Cecily played the long game to put herself on Nate's radar. It was Valentine's Day - a cold Wednesday. Nate was in the lobby of Fitness Rangers (where they both worked) at 6:30pm. He had just finished a workout and was getting ready to leave the gym and spend a night alone when he received a text from his business partner, who was offering two free tickets to a five course meal at 8pm as his his date was sick and unable to attend. He said "my date is sick and we can't make it, so if you can find someone to go with the tickets are yours." Nate stared at the text for a few minutes, wondering if he was going to take advantage of the opportunity. A few moments later, Cecily walked through the lobby of the gym having just finished her workout. So...Nate KNEW her ass was single...because what single hot female goes to the gym at that time by themselves...on Valentine's Day? So that got him thinking... After 10 minutes of deliberation, Nate sent a super suave text to Cecily inviting her to a casual night of food and drinks with no expectation to make it "romantic". After 45 minutes of not hearing back from her, he was on his way home to turn in for the night when he got an enthusiastic response saying that "YAS!" she'd absolutely be down. So with 20 minutes before the dinner began, he swooped her at her house and floored it to the dinner venue. They pulled up and noticed that it was a plant shop in midtown...not what they were expecting but they heard music in the back so they continued through the shop where the event was being held. When they entered, they saw a long, beautifully decorated, candle-lit banquet table seated for 80 people. It was an eclectic gathering of couples from all over Sacramento. Was definitely more romantic, but then again, it WAS Valentine's Day! They soon learned that this was a much more intimate, special setting than they anticipated. They also soon learned that this was a "dry", "vegan" event that served no booze or meat or "real" food. So after making fun, light conversation with the lesbian couple across from them sipping on 5 pairs of mocktails and vegan dishes, they decided to continue their night at a nearby bar for a night cap. Little did each other know, they were both secretly hoping to connect more over a couple of Old Fashioned's. When the event ended they promptly headed straight to The Snug, a dark, secluded bar and continued to exchange animated, excited conversation that quickly turned into two...three...four cocktails into the early hours of the morning. At around 1:30am Nate, who was super polite and respectful, asked what time Cecily had work the next day. She light heartedly replied "6am". Horrified, Nate promptly took her home and dropped her off. Before jumping out of his truck, she turned and firmly stated "I'm giving you a kiss.", to which Nate said "I'd be offended if you didn't." They respectfully kissed and parted ways for the evening - but they both knew they'd be seeing much, much more of each other. And here we are today. So LFG!