Best Second Date Ever

As promised, I am finally getting around to sharing about my wonderful second date with Tony.

Tony arranged to come pick me up because it’s the gentlemanly thing to do. I thought that touch was perfect for a second date, especially given that we had interacted enough since the first date for me to feel comfortable and safe with him. Tony planned for us to have dinner at a new restaurant in a part of the city known for cute, trendy shops and great independent restaurants. It is also quite crowded on Friday nights, and parking is notoriously difficult to find.

As I mentioned in my last post, we texted back and forth beforehand, and joked about who was more excited about the date. At one point in the day he texted me this: “I bought a smaller car so I can park you closer to the restaurant. It should be delivered today.” I knew he was giddy, too, but that warranted an incredulous “What?” His reply made me literally laugh out loud: “Well, ok. It’s for one of my salesmen. But I am going to hang on to it for a day so I don’t have to park my truck. :P”

Problems with the car ended up delaying delivery, so he had to bring his Ford F-150 Raptor. I told him that I have no complaints because I love big trucks. I did offer to let him drive my car, since a Chevy Cruze would be significantly more likely to fit in the little street parking spaces. He said that wouldn’t work because he wanted to pull up to the walk and open the car door for me. In fact, he said that’s something he does whether it is date 1 or 100. As self-sufficient as I am, that is refreshing, sweet, and makes me feel very womanly in a wonderful way.

Tony arrived at my house promptly at 7 pm, to the minute, which was incredibly impressive. True to his word, he opened the truck door, and helped me up. Our conversation on the way to the restaurant was easy and full of laughter. When we reached our destination, his fear of the area being too crowded to find parking was realized. After meandering up and down through several side streets in an ever-widening radius, we accepted that parking anywhere remotely close to the restaurant was not likely. He suggested a nearby place where we could park across the street in a lot. I had been there once before, and enjoyed it, so we changed locations.

It was a good choice. We didn’t have far to walk, but we did cross Broad Street, a fairly busy multi-lane road. When he reached down and took my hand, my heart jumped. I still get butterflies in my stomach recalling that moment. That simple gesture was electrifying. When he opened the restaurant door and put his hand on the small of my back to usher me in ahead of him, I think I stopped breathing. Nothing existed except the nerve endings under his fingertips.

He gave his name to the hostess at the front, which for some reason made my heart leap again (probably at the prospect of being called for dinner using his last name- there is something so delicious about that). She said it would be a few minutes for a table, so we found seats at the end of the bar. He pulled the chair out for me, never missing an opportunity to be a gentleman.

We sat at the bar, our arms barely brushing. He looked at me with those amazing blue eyes, and ran his fingers gently down my arm to rest his hand in mine. That moment may be my favorite among all of the phenomenal ones the evening had in store. It held so much intensity, tenderness, tension, and intimacy that it sent chills through my entire body. We lingered there, our eyes locked, both of us sporting huge grins, until the bartender broke our reverie.

Tony glanced at the beer list, and asked a question about what was on tap. He’s a beer connoisseur, while I know absolutely nothing. He ordered a beer for me to try, which was more on the light side, and something heartier and darker for himself. Our conversation continued, and drifted from topic to topic effortlessly, including family, work, hobbies, and more. He was engaging and funny, and found the perfect little ways to touch my arm when he leaned in to talk.

Once we moved to a table, things kept the same easiness. We had reserved a few interesting topics from our texting for dinner conversation. I found myself rambling on, and telling all sorts of stories. We shared and talked like we had known each other for ages, even while discovering each other. I never stopped laughing or being surprised by his wit.

After dinner, we held hands walking out of the restaurant and back to his truck. He drove me home, and I played him a song on the piano and a song on the guitar, just like I had promised. He had been wanting to hear me sing, and I had been wanting to knock his socks off. We both got our wish.

He stayed the night. There wasn’t much sleeping. An hour’s worth, maybe.

The next morning, when our bodies registered something other than our desire for one another, Tony took me to breakfast. At the restaurant, he opened the door for me and the woman behind me. She seemed surprised that he didn’t just do the standard “toss the door open a little bit more for the person behind you” move. As she walked in behind me, she told me that he’s a keeper. There’s no way she could have known we were still technically on our second date. I could already tell she was right, though.

Breakfast was great. So was getting back to my house and laying in bed together. We talked all day, and I was never bored. Again, we laughed and connected and exchanged stories. He showed me pictures, we shared messages from other people on the dating sites, and he kept surprising me with his intellect, honesty, humor, and amazing personality. When we got hungry again, we shared a shower and he took me to lunch. Then back home and back to snuggling and exploring each other – not just physically, though that certainly was part of it.

Quite a phenomenal part of it, in fact. Mind blowing doesn’t even begin to describe it. I’ve never experienced anything that amazing. I’ve had marathon sessions with one other partner, but nothing like that. In the fifteen or so hours we spent in bed together, I had countless orgasms. Literally. There is absolutely no way I could have kept track. He achieved an incredibly impressive eleven. My entire body was like jelly, and I was left with lots of laundry to do.

Approximately 26 hours after it began, our second date ended when Tony went home Saturday night. Around 10 pm he texted to say:

“That was the best second date I’ve ever had. I didn’t feel like I would ever get sick of lying there with you.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Prelude to a Second Date

You will have to excuse the sappiness of my next few posts, and maybe my entire blog from this point forward.  I’ve been told that happiness is rather boring to read about.  In that case, prepare to be very bored.

Lately, I’ve been keeping you updated on my foray back into the dating world.  After my first first date in a while (which you can read about here), I half-heartedly perused messages from other men on OkCupid.  They paled in comparison to the interactions with my date, who I will refer to as Tony (inspiration drawn from Iron Man) moving forward.

(Side note:  I agonized over what to call him on this blog.  Being a master over-thinker and an emphatically uncreative person, this was difficult.  I contemplated it unenthusiastically for days, which is one reason for the delay in my posts.  Finally, I put in a concerted effort and landed on that nickname for a variety of reasons that I find quite clever, but which may be painfully obvious.)

Tony and I continued talking and texting, quite frequently.  His wit and eloquence and humor left my head swimming in a delightful way.  I was a bit awe-struck.  Dazzled.  Fascinated.  Those words don’t seem quite right, but I can’t think of any more suitable.  He is quite possibly the smartest person I’d ever had the pleasure of talking to in such depth.  He kept me on my toes, and with a permanent smile on my face.

The most striking and surprising thing of all, though, was his honesty.  Truthfulness has been at the very top of my list of must-have’s for a long time.  Those that have followed my journey thus far know that honesty is something I value almost above anything else.  He went about showing me how much integrity he has from the beginning – not because I asked, but just because that’s who he is.  Our interactions were peppered with little nuggets of truth that I knew he didn’t have to give me, but that he did.  I discovered that we share a very similar set of values about dating, exclusivity, and chivalry that I had begun to think no longer existed in my generation.

Case in point:  He had three future dates already lined up, and he had gone on a few before he met me.  He joined the dating sites to meet a variety of people, and see if anything popped.  He was looking for a relationship, but not to just fall into one with the first person who came along.  He was very up-front about the other dates, but also about the fact that he really liked me.  The way he handled himself was extremely mature, and it was so refreshing that I didn’t have to wonder where I stood with him.

One date was scheduled for Monday evening, and another for Tuesday.  He texted me after each one.  In fact, I saved a text message that he sent me Tuesday night after his last date.  It said: “My feeling is that both last night and tonight, I found myself thinking I would rather have you sitting across from me.”  Getting that message made my stomach jump.  It wasn’t just a line.  His sincerity was palpable.

So was his level of transparency.  Both of those dates invited him back to her house.  One was very specific that she wanted to sleep with him.  He turned them down.  Mostly it was because he will not have a one night stand or sleep with anyone unless he’s exclusive.   It was also partly because he didn’t want to do anything that could negatively affect his chances with me.  Even before our second date, he was open and respectful.  I told him it was astonishing.  He showed me more regard and consideration after one date than my husband did in our entire relationship.

I also had a date scheduled, tentatively.  A man had gotten in touch who lived in Arlington and worked in Washington, D.C.  He seemed smart, he was nice, and he wasn’t bad-looking.  He proposed that we meet about half-way, in Fredericksburg, on Friday night.  I agreed, before I had any plans for a second date with Tony. This guy, who I called Politician Steve, was light on details and follow through. He didn’t pick a place or set a time.

As things progressed with Tony, we began discussing when we would have our second date. I had a previous engagement Wednesday and Thursday. He had another date pre-planned for Saturday. It was looking like it would be a week, and another Sunday night before we could see each other again. Even that was iffy because of family events and the Monday holiday.

Then, almost simultaneously, we made a choice to choose each other. I told him that I would like our second date to be on Friday – that I wasn’t worried about Politician Steve. He cancelled his date for Saturday. He said it wasn’t fair to her because he would be thinking of me the entire time, the way he was with the other two. He felt it was better to cancel than go with the thought that he would just “get through” so how could proceed with me.

The days leading up to that Friday night were tantalizing and filled with fascinating conversations. He told me that getting to know me was like the best class he’s ever taken. It was a sentiment I shared. I had never been more excited for a second date in my entire life.

Apparently my excitement level couldn’t compare to his, though. On Thursday night I told him that I could hardly wait for our date. He said that he believed me, but that he didn’t think I knew what real excitement was. One of the last messages I received from him that evening was, “There’s no way anyone else could be as excited for a second date as I am.”

The date wouldn’t be a disappointment for either of us.