A tale of two guys

As charming and promising as Luke is, we're far from "the discussion".  We talk in some form every day, we've gone on a few dates, but there hasn't been the slightest suggestion that this is anything more than casual.  Words like "future" haven't made a presence in our conversations.  Aside from some very nice make-out sessions, even the physical side has been pretty much at a standstill.

Then I got another one of those emails.  Unlike the many, many others I have snickered about as I hit the delete button, this one intrigued me.  It wasn't just one of those, "Wow look at all we have in common" things, but something I really can't explain made me want to get to know him better. 
Even as I sat in my own personal crack house waiting to meet him for the first time, I was questioning exactly why I was there.  I joined the online dating world in a fit of impatience and irritation.  Despite the fact that I know several very happily married couples who met through various online dating sites and some that are on their way to being part of the aforementioned happily married brigade, I didn't ever think it would be a viable option for a permanent relationship for me.  I saw it more as a way to have fun until Mr. Right v 2.0 came along.

My opinion changed over a hot white chocolate mocha that took 2 hours to drink.  Let me repeat that: I, the girl who lives on caffeine, who wants to create a national holiday to honor the birth of the founder of Starbucks, who can down a venti sized drink in less than 10 minutes did not touch my drink until almost an hour had passed.  I was completely engrossed in conversation (although a lot of it seemed to consistent of both of us saying "me too" or "I totally agree") to the point I ignored a steaming cup of flavored caffeinated goodness sitting right in front of me.

We set a second date for two days later.  For indoor rock climbing.  On a second date I was willing to get all sweaty and dirty in front of him.  A very, very out of character move for me.  I had a slight internal conflict when we met for this date: Should I play the role of the girl and let him win or should I be my normal uber-competitive self?  The beginning is as good of a time as ever for him to get used to me so I just let loose and climbed as fast as my short little legs would allow.  Didn't matter, he kicked my spandex-clad ass.  And he gloated about it relentlessly.  Yet another trait that I found pretty damn cute.
His name is Dan.  Yes, he gets a name already.