A Girl Walks Into a Brewery...
Fourth of July weekend 2015, I drove up to the valley from Tucson (where I was living at the time). My best friend, Derek, invited me to meet him and some of his buddies for a beer at Four Peaks Brewery.
I walked in and found that there were no seats available near Derek so I helped myself to a seat at the end of the table. To my left was Amy, Derek’s roommate who I adore, but across from me were two guys I had never met before. “Hi, I’m Laura, Derek’s BEST FRIEND!” They introduced themselves as Adam and Jacob. Both were super nice and invited me into their conservation which mostly involved sports. When the conversation moved to running I had more to add. I shared about the half-marathons I had run and Jacob said, “We’re running one in San Diego, you should come!” I giggled, I had just met the guy! He also mentioned that he, Derek and a few others would be heading to Vegas in a few months and seeing how I was Derek’s “BEST FRIEND” I should come to that too.
After a while I turned my attention to Amy. While we were chatting more people arrived and Jacob and Adam moved to the end other end of the table. When I got up to leave I noticed that Jacob had left his sunglasses when he moved, so I brought them to him at the end of the table. While I was delivering him his sunglasses, I heard Jacob mention that he would be volunteering at his church the next day and wouldn’t be able to watch the football game with everyone. “You volunteer at your church?” He had caught my attention. “Yep, every Sunday.” I was intrigued, but unfortunately I had to leave. I said goodbye to the folks I knew and left.
Over the next two months I kept thinking about the guy who invited me to everything and volunteered at his church.
Labor Day Weekend rolled around and it was time to celebrate Derek’s birthday. My friend Julia joined me and when we walked in there was Jacob! I sat down in a seat near him, turned to Julia and said, “Meet Jacob, he’s my NEW BEST FRIEND!” Jacob gave me an awkward look…oops! The whole night I spent trying to get Jacob’s attention. When the party decided to move to another bar Julia and I had to leave. As I said my goodbyes I saw Jacob walking off down the street to the next bar; I was so bummed that I didn’t have an opportunity to speak with him more.
A few weekends later I was sitting on Julia’s bed when she said, “You know that Jacob guy? I think you should date him.” I was totally awe struck… “I WANT TO!” That settled it… I had to make my move.
I had to Facebook message Jacob since I didn't have his cell number. I told him about my plans for the next day and ended it with, "I'm thinking you should go." Jacob responded with just his cell phone number.
The next day Derek picked me up and we headed to a football tailgate. "So you know your friend Jacob... I kinda like him!" Derek laughed saying he could see it. He told me more about Jacob, "We've only been friends for less than a year and he's already one of my best friends. He's a good guy."
When we got to the tailgate Jacob was pretty shy. I kept trying to find excuses to be near him. "I need some whiskey," I said. THAT caught Jacob's attention. We walked to the bar together and talked while we waited in line. He started to loosen up and by the time we walked back to the car to head to another bar he was holding my hand…
TO BE CONTINUED….
