At this point in my dating life, online dating site, adam4adam.com and phone app, Grindr have produced fairly decent results. Sure, a lot of them were flakes, but the ones who made it to a first dates were all fairly decent guys.

One day, I messaged North Carolina  to ask him how Grindr was working out for him. He told me about a few dates he went on. In turn, he asked if I had any positive dates from the app, and I told him about my encounters. He then asked if I had spoken to a particular guy, one of his coworkers, who happened to live in Hoboken. I checked my list, and in fact, I had been chatting with him for some time.

I took the opportunity to message the individual and tell him I knew one of his coworkers. He wasn’t too happy. He’s not “out” and was annoyed North Carolina was talking about his sexuality to other people he’d never met. When I explained he did it to set us up, things calmed down a bit.

We began chatting more and came to find we were neighbors. But, not just neighbors in the same hood. He lived across the street.

We attempted to find time to grab a drink, but he was always at the gym or I was in the pool. It never seemed to work out. Finally, on a random Friday, I texted him late in the evening while making dinner with my sister to see if he had plans. He was entertaining the idea of going into the city to meet a guy at Boxers. But, when I suggested we grab a drink locally, he was all over it.

He waited for me outside my building, and we walked a few blocks to a local bar. We both ragged on each other for taking long to get ready. He also took the opportunity to poke fun at my flip flops, all the while wearing men’s U.G.G.s. Who even knew they made U.G.G.s for men?!

We grabbed a high top near the bar and drank vodka sodas and Guinness all night. I learned how new he was to the gay world. We were both very fresh, and we swapped coming out stories. There wasn’t a single moment during the date that felt uncomfortable. He was perfect. Not only that, he had a smile that could melt granite. His dimples made me swoon, and his eyes when he smiled made me giddy.

We talked about Grindr and the guys we knew in common. He informed me others asked him about me. This was intriguing and surprising to me. First off, it’s an ego boost, but secondly, why would a guy talk to dudes about other Grindr dudes? Isn’t that your competition?

The time came for us to close our tabs and go home. He was ecstatic because his tab was so low. He thought it was beacuse he had a temporary debit card and the bartender made a mistake, but in reality, the other drinks were on my tab. I allowed him enjoy thinking he made out.

When we got back to my place, I asked if he wanted to come upstairs. He hesitated for half a second, but accepted the offer nonetheless.

Once we got upstairs, we started making out on the couch. He said, “I’ve wanted to do that all night!”

I proclaimed, “Me too!” Things started to heat up, and our hands were exploring each other’s bodies. He suggested we move to my bedroom, but my roommate was still awake with her light on in her room right next to mine. After a short period, I noticed the light was out and was confident she was asleep, so we moved things to the bedroom. We fooled around and finally dozed off.

The next morning, I awoke especially horny. I woke him up by arousing him, until we were both fully enjoying ourselves. At one point, I was grinding against his backside when he suggested I get a condom. I obliged and we began to have sex. I could tell he wasn’t used to this, and it was short lived. This is the one big regret I have from our encounter. I think he found himself in a situation that pushed the boundaries of his comfort zone, and he gave into the moment. While he “asked for it,” I feel we took things too fast too early. I really liked him! A lot! I wanted to do things right by him.

After we showered, he got dressed and went home. I thought about him a majority of the next day. I had other prospects in the queue, but this one had boyfriend potential. So, I took what I learned from my relationship with Broadway, and I applied it to the current situation. I wasn’t going to rush things, and I wasn’t going to try to define or label it either. I would patiently await whatever was going to happen next.