Michael and I met for the first time in the late summer of 2021, when I crashed a game night at his apartment. Earlier that summer, I had just moved back to Toledo, after living in San Diego for the last three years with my cousin, Mayzie. I found myself growing bored in Toledo, since I no longer had Mayzie right down the hall to hang out with on demand. I decided to plan a last minute trip to Mentor, Ohio to visit Mayzie one weekend, though Mayzie had already had plans. “Remember Monica? I’m going to a game night at her place, but I’m sure it’s fine if you come too. It’s just going to be her, her fiancé, Dakota, and their roommate, Mike. I think you’ll like Mike, he’s totally your type.” Unfortunately, Mayzie had spent the last three years watching me make some questionable dating decisions, so I didn’t trust her judgment. After all, how could Mayzie possibly know what my type is, when she had only watched me date duds? Still, I agreed to go, mostly because I wanted to hang out with my cousin, and I did think it would be nice to see Monica again. Mayzie and I showed up for game night, and as I was introduced to Dakota and Mike, I remember internally sighing with resignation as I had to admit to myself that fine, my cousin knows me, she was right — Mike was my type. Dark hair, beard, the glasses were a nice touch, and — are those Christmas storm trooper pajama pants? — nerdy. We hit it off right away, flirting the only way fire signs know how — arguing and bullying. We bickered all night, about the game, about the legitimacy of zodiac signs. He even showed me his extensive dice collection. Despite the chemistry, nothing came of the connection that night. I went back home that night knowing nothing would happen between us, because my end goals remained the same. I was going to finish my degree, and then find a job anywhere that wasn’t Ohio. Expect, of course, the universe had other plans, and before I knew it, I had graduated and was moving to Cleveland. It was February when I moved, about a month before Monica and Dakota’s wedding. We were also just a couple months out from Mayzie moving to Hawaii with Max, where he would be stationed next. Mayzie had never lost hope that Mike and I would get together, so the day before Monica’s wedding, she asked Monica if I could be her plus one instead of Max, who was not able to get leave from the navy. Monica and Dakota graciously agreed to the last minute request, and I showed up to the wedding with Mayzie. During the reception, Mike kept finding excuses to come to our table and chat. Eventually, our whole table cleared away to dance, and it was just the two of us. I decided to lean into the nudges of the universe and meddlesome cousins and friends, and said “so should we go dance?” He immediately agreed, and we spent the night dancing and laughing together. Later that evening, when it was time to leave, I found myself in my car with Mayzie as the DD, Monica in the passenger seat, and Mike in the back with me. We drove Mike to their apartment first, and as he was getting out of the car and saying goodnight, I said, “so are you going to ask me for my number or not?” And the rest, as they say, is history.