*His Version* As Rihanna once said, “we found love in a hopeless place.” In the middle of a pandemic, Bumble was one of the few options for meeting new people. I wasn’t a fan of dating apps, and I was just about to delete Bumble, when I saw I got a new match. Lexi looked too hot in her pictures to delete the app just yet. I had to see if she was going to message me. Thank God she did. After covering some important topics, like our mutual love for Thai food, I asked her on a date to HQ. To avoid dealing with downtown parking, Lexi came over to my place. When I answered the door, I was blown away. I don’t know if “love at first sight” is the right way to put it, but what I do know is, the first time I saw Lexi, I experienced something I had never felt before. It wasn’t the dim, old porch light shining down on her, but bright lights from heaven and angels singing in the background. Seriously, it was like something out of a movie. I felt like God was telling me, “buckle up, buddy, this one’s special.” We went on to have a great date at HQ with apps and drinks. Lexi called the shots on the food because I had already eaten dinner (oops), so I got my first glimpse of her great taste in food. She also didn’t hesitate to order round 2 of drinks. Our conversation felt so natural, not dry and forced (later, I learned that she had a lot of practice from the “conversation starter” games she and her friends play). I had never felt so comfortable with someone so quickly. It was like we already knew each other. After HQ, we got started talking about music and next thing I know, we’re driving up and down PCH jamming to country, reggae and reggae covers of country songs. We went all the way from Newport to Sunset Beach. I was sold on Lexi and I didn’t want the night to end. When friends asked how our first date went, I’d say, “I think it went a little too good.” I wasn’t “looking for” a relationship at the time, but I knew right away that I found something very special. Each date we went on further solidified what I felt on that first night. After 3 months of dates, Lexi finally let me ask her to be my girlfriend and at that point, I was already so in love with her. Each day my love for her keeps growing. I love you, Lexi, and I can’t wait to be your husband. *Her Version* Thank goodness something compelled me to scroll all the way to the bottom of yet another generic Bumble dating profile… because when I did, the mirror selfie of a smoldering, tan BABE of a man made me swipe right immediately. And it was a match! I waited until the last second to message Zach before our match disappeared forever, saying, “You can rock the long hair.” What can I say, I have game. But that was all it took for conversation to start comfortably flowing enough for my stomach to do backflips every time I received a message from Zach. I’m shocked I agreed to go on that first date in the first place considering he already had 2 strikes before we even met: 1) He didn’t ask for my number and 2) He scheduled our date for a Wednesday at 8pm AFTER dinner. But there I was, knocking at his front door at 1738 Pine. I still remember the moment he opened the door to greet me. I was instantly drawn to Zach and had no clue why. We climbed into his truck to make our way to drinks & dinner. Throughout the whole night, I continued to feel drawn to Zach. I just wanted to be near him. I had to keep myself from attempting to hold his hand. I even suggested we sit on the same side of the table (to which he shut me down, but now he always sits on my side at a restaurant whenever possible). After dinner, we both clearly didn’t want the night to end, so we drove up and down PCH listening and singing along to our favorite songs, which is when Luke Combs’ cover of Dive became “our song” after we put our hearts into a lovely, yet off key duet. I could have sat in that passenger seat for hours. To this day, I’m still drawn so much to Zach because he feels like home.