Connor:Josh told me I should wear lederhosen.
A lot of people dressed up for it, though I’d never been one of them. I was more of a drink-beer-and-people-watch kind of reveler.
Me:He’s right. I bet your big ass looks amazing in the whole suspendered-shorts ensemble.
Connor:This is one of those times where you’re referring to my overall size and not my posterior, correct?
I snorted again, because it was hilarious to me that he remembered that little bit of nonsense.
Me:Sure. We’ll go with that.
We made plans for Oktoberfest on Friday, but no other plans before that because both of our weeks were incredibly busy. Even though we didn’t get to see each other, we managed to text constantly. Every day, we’d message throughout the day and always pick up where we left off. About nothing and everything.
Connor:My cat just threw up on my bed.
Me:That is the WORST. Which cat?
Connor:Take a guess.
Me:I really like her style.
Suddenly, over the course of a few days, I knew which of his cats was a pain in the ass (Sammy), which show he was streaming obsessively (currentlyThe Last of Usbecause he missed that whole thing when it happened), and how many bones he’d broken as a child (eight).
It was a lot of silliness, but we also shared more serious things. For some reason, when we were texting, it felt okay to be vulnerable. I don’t know if it was because we weren’t looking at each other or if it was because he’d already seen me during the most stressful and vulnerable day. I talked about my mom and how much I missed her, my worries about my dad amid all of that, and he told me about his family.
He didn’t go into the details of why, but he shared that he was raised by his grandparents. His grandma passed a couple of years ago, and his grandpa had dementia and was in a memory care facility. Connor FaceTimed him every day, and in the offseason, he visited every week. He was nonchalant about it, even joking a little, but I got the sense that his grandpa meant the world to him and it was a tough situation.
His sister still lived in California, which seemed to help lessen his guilt. It sounded like they were close the way I was with my brothers, like they drove each other crazy but were therefor each other, and I was still trying to figure out if the man even had a bad side.
It was like we’d been friends our entire lives, the way we were messaging.
Connor:You didn’t seriously eat it, did you?
Me:ofc I did—egg expiration dates are mere suggestions, not law.
Connor:A MONTH past the date?!
Me:I’ve never gotten sick from scrambling expired eggs.
Connor:Such a weird flex.
By the time Friday rolled around, I was ridiculously excited for our date.
Once again, I’d let Ellie pick my outfit, and once again I had on a full face of makeup.
I took the afternoon off, and Connor was right on time when he pulled into my driveway at one o’clock.
“Wow,” I said, letting my eyes roam over his costume as I climbed into the passenger seat. His body was the epitome of athletic excellence, taut muscle stretched over bone, but even so, the outfit was ridiculous. He looked ten feet tall in lederhosen shorts.
“You look…like you’re testing the strength of those seams,” I said, trying not to stare at his insanely muscular legs.
“Thanks, but it’s a little alarming how obsessed you are,” he said with a grin.
“I think you’re misreading my tone,” I replied.
New Ulm was a little over an hour and a half from the Twin Cities, and I realized as I got into his car that it was strange how much I was looking forward to the drive. On a normal second date, that might be too big a swath of time with which to fill conversation, but the way we’d been texting and the way things were so easy with him, I was actually excited for this extra time together.
“You know,” I said, “I am more than happy to take a turn driving.”
