzed in his cup. We’d ordered the same thing.

“Right when we got here, it clicked,” Lola said, leaning in close to Perrine, their shoulders touching.

“It took us a second to put it together,” Perrine added. “We agreed that if we decided to go out again, we’d tell you both first.”

“And we’ve decided to go out again,” Lola said. “So now I guess we’re telling you.”

Well, this was a turn of events. I opened my mouth to say my goodbyes and let them get back to it when Lola cut me off.

“Wait,” she said, her eyes shifting from apologetic to suspicious. “Why are you here?”

“I told Cleo I’d peek in. I had no idea this was happening.”

Lola dug her phone out of her purse. “No signal,” she said, holding the screen in my direction.

“Okay, well. Have fun, you two,” I said, giving Lola one last “holy crap” look.

“Yeah, enjoy yourselves,” Hayes said next to me, which made me laugh. I’m sure they’d do more than that. “We’ll leave you to it.”

His hand ever so gently rested on the small of my back, a slight nudge toward the door that lasted just a second—so barely there I almost missed it. But in that instant, it had felt both achingly familiar and shockingly new. His touch sent a ripple of excitement through my body so strong that the aftershocks bounced around my stomach as we walked out of the bar and into the arms of the city, together.

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Hayes

Outside, the sun was long gone but the city was still bright, lit up against the backdrop of the night sky. Franny’s mouth was agape as she fished around in her bag for something. “Well,” she said, her attention focused on finding whatever it was she was looking for. “This is not how I expected my night to go.”