“When I opened my eyes and saw you, I knew I was safe,” she told me with a smile. Was she? I felt like a coward. Caught up in a past trauma.

Both of us struggled with knowing how to love ourselves when no one else wanted to. At least no one we longed for.

It’s another late-night subway ride. I decide to take the train to the end of the line—Coney Island. It’s cold. I challenge myself to...