Page 33 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

But then I wasn’t in Tampé anymore.

I was somewhere else.

Somewhere brighter.

Warmer

Back to the beginning.

To the first time I met him⁠—

March 2025.

Dean & Luca.

Soft lighting.

Glasses clinking.

The quiet hum of people pretending not to watch each other.

Victor sat across from me. Eyes smiling that made me feel like I was the one.

He had the kind of face that didn’t try too hard to be liked—clean, effortless, with just a hint of something guarded. His hair was neatly cropped, which told me that he knew how to carry himself without making it a performance. A neatly trimmed beard framed his jaw just enough to give him an edge, but not enough to take away from how easy his smile came.

And that smile… oh God.

It wasn’t practiced. It wasn’t the kind that asked for my attention. It just… happened. Wide, genuine—the kind that made me feel like I had done something right just by being there.

A full sleeve tattoo wrapped around both his arms, dark lines and soft shading blending into something intricate I couldn’t fully make out under the dim lights—giving him an edge and a bad-boy image that contrasted with how almost formal he looked.

His eyes met mine. Almost amused. Like he already knew something about me I hadn’t said yet.

“You look good,” he said to me.

I laughed—a little too quickly.

“Is that your line?” I asked, already blushing.

“No,” he said. “That’s me being honest.”

And somehow, that landed.

Then suddenly, he slid a small box across the table.

I frowned. “What’s this?”

“Open it.”

I picked it up. And inside was an Apple Watch.

I froze.

He smiled at my reaction. “I figured you need an update. And besides, it’s got good tracking for your workouts.”

I remained speechless, because even if the gift was expensive, to me it was something simple. Thoughtful. Personal. Something that said I paid attention.

“You didn’t have to do this,” I said.