13 Ways A Girl Lets You Know Your Date Is Going Well

1. Perfume. (Unless you’re in Europe, in which case, those lovely ladies are always wearing it and that probably doesn’t indicate much.) But this is a nice way of signaling that she hopes a boy is nice enough that she can get to know and trust him enough to one day agree to let his sexy parts go on a play date with her sexy parts.

2. Is she wearing a dress that lets you see her legs? Okay. She shaved for you. Shaved. For. You. You were worth that. At least, in theory. Don’t fuck it up, buddy.

3. She didn’t order something with garlic/onions. It’s a really good sign if she’s debating between two things and then goes with the one without onions or garlic. OR if she asks to hold the onions. She’s in lllooooovvveee. (Okay, maybe she doesn’t like onions. In which case, she’s just weird.)

4. She doesn’t spend a lot of time in the bathroom. Doesn’t even look that relaxed or refreshed when she gets back. Bonus points if her hair is in the same exact style as when she went in. She’s too eager to get back to your table and continue to debate the merits of Two Towers vs. Return of the King or why mustard is a nasty food that no humans should consume.

5. She asks for more time when the waiter comes by to get your order because she got lost talking to you when she was supposed to be picking out which flatbread she wants.

6. When you say we should do this again sometime, she doesn’t respond with “totally.” But rather “Oh my god, yes!” or “I’d love to!”

7. There was not an ounce of polite laughter dropped all evening. Polite laughter is the grim reaper of girls liking you.

8. When you are debating a food/movie/breed of livestock that one of you loves and one of you hates, she goes in for the debate, getting enthusiastic about why Red Holstein cows will never measure up to Florida Crackers — or whatever it is you talk about on dates.

9. She starts a story with “This is so embarrassing, but…” For some reason, those kind of stories are always cropping up on good dates.

10. She mentions something she has to do later that day at the beginning of the date (every girl needs a polite out) but then when you casually ask if she needs to get going for that (and you should, to show you remember and care about her time) she brushes it off. Suddenly going to the famers’ market to pick up bok choy for her roommate is not as important as starting intently into your eyes.

11. Is she touching her collarbone, circling the rim of her class with her fingers, rubbing her arms up and down? Yeah, she likes you. Or at least she likes sex and you haven’t repulsed her enough to make her stop thinking about it. For some reason, women subconsciously make circles with their hands when they are horny (I HATE THAT WORD, SORRY YOU HAD TO READ IT).

12. When the check comes, every woman should not only make a move to pay, but be totally willing to. I’m not really sure why a person would assume that they are owed a dinner/lunch/roller rink admission price. That’s messed up. But if you do end up winning the who-pays-the-check battle, she will be super grateful and maybe even mention paying next time. Any mention of next time is always a good sign.

13. You mention an article/video that you want her read/watch, and at the end of the date, she reminds you to send it to her. She wants to connect with you! Romance in the time of Internet lists!