I'm Gonna Marry that Girl!

Three years ago I travelled to the East Coast under the guise of a business conference. The conference was just a few hours from where my BFF was staying while she was living with her Navy boyfriend. The conference was on a Saturday, so I arrived the Thursday before.
She was living in a tiny house in Portsmouth, Virginia. A 3 bedroom (if you counted the converted laundry room), 2 bathroom (if you counted the bathroom missing a toilet, and semi-installed shower).
That place was the epitomy of what a nerdy college frat house would look like, but my BFF, she tried to make it look presentable. Her boyfriend was on a six month deployment, she was taking care of his tbree year old son, and living with two girls, one in the Navy, the other a friend from home.

My BFF had told me how anxious she was to introduce me to her new friends. The 2 roommates, and these 3 Navy guys. When we arrived at the house I met the female Navy roommate for all of 5 minutes as she dashed out the door to fly home for the weekend to Florida. Thirty minutes later the cars arrived and the guys walked up. One was the tallest person I'd seen in awhile,I actually had to tilt my head up to look at him. He was 6 ft 5 with a 1 and half inch cut widow's peak for hair,  bright blue eyes that looked like they were always smiling, a grey Quicksilver hoodie, jeans, and classic black Van's.

That night, we ate some sandwichs, watched a few movies, drank a little and played some cards... within an hour I felt like I was a part of this group. The ease amongst them was so welcoming and refreshing. They were so relaxed, nothing mattered to them, they had their own little safe haven in this house. The tall one, fell asleep in a chair before 10:30 and noone even found it awkward.  I was a part of this group of little vagabonds. I don't remember feeling this comfortable with a group of people since my high school days.

What I didn't know then, was that in the abundance of smoke breaks that were happening (which not being a smoker I wasn't really taking part in) the Tall One told his buddy: "I'm gonna marry that girl"

It took me more than a year before I learned that. That night I barely even knew I had made an impression, and at the time I wasn't even looking to make one. I was in a good place in my life, and was completely okay with being single, I wasn't looking for love, but that's exactly what happened. Love smacked me upside the face and apparently, him too.