Nicole met Jordan on Bumble, where she technically had no choice but to message first (rules are rules). She showed up to the Pourhouse with the energy of someone who had already decided how the evening would go. Jordan, meanwhile, found her slightly terrifying and completely magnetic. The date was easy, a little reckless, and the kind of honest that only happens when two people have absolutely nothing to lose — and everything to gain.

Jordan knew fast. Embarrassingly fast. Cancel-two-other-dates-that-week fast. By date three, he asked her to be exclusive. Nicole blinked. It was bold, possibly premature, but there was something disarming about a man with zero interest in playing it cool. The first time the word "love" came out of Jordan's mouth, it wasn't even directed at Nicole. It was on his sister Sam's birthday — to Sam — while Nicole was sitting right beside him. It wasn't planned. It wasn't smooth. But Nicole thought it was cute — just odd that she wasn't the one he said it to first.

They do not like the same things, but this has never been a problem. Nicole will find Jordan on the couch, inexplicably furious about a couple's behavior on 90 Day Fiancé, a reality show he claims not to watch. Jordan will catch Nicole shoving her phone in his face like it's a crime scene, pointing out horrible spacing on a website. He only has himself to blame for that one. Different in every way that doesn't matter. Aligned in every way that does.

On May 4th, 2024, in Tofino, pajamas, wine, no agenda, they sat down to play "We're Not Really Strangers." What Nicole didn't know was that the deck in front of her didn't exist in any store. Jordan had designed it. Printed it. Shuffled it into the box like it belonged there. Card by card, question by question, the answers got quieter and the room got smaller. The last card told her to close her eyes. When she opened them, he was on one knee.