I was a ball of nerves walking up to the friendly neighborhood bar…

I’d recently ended a messy relationship and decided it was time to get back into the swing of things, so my date (let’s call him Drake) and I agreed to meet for drinks. Drake was warm and chatty and had the most gorgeous head of salt and pepper hair I’d ever seen. We talked about everything from writing to family dynamics to world travel.

After an hour or so, we were on our second beers and deep in conversation when the bartender suddenly turned off the jukebox and flipped on an old black and white TV above the bar. To my delight and confusion, it was Jeopardy!

“I don’t think I’ll know any of these answers,” Drake said. “I bet you’ll get at least a couple!” I encouraged him. After the first round, we were tied on correct questions, while the rest of the bar was huddled around and playing along. Somewhere between high fiving strangers and laughing at wrong answers, we both started to loosen up a little — it was one of those magical experiences you can’t fully describe. As we listened to the Final Jeopardy question, I put my arm around him, and placed my chin on his shoulder. He put his hand on my leg, whispered something into my ear, and we kissed. Ice broken. We looked at each other, smiling — relieved to be at the kissing portion of the evening. Who would’ve thought all along, an episode of Jeopardy would be the thing to break the ice and get Drake a (great!) second date?

Do you have a date moment that has stuck with you? I would love to hear it!

P.S. What do you order on dates and a first date ritual.

(Photo of Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon.)