It’s every woman’s dream to end up at a Buffalo Wild Wings on a first date. There is truly nothing sexier than licking the wing sauce off your fingers as you wash it down with a cold beer. And when you find the sweet spot of the week, a Friday afternoon that is, to make said dream come true, you consider yourself lucky. 

As the afternoon sun charmed my white skin, I found myself channeling my, “you use to run every day and be in shape’ inner goddess to successfully complete my 3 mile run.  I chugged water, read a few text messages, and had decided a shower and a date was just what my bruised ego needed. 

When I arrived, Tate was already seated at a table near the bar and gladly got up to give the typical let’s pretend we know each other hug many online daters have become so accustomed to. We exchanged the details of our day as we washed down our beverages. He had a son and was newly separated so as we entered the ‘tell me about your family’ part of the date the waters got a bit dicey. 

So back to the wings….there were no wings on this date. Maybe Tate is cheap? Maybe Tate figures wings will negate both of our earlier workout sessions? Maybe Tate is a vegetarian? 

Ok, back to the date. In every dating book, podcast, YouTube video out there one of the top ten forbidden topics on a first date is exes. As I slurped my diet soda, Tate upset that norm to its fullest. And just as he got to the part about only having sex 12 times in the last 7 years so he ended up cheating on his wife and mother of his child, his voice doubled in volume. Cue in the family of four seated directly across from us and you’re left with an uncomfortable situation.

 As the date continued, he carried on about wanting to find a woman to complete his power couple goals- someone fit and smart. He ended the conversation by letting me know that he had completed 2 Ironmans and had his Masters Degree and asked if I thought he was a bad person.

That night as I laid in bed catching up on emails, I found myself googling, ‘Does cheating make you a bad person?’ While I might not have been qualified to play therapist on that beautiful Friday afternoon, I took comfort in knowing that a person is free to choose, but they are not free from the consequences of their choices. If Tate and I ever cross paths again, I’ll suggest the boneless garlic parmesan wings and wish him a future marked with love & loyalty.