A friend invited my roommates and I to the scottish highland games in our city. The friend competes there and has asked me in the past to come work out with his competition crew (I wanted to wait until football season was over as I am a far more avid football fan than I am fan of waking up early and throwing around heavy objects for a workout). We arrive and we're chilling under the group's EZup when a random HB7 asks me "Do you throw?" ('throw' is the general expression for compete, TIL). I told her I was considering it, but I didn't know what to wear under the kilt. She laughed and her boyfriend reeled her back in. She started talking to my female roommates while I introduced myself to the boyfriend. I discovered he's not the possessive douche he seemed to be and I successfully recruited him as a friend. She taps me on the shoulder and introduces herself as she had just introduced herself to my roommates. Boyfriend took off to talk to some other people he knew and my roommates left to go find food leaving me alone with HB7. She said that she throws most competitions, but sat out this one because it was too cold. From there:

Me: "Well, I know what'd warm you up."

Her: "Oh yeah? What's that?"

Me: "Getting out there and competing, you wuss."

She laughs and shoves me. I initiate a little kino (we're very much in public and I don't want to aggresively move with boyfriend around) by brushing some grass out of her hair and hoodie. We make some more small talk and everyone shows back up, so I tell her I'll catch her later and go check out the cultural exhibits. At this point, I think Boyfriend is a nice guy and I don't want to make too strong a move his girl, so I'll just keep flirting and have some fun.

Fast forward, there's a BBQ at friend's house after the games. I'm grabbing a beer from the cooler and HB7 pops up and asks me again if I plan on throwing. I tell her I'm strongly considering it now because, honestly, it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. She can't stop talking about how much fun it is and how much she loves it. The conversation breaks as more people join in (but no boyfriend) and I excuse myself to go mingle. I met a few new people and was asking them about certain workouts and practice sessions, inadvertently building social proof by the truckload. I go get another beer and who walks to greet me? Yep, HB7. I ask her if she'd like a beer. She moves to take my freshly opened one, presumably to shit test. I pull back. "Excuse you. I didn't offer you THIS beer! Go get one and if you're good, maybe I'll open it for you." She puts on a pouty look, takes a beer, and opens it herself. "Guess you're not going to be good then." She says "Are you kidding? I can be great. I'm a muse. I always have new material!" Got her qualifying herself to me, this is awesome. I reply "Okay, let's hear some new material." She says "I don't need to think of the new material, I AM the material. You think of the new material." I say "Ah, well, I'll let you know if I think of any." dismissing her attempted DHV before I saunter off to mingle some more. I don't need to look. I know she's smiling.

She comes to me first when her ride's leaving and here's something I feel I should have seen coming: Boyfriend is actually Just-A-Friend and his "girlfriend" is HB7's ride home. She tells me see ya with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Shit got real for me real quick. What was an opportunity to practice had just turned serious in a hurry and I had to act quickly. Surprisingly, I didn't panic as I normally would. Instead, I said "Before you go, maybe you can help me out with something. I met this cool girl at the scottish games, but she's been playing coy and hasn't offered me her number. Is that weird?" She says "Well, maybe she wasn't asked for it." I say "That's true, maybe if she had a phone to put her number in, she wouldn't be so possesive of it." She says "Maybe, if only there was a phone around here." I say "Hold on. HEY! Anyone got a phone? ... ... ... Shit, guess not. Oh well, here's mine. I guess you can use it." She smiles, puts number in, gives me another hug and takes off.

When I got home, I followed the Wygant momentum advice and, against the advice of the female roommates who told me to wait until tomorrow, I texted her. Just kept it simple: "Drive safe, maybe I'll have some more material next time I see you." I haven't heard back yet, but I expect at least a Got-Home-Safe message.

Summary: This felt way too natural Seddit. I am not this guy. Or rather, I WASN'T this guy before I started putting everything together. Truthfully, I wouldn't even have gone to the games in the first place if I hadn't been encouraged to broaden my horizons and enrich my life after things I've read here. Furthermore, my cool-under-pressure was brought on by my past failures, the EXACT thing I was afraid to do, yet was encouraged to do when I started out. I dedicate this one to you, guys. Thanks.