Some evenings end.

This one lingers.

Investment

My favorite dates are rarely the first. It’s the second, the third, and the fourth, where the nerves have gone and something easier has taken their place. Learning how you take your drink. Finding out what makes you laugh before you mean to. The small anticipation of a man I already know I like.

It’s why I lean toward longer hours. Time is what lets a conversation wander, lets the evening forget the clock, and turns an encounter into something you’ll still be returning to.