Our third date wasn’t planned around anything big or structured, just a chance to spend time together again after such an amazing second date. We met up at Metro, which will become a reoccurring theme for us, where Lindsay had come straight from a day helping her dad on the mountain. We grabbed coffee and settled onto the same green couch where our story first began, catching up on our days before deciding to take a walk through downtown.
Hand in hand, we wandered through side streets and alleys, stopping to admire murals and graffiti. We laughed, compared favorites, and shared thoughts on the art around us. It felt so easy, so natural, like we’d been doing this forever.
When dinner time rolled around, we tossed out ideas until the Branding Iron came up. Lindsay mentioned it twice, so that sealed the deal. We headed over, laughing as we jaywalked across an empty intersection, and were shown to a cozy table for two. Across from each other, we held hands and gazed soulfully, in that way where everything else fades. The table wobbled a bit and in my engineering way, I slipped a butter knife under the leg to steady it, which cracked her up. We both ordered buffalo chicken salads, and between bites and conversation the waitress stopped by and asked how long we’d been together. We glanced at each other and then back at the waitress and told her it was only our third date. She was genuinely shocked. “You two seem like you’ve been together seven years,” she said, calling us kindred spirits. We both lit up at that because in a way, it already felt true.
Not ready to call it a night, we noticed there was a comedy show at the Rialto starting soon. On a whim, we bought balcony tickets but ended up moved to the floor where little two-person tables were set up. We quickly pulled our chairs together as if there were never any other way to sit. That night we took our very first selfie, complete with a photobomb in the background. I got nervous before the show started because I thought my Superman T-shirt would attract some unwanted attention from the comedian. I excused myself and ran 2 blocks to the car to get my jacket and ran back just in time.
The comedian had a British accent, a sharp sense of humor, and mixed in a dose of psychic performance. We laughed harder and harder as the night went on, and every time I heard Lindsay’s laugh, something in me lit up. I couldn’t stop smiling. At one point she rested her leg on mine, and I just remember how right that felt - warm, close, and natural. The show ended with an incredible trick involving a dollar bill and a series of audience guesses, and we both walked out impressed and still laughing.
Instead of heading home, we sat in her car for hours, listening to music, talking about everything from silly to serious, and just enjoying the closeness. By the time the night ended, it was nearly 4am. We kissed, held each other, and I left feeling like something real and lasting was already taking shape between us.