Victor laughed. "So I missed my chance to have a 'you've been beautiful all along' moment?" he asked. "Damn."

He liked Jess, and could see dating her. But he was pretty sure she wasn't interested in him that way -- and anyhow, after the disasters his relationships tended to be, and given everybody was graduating in a couple months anyhow, he suspected he was better off single.

He poked at Gert's arm to change the subject. "How's your love life?"