App: Hinge

Name: Khalil*

Date Location: Tommy’s Family Restaurant and The Hutton

Location Review: 3.5 Stars – Truthfully, I am probably selling this spot short. I was on a diet that week so couldn’t eat too much. That being said, the omelette was good and the hashbrowns had onions in them which was nice.

4.0 Stars– The place is in the most random spot but brings in a good crowd. I only drank beer that night but they had some interesting cocktails on the menu which could be worth trying.

Date Duration: 5 hours

What Happened:

I had not been this excited for a date in a long time. Khalil was the real deal. Worked in computer science, tall, ridiculously handsome, athletic, smart, well travelled, voted democrat, and was from Canada. Since we met on Hinge, I had his last name and may or may not have creeped the shit out of him. Everything was confirmed, he was cool AF (and previously dated a white girl with a similar build to myself). LAURA DON’T FUCK THIS UP.

We were texting and the topic of NJ diners came up since it’s the diner capital of the world. We started joking about how we would have our first date at a diner and then both decided this was the best idea. Khalil picked a spot 10 minutes from me in NJ and we were ready to rock. No lie, going in I had no idea what to expect. This guy willingly offered to come to NJ so that bodes pretty well but my luck was stacked against me.

He beat me to the restaurant and as I walked up to him I was happy to see he looked exactly like his photos. Holy shit. Babe status. He was an interesting guy. Family was from Ghana, he grew up in Toronto, family moved to Alabama, he lived in Charlotte for a bit, and decided to pick up and move to NYC. Clearly much more well traveled than me.

The weekend prior he was in Boston for a conference (where he got to see Obama speak) and I recommended a place for bomb ass hot cocoa. Well he went and brought me back a chocolate bar. WHAT. OKAY. SO NICE.

The diner was ever so obviously trying to get us to leave so we headed out for another bar in Jersey City. There was an accordion player playing “Sorry Miss Jackson”. I was sold. (And I now have his business card so if you have accordion needs I would highly recommend).

The beer flowed and we just kept chatting away and for once, I wasn’t hammered. (2018 is about to be my year guys). As we were talking, I noticed he kept leaning in across the table but I wasn’t sure if it was that he was into me or that it was loud AF. I ignored it and kept laughing too loud.

We shut the bar down, it was nearly midnight on a Thursday, so it was time for us to head home. We shared a Lyft to the train station near my apartment so he could head to NY and I could walk a few blocks home. Within a few minutes he had his arm around me, was holding my hand, put his hand in my hair, and then we looked at each other. And fam, we kissed. And it was great. His lips were so fucking soft and despite being in the backseat of a car was executed really well. So of course we started making out a shit ton.

In an effort to save my Lyft rating, we cut the shit out. He said that he had been wanting to do that all night but thought it would be frowned upon to jump across the table. I then said he made me nervous because he was so ridiculously good looking. His response? “Okay, but have you looked at yourself?” OH. DAMN. I also thanked him for coming to NJ. No one ever wants to and I really appreciated it. Khalil whipped out, “Well I had a feeling you’d be worth it.” SWOON.

We got to the PATH and I walked him to the escalators. We made out in the middle of the plaza in the freezing rain. He asked if we could move under an overhang so we went in front of Duane Reade and made out more. One hand was on my back while the other was tangled in my hair. So. Good. Between kisses he asked what I was doing that weekend which I wasn’t expecting. THIS NEVER HAPPENS.

…we hung out the next night.