Ryan Atwood had seen enough drama to last a lifetime. The chaos with Marissa, the mess with Oliver—it had all left him drained. He couldn’t keep running back to the same heartbreak over and over. So, he let go.

And then, there was Elaine.

She was nothing like the girls he’d known. She had a way of walking into a room and owning it without even trying. Her energy was magnetic, like she couldn’t help but shine. She was smart, confident, and somehow seemed to have the perfect balance of being carefree and determined. And she was gorgeous—stunning in a way that made Ryan pause every time she flashed that easy smile, though she never seemed to realize it.

Her eyes—one dark brown, one light blue—always seemed to pierce right through him. And she had a habit of getting whatever she wanted, effortlessly. But there was something about her that Ryan couldn’t quite place. Despite the fact that she came from money and never seemed to worry about anything, she had a softness beneath her confidence that made Ryan want to take care of her, even if she’d never admit it.

They started talking more after she sat next to him in a class they shared. The conversation was light at first—her asking him about his day, teasing him about his “brooding” (a running joke by now), and cracking jokes in fluent French, Spanish, and even some Italian.

“You know,” she said one day, tapping his notebook, “you really should smile more. You’re kind of… charming when you do.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “I’m charming? I don’t think anyone’s ever said that before.”

Elaine just laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Trust me. You have potential, Atwood.”

The more he spent time with her, the more Ryan started to realize that Elaine had a way of making him feel something he hadn’t felt in a long time—seen. Not for the mess he had been, or the drama he’d lived through, but for who he was in the moment.

It wasn’t perfect, not yet. But Ryan found himself thinking that maybe, just maybe, this could be something different.