Matthew

Matthew and I met on Tinder. He's a single dad with two sons, recently divorced and a police officer. I obviously have a thing for men in uniform. We texted quite a bit in the days leading up to our first date. I already liked him.

We met up on a Saturday night at a restaurant near my house. Matt had on a button up shirt which is effort for a guy, I noticed and appreciated it. He greeted me with a hug and we went in to have dinner. Dinner went well, We chatted over entrees and two rounds of cocktails. Matt's had a very interesting life and we traded stories. There were a few lulls in the conversation, but nothing too uncomfortable.

Little things were adding up. Matt wouldn't hear of me chipping in for the bill. He'd obviously put effort into dressing up and mentioned that he'd gotten a haircut earlier in the day. He opened every door I encountered. I was impressed.

After dinner, we weren't ready for the night to end. So I walked with Matt down the street to one of my favorite, secret bars. Turns out, it wasn't so secret on Saturday nights! We ordered a round of drinks and sat in a corner booth, chatting more, but it was too noisy to hear much. Matt paid for the drinks and we walked around the corner to a different bar, but it was just as full. We ended up driving to my divey-est bar, which was also crowded. We got some drinks and found a spot to stand out of the way of the people playing darts and pool. Matt and I chatted some more and watched people sing karaoke with varying levels of success.

Finally two chairs at the bar opened up, so we grabbed them to sit and keep talking. Matt convinced me to sing a song, which I did, but he never sang. Finally it was getting late and it was time for Matt to take me back to my car. As was becoming the norm, Matt opened the truck door for me and helped me in. He held my hand from the bar to my car. He got out of the truck to walk me from his truck, to my adjacently parked car. He gave me a hug and made his first faux pas of the night by asking, "Can I kiss you?"

[Sidebar: Men, please just go for it. Read the room. If she's putting out the vibe, just kiss her.]

"You better, " I said, which was fairly slick of me for how tipsy and tired I was. We spent a good 15 minutes just kissing and hugging. He smelled so good. And I really wanted to take him back to my place and fuck him. But I didn't. Because I'm a lady, goddamit.

Matt and I have continued texting and he's continually sweet and interesting and I can't wait to see him again tomorrow.