The Roman Empire

We met playing sand volleyball during both of our brief periods of living in Dallas, Texas. Shoutout to our separate friend groups for colliding and becoming competitive at volleyball. Brooke's version: I had decided to open myself up to the possibility of dating again two weeks prior to meeting Jayce, even if that meant getting on the apps. We met on the sand volleyball court and I thought 'man this guy is high-fiving me a lot...I wonder if something is there or maybe I am just playing really well'. A few weeks pass and our, now combined friend group, goes to an arcade bar. We just happened to be on the same team for billiards which was when I distinctively felt the vibe as I am awful at pool and so there was flirty instruction happening. By the end of the night with some vouching of his awesomeness from his friends and my friends obviously/awkwardly trying to push us together he asked me out. My favorite part: upon me saying yes, Jayce drops the glass he was holding and it shatters as if in awe/excitement of my acceptance. Our first date we went to monster mini golf and I lost by 2...no he did not let me win. Then we had dinner and drinks at a speakeasy. There were first date jitters but almost immediately the nerves went away and conversation flowed easily, we talked until they were closing. After a very romantic first kiss, I was driving home and thought to myself with the biggest crooked smile on my face, 'I can see myself marrying this man'. Jayce's version: I was walking up to the sand volleyball courts with Isaac and I said "Who is that!?" as I saw Brooke peppering the volleyball with Alicia. From one look I knew I needed to get to know this new girl. She initially seemed quiet so I tried to ask questions and talk lots of trash, but her serve was the best out of the group so I really preferred to have her on my team. She says I high-fived her a lot but she went on a 15 serve run at one point, so really I think she was just focused on me. I'd decided after meeting her twice, playing volleyball, that I needed to ask her out, so I asked our mutual friend Cat if she was single, to which I was told "yes." At some point amidst playing volleyball, someone brought up the idea of going to grab drinks together the following day (Saturday), so I was determined that I'd ask her out then. We started the outing at a game bar where we played pool and Isaac immediately blurted out "Jayce and Brooke are on the same team," which I did not like because it totally destroyed my ability to play it "cool." Over the course of the night I did think to myself that I'd better ask her out before I had too much to drink, which turned out to work well because my drink slipped right out of my hand not 15 minutes after getting the good news. When we met at "Monster Mini Golf" I still remember how she looked in her Green dress that she wore, thinking that I really made a good choice. I couldn't believe how natural our conversations were. I barely ate my dinner because I was simply so busy talking. Apparently I stole the spoon for the hummus appetizer but it was really good so I have no regrets.