Someone Like You

Callum "Cal" West has never been the kind of guy people notice first.

He's tall but too lean, quiet but with a mind that never stops, and he's spent most of his life convincing himself that he's easy to forget. He's the guy who stands at the edge of the room, who overthinks every conversation, who wonders why anyone would choose him when there are so many better options.

But Cal has always had more to offer than he realizes.

He's kind in a way that can't be faked. He's the guy who stops to help an injured animal, remembers the smallest details about the people he cares about, and dreams of becoming a veterinarian because he believes every living thing deserves to be cared for.

He just doesn't believe the same thing about himself.

Then he meets Aria Hartley.

Aria is the kind of person people are drawn to without her trying. She's beautiful in a way that goes beyond her appearance with a smile that makes people feel comfortable, a warmth that fills every room she walks into, and a heart that notices the things everyone else misses.

She loves animals, laughs easily, and has a way of making people feel seen.

Including Cal.

When they meet at a college party, Cal is certain someone like Aria could never be interested in someone like him. She's confident, bright, and effortlessly beautiful, everything he believes he isn't.

But Aria sees something different.

She sees the boy behind the insecurity. The humor he hides. The kindness he underestimates. The person he's been afraid to believe he could be.

As a friendship between two strangers slowly becomes something more, Cal has to face the hardest thing he's ever had to believe. Maybe he isn't as easy to overlook as he thought. Maybe he has always been someone worth choosing.