One Man's Story - Part I

By the time I turned 27 I was a first-date professional. I had been in love once before - in college - but hadn't got serious with anyone since. I was putting in 12-hour days at my job and wasn't getting out much, so most of my dates were setups. But 10 minutes into those, I'd know the girl wasn't for me. So when some friends asked if I wanted to join a kickball league, I agreed, thinking it might be a way to meet women.

What happened next was right out of one of those romantic chick flicks:

There was this cute Kristin Davis lookalike girl on my team and while having a couple beers after a game, we started talking. I was immediately comfortable with Kate and didn't feel as if I had to hold anything back. We actually bounded by making fun of people at the bar. Our similar senses of humour really drew us together. At the end of the night, I walked her to the car and gave her a hug.

I was curious to see what would happen when I saw her at the next game, and it was the same scenario. We went for drinks and closed down the bar. Again, I walked her to the car. We exchanged e-mail addresses, and I gave her a hug. May be I sound like a wuss for not making a move, but I could actually picture myself with this girl, so I didn't want to blow it by showing my tongue down her throat. I knew I'd be seeing her every week at kickball, so I decided to take my time.

we started e-mailing each other, and Kate mentioned she had tickets to a football game that weekend. But a friend had set me up on a blind date for that same night so I had to turn down Kate. I spent the entire time thinking about how much I wished I were with Kate instead of this other girl. So that Monday, I e-mailed Kate and asked her out.