Dutifully, Ben laughed. He had shuffled down, and he and Alexa were lying on the picnic blanket now, his arm resting beneath her head.

Jack decided to try it too. He stretched out and stared into the sky. In the distance, a fire engine trilled. There was a contented pause, though he didn’t feel very comfortable.

‘So,’ Ellen said, thickly, through a mouthful of crisps. ‘Anyone for Risk?’

Ellen

Dating me is like

Taking part in The Hunger Games

My most controversial opinion is

Loving outdoor swimming is not a personality

We’re the same type of weird if

You also follow several hairless cat accounts on Instagram

The one thing you should know about me is

I work for an organic CBD tampon company, and WILL talk about it

Worst idea I’ve ever had

Tbf it would be easier to list the best ones

Ben

Believe it or not I

Lived in Berlin. I almost never mention it

A random fact I love is

A baby puffin is called a ‘puffling’!

Fact about me that surprises people

I once won a ‘cutest baby’ competition. It’s been downhill from there

I’m weirdly attracted to

Marge Simpson

Jack

One thing I’ll never do again

A salsa dancing class

I recently discovered that

The Tube and the Underground are the same thing

Let’s debate this topic

Favourite vegetable. I like carrots

My biggest date fail

I turned up a day early

Alexa

All I ask is that you

Don’t throw me a surprise birthday party

My most irrational fear

That my father’s cat is trying to usurp me

The way to win me over is

Beat me at Scrabble

The key to my heart is

Never, ever using the crying laughing emoji

Acknowledgements

Firstly, thank you to Hannah Weatherill, my agent, who read one of my mad Evening Standard columns and sent a lovely email enquiring as to whether I’d ever thought about writing a novel. Yes – but I definitely wouldn’t have done it without you. Thank you for your wise notes, unwavering support and endless patience. (Oh, and for advising I fixed the ending before submission …)

Thank you also to Diane Banks and all the others at Northbank for all of your support. The pandemic owes us another lunch in Soho.

I struck gold with the team at Penguin Michael Joseph: I feel so lucky to have worked with such bright, brilliant and engaged women who love talking about books.