An Unexpected Match

After my second date with Jack, I headed off to pick up a keg for my sister's party. On the drive there, I called her to tell her all about the date and how well it had gone. I couldn't stop smiling. For the first time in a long time, I felt genuinely excited about dating again.

The party was for my brother-in-law's birthday after he and a group of his friends had spent the day golfing. I knew many of them and had crossed paths with some over the years. Most were married or in long-term relationships, so I wasn't expecting anything particularly eventful from the evening.

I helped my sister finish setting up before guests arrived and spent some time playing with my nieces and nephews as people gradually filtered into the backyard.

My parents came, my brother showed up, and later my other brother stopped by with his wife and daughter. At one point, I was sitting at a table with my parents when one of my brother-in-law's friends walked over to say hello. We'll call him Chris.

Chris worked for the same company as much of my family, so I had seen him around from time to time over the years. He had also undergone a pretty incredible transformation since I'd last seen him regularly, losing nearly one hundred pounds. Not that it was important to me, but he seemed so much different.

He wrapped me up in a hug.

"How have you been?" he asked.

"I'm good. How have you been? I haven't seen you around work in a while."

"I moved to another department," he said with a smile. Then he glanced toward my parents. "Are these your parents?"

I introduced him, and before long he pulled up a chair and joined us.

He couldn't have been nicer. He charmed my mom almost immediately and spent what felt like hours talking sports with my dad. The conversation flowed naturally, and before I knew it, most of the party had come and gone while the four of us remained sitting around the table talking.

As the evening wore on, I realized I had been drinking more than I intended. I had driven to the party and originally planned to leave early enough to catch Jack's band playing later that night. Somewhere along the way, though, those plans had completely slipped my mind.

When I finally checked the time, I knew I wasn't driving anywhere.

I pulled out my phone and called an Uber.

Chris did the same.

Then my youngest brother looked around at the remaining group and asked, "Who wants to go out?"

I looked at Chris.

He looked at me.

A few seconds later, we were both canceling our Ubers.

In hindsight, I probably should have gone home. I'd already been drinking for hours. But good decisions weren't exactly leading the conversation at that point.

Instead, we walked into town with my brother and a few friends. It wasn't far, and the night felt full of possibility.

We ordered more drinks.

We danced.

We laughed.

And we had a genuinely great time.

Somewhere along the walk, Chris took my hand. At the bar, he danced with me without a trace of self-consciousness.

I liked him.

We got along easily. We worked in the same industry. We had mutual friends. The conversation felt effortless, and the chemistry was undeniable.

On paper, it seemed like a pretty great fit.

Of course, there was one important detail.

We had both been drinking all day.

That didn't stop him from saying all the right things.

After our third drink at the bar, he leaned closer so I could hear him over the music.

"I want to date you," he shouted.

I laughed, wrapped my arms around him, and hugged him.

Then we went right back to dancing.

Hours passed in what felt like minutes.

Finally, around 4 a.m., the lights came on and the bars started closing. Exhausted, slightly unsteady, and very aware of how late it had become, I ordered an Uber back to my apartment.

Chris came with me.