Page 114 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

My chest tightened, and I felt it rising—everything I had been holding in.

I swallowed, nodding slightly. “I will.”

“I know,” he said. There was so much certainty in his voice.

Silence settled one last time.

And this time, it felt like closing a book. Not unfinished. Just… complete.

Rick stepped back a little, like he was giving the moment its space.

I stayed where I was… watching him.

Memorizing him, maybe.

Not in a desperate way, but in a simple understanding that this meeting had already given me everything it could.

“Goodbye, James,” he said.

I smiled, because, after everything, the universe finally allowed us to say the word that had been stolen from us the last time we parted.

“Goodbye, Rick,” I said.

He smiled one last time, before turning and walking away without looking back.

I stood there for a second longer than I needed to, watching him disappear into the night.

And for a moment, it hurt, but not the way it used to.

It didn’t feel like everything was ending.

It felt like something meaningful had finally been placed where it belonged…

In the past.

So I turned toward the entrance, reaching for the door.

And as I stepped inside, one thought stayed with me:

The world didn’t end when we did.

It just kept going.

And somehow—I told myself—I would, too.

CHAPTER 14

JUST WHEN YOU’VE MOVED ON…

The party was already in full swing by the time I got there.

Music pulsed through the rooftop, vibrating up through the soles of my shoes. Everywhere I looked, there were bodies. Gays packed shoulder to shoulder, moving, laughing, dancing, and shouting over the music like the night itself depended on it.

Some were dressed like they had somewhere else to be after this—clean lines, button-downs, carefully styled hair.

Others clearly did not.

Shirts were optional. Tank tops hung loose… if they existed at all. A few guys were already down to nothing but underwear, walking around like it was the most natural thing in the world.