Valerie and Hunter’s story officially started on Hinge, but looking back, it feels like it began long before that. We’re convinced we had been crossing paths for years—ending up in the same places at the same time, never realizing the right person was probably just nearby. Valerie and Hunter even had overlapping friends during college, yet still never met. Somehow, we kept missing each other until September 2023, when the timing was finally right. We matched on Hinge and went on our first date at Standard Beer + Food. One date quickly turned into a tradition, and before we knew it, we were spending every Friday together for the rest of the month. Then one week, one date turned into multiple in a row, and it was pretty clear neither of us wanted to be apart. Since then, we’ve been inseparable. From the very beginning, being together felt natural, easy, and like something that was always meant to happen. After years of almost meeting, the invisible string finally brought us together at exactly the right time.