HER VERSION It was a rainy November evening and after arriving to Memorial Park, my flag football game got rained out. Cameron Moore and his girlfriend, Arian, invited me over to their apartment instead. Upon arriving to their apartment, we took their dog to the apartment dog park. Soon after arriving at the dog park, a guy came out with his yellow Labrador Retriever, Duke. He introduced himself to me as Brandon and we immediately bonded over the Longhorns. We all chatted for a few minutes and there was something about this boy that made me want to get to know him more. He mentioned that he was also watching the Longhorns play basketball that night (major green flag), but we soon went our separate ways. As soon we we went inside, I remember telling Cameron that I couldn’t stop thinking about Brandon. Conveniently, Brandon’s mom, Tina, had been helping Brandon with Duke during the work day. Cameron and Arian had run into Tina at the dog park a few times and exchanged numbers. Thinking that I had nothing to lose, they went ahead and texted Tina and said, “My friend just met your son at the dog park and she thinks he is really cute!” Tina replied and said, “Brandon would like you to give his number to Julia.” I tried to play it cool and give it some time. After a very long 5 minutes, I texted Brandon. One week later, we went on our first date and we have been together ever since. Many people played a role in us connecting, but I have to thank Duke for giving Brandon an excuse to go to the dog park! HIS VERSION It was later in the evening, around 8:00 p.m., when I had just gotten home from hanging out with friends. The walk from the parking garage to my apartment was brutally long, but the route always took me right past the dog park, so naturally, I always took a peek to see what was going on. On this particular night, as I was strolling past, I happened to see Cameron and Arian, whom I didn't know too well outside of small talk about fantasy football at the dog park, along with an unfamiliar face that immediately caught my eye. As soon as I got home, I said to my mom, "Mom, there's a girl at the dog park who caught my eye. I'm going to take Duke out and see if I can spark a conversation." She replied, "Brandon, I literally just took Duke out 10 minutes ago. He doesn't need to go." Of course, that went in one ear and out the other. I saddled Duke up in his harness, made sure I smelled good, and headed down to the dog park. I started with a quick 30-second conversation about sports with Cameron before immediately turning to Julia and introducing myself. I quickly learned that she had graduated from the University of Texas, which was music to my ears because I can talk about the Longhorns for hours (Hook 'em!). Julia and I had a brief conversation about sports and dogs before we were rudely interrupted by her DoorDash order of Crumbl Cookies arriving. We said our goodbyes, and I headed back upstairs, where I told my mom I had just met this gorgeous girl who went to UT, but I wished we had gotten to talk a little longer. I sat down to catch up with my mom, and that's when she started chuckling. She informed me that she had just gotten a message from Arian saying that her friend, the girl from the dog park, thought I was cute and wanted my number. We texted for a little while before I asked her out on our first date, and from there, the rest is history. I guess if you couldn't tell by now, getting Duke in college so I could take funny pictures of him as a puppy with a beer next to him and sunglasses on, was the best decision I've ever made. & the one who made it all happen...