The day we met...
From Brock's point of view...
I just celebrated my birthday, and with all the pride festivities left to be celebrated.. there was no way I was going to go to this pool party. It was a chance to just be judged, to flirt a little with no positive outcome. It sounded like something that I was definitely not interested in.
My friend, Jenny, encouraged me to go because she was on a huge kick of just saying YES. She said to take a chance at a surprise. I thought, hmmmm.. getting a good make out of this could be a good thing. So I grabbed my speedo and went.
There had to be 200 guys there. I was small talking and mingling. I knew a lot of people and had even been flirting with a few of them prior to actually meeting them there! I was across the pool when I saw this guy who i had never seen before. He was ripped. His abs were washboard tight. His biceps were ginormous with that one huge vein glistening in the sunlight. His nipples were pierced and I was drooling.
I asked myself if it were worth embarrassing myself to go and introduce myself. I remembered what Jenny said... “just say yes”... it was worth it.
I never really knew what love at first sight was until that moment. I was heart eyes, I was drawn to him like a magnet. I talked to this guy... this Riley. We talked off and on through out the remainder of the party. People kept pulling me this way and that way.. and I really just wanted to spend the entire time with him.
I suddenly couldn’t find him. The man that I couldn’t just let go of.. He left.
He wasn’t getting away that easy. I found him on Instagram.... and messaged him my number. He told me he liked me too... and the rest is history.
From Riley's point of view...
I met Brock a year after coming out. By then I had completely changed the details of my life. Before everything changed, I had what my LDS community would’ve described as “the perfect setup”. I had served a mission, I got a degree from BYU, I married my best friend and had a 1 year old daughter! I loved much of my life. Yet...something was missing.
I’ve been drawn to men for as long as I could remember, but my faith lead me to reject those natural feelings. I beat and holed myself up in thoughts of self-doubt and self-loathing. I never once remember asking myself what “I” wanted or what “I” felt about a controversial issue. Instead I shrugged that responsibility off onto those around me - and onto the LDS church. Since they seemed to know better than me.
It wasn’t until I could finally ask myself those questions that I was able to admit to myself what was wrong. What was missing. What I wanted in my life - what would make me truly happy. And that was a genuine relationship with a man I could raise a family with.
Fast forward a year, after excruciating heartache, me moving to Midvale, getting a divorce, starting my own massage practice, and dating men for the first time, I finally met Brock!
That June was to be my first pride ever, and I almost missed it - having booked massage clients all that weekend! At the last minute I decided I had to go to at least one pride party that weekend - and so I went to my first gay pool party that Saturday (June 1, 2018). I was so nervous - I knew zero people there. I kept to the edges of all the crowds, and felt instantly awkward whenever I made eye contact with anyone. I felt like the nerd in a high school movie who goes to a party where people were drinking and having a blast.
And then Brock showed up. I remember seeing him from across the pool, and I was instantly struck by his gorgeous blue eyes. I swear time slowed down, but he came straight toward me. We talked a bit and I remember hoping he was as into me as I was into him!
Right off the bat I knew he was out of my league - and really well known! People kept interrupting our conversation until I at last decided I couldn’t compete with all that attention. So I left. Without giving him my number - without getting his
Within an hour though I got a message from him on Instagram - basically saying he wasn’t about to let me get away so easily! We had our first date the very next day. And the rest is history!!
I love him with all my heart.
