Blown Away

Story Sent in by Melissa:

Ray asked me twice by email if I wanted to go to a firing range for our first time out together. I politely declined both times (I figure that a couple with weapons in their hands would be more appropriate for far later in the relationship) and he agreed to go out to the beach with me, followed by lunch.

It was a chilly day for a swim, but not so for a walk. Despite informing Ray by email that I wouldn't be swimming that day, he showed up to the beach in a bathing suit, and was ticked off when I didn't.

"Where's your bikini?" he asked, bluntly.

"I'm not going swimming," I informed him for the second time in 24 hours, "The water's freezing."

"Let's go to the shooting range."

I said, "We can take a nice walk on the beach, instead–"

"But not go swimming. What's the point?"

I thought for a moment, then said, "There's more of a point to both of us enjoying the sun and sand than only one of us enjoying shooting."

He begrudgingly joined me for the beach walk, but already I was feeling that any more time spent with this guy would be a big mistake. He was relatively well-behaved for our hour-long walk, and then I asked him if he wanted to go to lunch.

He asked, "Can we stop at the shooting range for a minute on the way? I promise you'll love it–"

"No. Let's just go to lunch."

"At the shooting range? You know, they have a slop kitchen–"

"No!"

He said, "Dumbest date ever. Fine. Let's go to lunch."

I was ready to call it quits then and there but then he said, "I won't mention the range again. I'm sorry. I was just really in the mood to go this week."

I thought, water under the bridge. Let's just do lunch.

At lunch, he took my hand on the table and shaped it into a gun-holding position. He said, "That's how you'd hold this type of gun, that's how you'd hold that type of gun..." and so on.

I didn't follow most of it, and I took my hand away and said, "Can we seriously talk about anything else?"

He laughed and said, "Sorry, but once you get me going, nothing can make me shut up about guns."

I replied, "A gun would."

That made him shut up, but good. He sat back, said, "Whatever," and we made smalltalk for the rest of the date, which was honestly the best part of the whole thing.

I was surprised when he contacted me for a second date, but he shouldn't have been surprised when I declined.