I honestly just need to document this story somewhere, to keep the story/memory alive and written down. Itās long, personal, and although I donāt think anyone reads this anymore, hoping no one I know IRL finds this lol.
In mid-August I went on a trip to Colorado with my best friend. We spent 5 days in Denver but we had a rental car so we could drive around to the surrounding areas, go hiking, etc. One Saturday night, we went out barhopping. My friend had met this guy on Friday night and he told us to come through to this bar him and his friends were at, so we went. It was a huge rooftop bar and he came and found us, and him and my friend went off to the sofas to make out. (Which really was fine with me, itās a girls trip but I knew she thought he was really cute). I spent most of the night hanging with one of his friends and chatting with people at the bar. Towards the end of the night, this tall guy with long (shoulder length) curly hair came up to me and we started chatting. He offered to buy me a drink but I declined because I said I was hiking early, though truthfully I was already kinda drunk and we were hiking the next day. We chatted for a little and I honestly wish I could recall more of what we talked about (probably not due to all the killed brain cells by the drinks before). Then the bar was closing down and I had to go find my friend but he got my number, and texted me right away. Meanwhile my friend and her man are talking about going out to happy hour the next day and the guy texted me asking if we could do something that next day, so I said I could do happy hour. Only later do I find out from my friend that things went downhill with her man and she didnāt want to see him for HH but that end of the night was kind of a drunken mess lol.
Flash forward, I was super hesitant to go on a date while on vacation but my friend insisted give it a go. She said she would nap after our long hike/drive while I went for drinks, then weād meet up for dinner, and bring him if he seemed cool (if not, I could just ditch him and say I had plans). So I get to this bar, which was a bougie upscale nice bar he picked, and TBH embarrassing but I did not recognize him. I donāt have stellar facial recognition because I donāt wear glasses regularly and as noted, was drinking the night before. He walks me over to the table and we order drinks and all I can think about isĀ āoh shit, heās so hot.ā Really well dressed too. We end up talking for like an hour and a half over two drinks and I find out we are completely different...he grew up in a Midwestern farm, I grew up in the heart of a big East Coast city. I studied economics and am in consulting, he is super creative and studied design and is in fashion design. He paid and I invited him to dinner with my friend and I was surprised he was totally down. At dinner he met my best friend and was so nice to her, she said after how cool he was and how he made it feel like inclusive (not just a third wheel situation). We had a great time and I sort of expected him to pay for drinks but I in no way anticipated he would pay for dinner for both me and my friend. We kept offering to Venmo or split but he insisted on paying. After, he was like letās walk around and check out some cool Denver bars that make special drinks Even though it was a Sunday night the bars were hopping and had drink deals. He took us to this one bar where we did a flower shot that numbed your mouth, and then we went to a whiskey bar.
My friend came with us but she wasnāt drinking which honestly I wasnāt planning on having more than one or two after being intensely hungover that morning but you know, when in Rome. (Sidenote: I was hungover again the next day and being hungover in the airport is a new kind of hell). At the bourbon bar we all sat at a corner table and talked, and they had a DJ that was playing old school pop punk music which I just simply loved. Then my friend went home (our hotel was only a few blocks away) and I had her text me when she got back. Then he put his arm around me and we talked a little more, and then we kissed. Maybe due to a few drinks, but honestly when you feel something strong, you know it, and it was amazing. We kept kissing and idk I know I looked like an 21 year old making out hardcore with a guy at the bar (the people at the pool table playing definitely all saw us lol) but it was soo good. We had one more drink and it was honestly so hard for us to keep our hands off of each other. Then we walked towards his car but every few steps we stopped to make out on the street, so we barely made it to the car. Then he drove us back to his place and I went up to his apt which is way nicer than 99% of 26 year old guys places LOL. We watched Netflix for like 5 minutes and then we hooked up and I wonāt go into detail but it was really crazy hot. I donāt normally hook up with guys the first date or meeting (I guess this was technically the second) but hey I was leaving Denver the next day so the intensity maybe made it even extra hot. Then we cuddled for a while and he dropped me off at my hotel, and we kissed some more in the car. It felt like a sad rom com movie, when we had to part. Like if I could relive one night this whole year, it would definitely be that one. I went upstairs and fell asleep and he texted me the next day saying he had a great time and we exchanged social media stuff and weāve been talking since that night like a month ago.
The funny thing is, he is SO opposite of my type. All of the men Iāve liked have been the most typical DC men - the last few people Iāve dated have been reporters, a diplomat, and someone who worked on campaigns. All clean cut tidy East Coast men. My longest relationship with was with someone who was a nice boy next door, very math-oriented (like the farthest thing from creative), from the East Coast, academic. And this Denver man is so different....from a farm, a designer/creative type, long hair, mustache, ear piercings, the opposite of my type. Iāve always envisioned me being the East Coast kind of preppy type that does some basic DC career (politics or consulting basically) so Iām thrown for such a loop. Also Iāve definitely hooked up with guys, all good looking/nice/quality men, for months, even over a year, and I never caught any kind of feeling or interest in them but this feels so different. Which is crazy because he lives literally almost a 4 hour flight away and I think we are quiteĀ different people, but I canāt shake that night, the connection we had, and how attracted I am to him.
I am logical by nature, so normally I wouldāve just written this off as a one time vacation hookup but I donāt know why I canāt shake that I like him and find him attractive! Life isnāt always so fair or logical I guess.