I'd been talking to this woman on Hinge for almost two weeks.
We were both 25, working our first proper jobs, and living away from our families. She rented a flat with a friend. I shared a two-bedroom apartment with a college friend.
Our first date was at a cheap Italian place. We split the bill, argued about pineapple on pizza, and ended up walking around the neighbourhood for another hour.
At the end, she hugged me before leaving.
I spent the entire ride home replaying that hug.
For our second date, she suggested watching a movie at my place because both of us were tired of crowded restaurants.
I checked with my flatmate, cleaned the living room, ordered snacks, and spent an embarrassing amount of time deciding what to wear.
She arrived in jeans and an oversized T-shirt, carrying a packet of chips because she said she didn't trust people who claimed they didn't like snacks.
We chose a movie neither of us particularly cared about.
For the first half hour, we actually watched it.
Then she started making jokes about the characters. I retaliated by inventing increasingly ridiculous plot twists. Eventually, neither of us could follow what was happening on screen.
She leaned against my shoulder.
I looked at her and asked if she was comfortable.
She smiled and said she was.
A little later, I asked if I could kiss her.
She said yes.
We kissed for a while, stopping occasionally to laugh or talk. It felt intimate in a way I hadn't experienced on the first date. There was no audience, no waiter interrupting us, and no need to pretend we were having an interesting conversation every second.
At one point, she said she wanted to slow down.
I stopped immediately.
We sat together, finished our snacks, and eventually put the movie back on.
She left around 11 PM.
The next morning, she messaged me that she'd had a lovely evening and wanted to meet again.
We continued dating.
What surprised me was how much I liked the ordinary parts: making tea, choosing a film, hearing about her day, and laughing at jokes that nobody else would understand.
I used to think the most exciting part of dating was getting someone to come home with you.
Now I think the real excitement is when someone wants to come back.