Ryan and Sammie both grew up in Grayson, GA but didn't really become friends until high school. They shared the same group of teachers in middle school, same gym class freshman year of high school, and ran in the same social circles. They shared many of their classes together junior/senior year of high school, specifically their Sports Medicine class, and began hanging out together outside of school. They went to all sorts of high school functions together including Sadie Hawkins Dance and Senior Prom just to name a few. All the while, the two kept agreeing they were just good friends and didn't want to pursue anything further, even though Sammie "secretly" had a crush on Ryan. Fast forward a year and a half into college, Sammie invited Ryan to be her date for several Phi Mu formals, date nights, etc., knowing Ryan would always be respectful and fun to spend time with! (Thank goodness for those guys who made Sammie never want to ask a random guy to be her date to socials). Ryan also happened to be one of the first people to know about and meet her new puppy Easton in 2014. Sammie hadn't even told her parents and was sneaking the puppy into her apartment which was not dog friendly :) There is no denying their friendship was strong. But things changed on December 14th, 2014. Sammie had been invited to a party at a friends house following finals week to celebrate making it through another semester. Sammie's best friend, Erin, had encouraged her to invite Ryan to join them, so she did. To no surprise at all, he agreed to come, and thank goodness he did! Many drinks were had, many games were played, and much fun was spent hanging out that night. But during all this fun, the two came to realize how special their connection really was. When asked what FINALLY made them want to date, the two can only say that at some point during the night a flirty conversation started and has never ended. And the rest is history!