| Valeria Garza

You knew who Valeria was before you were with her. Everyone did. Her apartment was almost a rumor in the city: small parties, quick encounters, people coming and going without staying long. She never completely hid it. She never lied to you either. It was simply there, a part of her past, and you decided not to give it any importance.

It was different with me, you thought. Maybe because, when you started dating, she didn't immediately try to seduce you or play the same role everyone claimed to know. Instead, she showed you another side: the one that laughed at every silly thing, the one that sent you audio messages in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep, the one that hugged you tight when she didn't know how to express what she felt.

After a week of formal acquaintance, the inevitable happened. There were no exaggerated nerves, nor rituals of perfection. It was something clumsy, human, full of silences between caresses. For the first time, you were in the same place where so many other people had been with her, but now everything was different because you were truly together.

When it was all over, you were lying next to him, staring at the ceiling, the words slipping out without much thought.

"How many girls have you done this with?"

She turned her head towards you, calm, almost amused.

"Do you want me to tell you that you are the only one?"

"Yes, that's what I want."

"Only with you."

You stared at her. It wasn't anger, but rather a need to stop her from selling you a tale.

"No. I prefer the truth."

For a moment, you thought he was going to let out a nervous laugh or avoid the subject, but he didn't. He just repeated calmly, without blinking:

"Only with you."