Brooke and I were supposed to be introduced to one another through a mutual friend, Courtney Owens. She actually tried to set us up on a first date, but I sort of... skipped it... long story. But she was actually dating someone at the time unbeknownst to Courtney anyway so it all worked out. We actually met months later by chance. I was at a friend from high school's house party when Brooke walked in. I immediately texted Courtney in a panic: "Courtney, Brooke is even cuter than in her pictures... AND THAT'S HARD TO DO!" It turns out Brooke was my friend's housemate, and I was in her house! I proceeded to embarrass myself throughout that evening and left feeling like that was a ship I had let sail. I don't know how, but I had apparently left quite the impression. Brooke asked Courtney about me a couple times, but I was dating someone else. However, she was persistent! At the third time of asking, Courtney texted me to see if I was still unavailable. When I told her no, she promptly gave me Brooke's phone number, told me Brooke had been annoying her asking about me, and ordered me to text Brooke because she certainly wasn't going to text me first. Later that evening, Brooke and I had scheduled our first date. I went into the evening with a preset plan to offer to extend the date if things were going well. Nerdy, I know. Anyway, Brooke and I spent our entire first dinner together bonding by talking about our experiences with our exes (cue car crash sound effect). BUT, I somehow managed to get her to agree to get dessert with me afterward and the date went on. The next morning I got a text from Courtney spilling all of Brooke's beans: "Dylan, you did so well! She's smitten!" I was too, though. I called Brooke right away and set up our second date to peruse Augusta's downtown Saturday Farmer's Market together that very same morning and off we went immediately. We had an even better time than the night before and I've been the luckiest man alive ever since.