"I can't believe they're making me do this," Jules said to herself as she walked down the street. Her old college friends had made her set up a profile on an online dating website. Without her knowing. True, she had been single for a while now, but she didn't think she was quite desperate enough for online dating.

They told her the day before that she had a date with some guy who came up as a match. Jules really didn't give much value to it. She hadn't been the one who filled out the questionnaire in the first place. Needless to say, she really wasn't expecting much from this date. Her friends had basically guilt tripped her into accepting the date after they showed her his profile.

Jules typically didn't date guys younger than her, though in this case he was only younger by a year, a couple months really. He was still in school though, which made him seem younger in Jules' mind. She had to admit, he was cute, but a little bit forgettable. Her friends showed her the messages that "she" and the guy has exchanged. They were pretty standard. Nothing to get too excited about. He seemed really excited to meet her, which was bizarre in her mind.

She was walking to the restaurant she and this guy were supposed to meet. Another thing she wasn't looking forward to. Most interactions Jules had with seafood was not ideal. After one bad case of food poisoning, just the smell made her feel queasy.

She made it to the restaurant, but she didn't see him. Jules couldn't help but think if him not showing up would be the best or worst case scenario.

"Hi, you're Jules, right?" the guy standing next to her introduced himself.

Jules practically had to do a double take. That was definitely the guy from the Internet. It wasn't often that people got her name right off the bat. "Yeah, wow, I did not see you there. That's embarrassing."

"No, it's okay," he said with a friendly smile. "Happens a lot. I'm Matthew, by the way."

"Right," confirmed Jules. "Well, let's get this show on the road."

He opened the door for Jules, and the smell immediately hit her. This was going to be a long night. Her stomach was already aching by the time they were seated.

"How's your day going so far?" Matthew asked.

"Alright, I guess. About as normal as it usually goes," Jules said almost like a sigh.

"And that's good?" Matthew confused Jules with a question. She had said it was alright and normal, but was that good?

"Your profile didn't say where you worked. Are you in school too or taking time off..." Matthew probed as he changed the subject.

"I'm unemployed," Jules quipped. She wasn't too happy about how dismal her job search was going.

Matthew scrambled to get off the question. "I've actually been looking forward to today." He laughed nervously. "I've been wanting to get to know you, but first dates are always kind of nerve wracking. So they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression."

"Uh huh." Jules only felt a little bad for not putting forth more effort.

Matthew obscured his face as he looked through the menu. "So, what do you think you'll get? I think there's a lot of good stuff here."

"Probably a salad or something boring like that. I'm not really that hungry," Jules lied. She wasn't quite sure why she did. She could have told him right then and there that seafood made her sick. She figured she didn't want to embarrass him in front of the restaurant.

"Really? Are you feeling okay?" Matthew asked.

Jules thought it was sweet. "Really, it's fine. They usually bring some sort of bread, so if I do get hungry, I can eat that."

The rest of their dinner continued with awkward, pleasant conversation. Jules tried to keep the subject matter superficial despite Matthew's attempts to get to know her better. They split the bill and left the restaurant together.

"Did you still want to see a movie?" Matthew asked her as they were walking.

"That was the plan. Why?" Jules couldn't believe that he was giving her such an obvious out. "Did you have something else in mind?"

"Well..." Matthew started. He nervously ran his hand through his hair. Jules hoped he didn't suddenly turn into a "nice guy" and expect her to owe him anything. He was much too nice for a first date in the first place. "I was just getting the impression that you might not want to continue because of how it's gone so far."

Now Jules felt bad. Dinner hadn't gone that horrible. She could tell he was blaming himself. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, for one thing, you don't even like seafood," Matthew answered smartly.

Jules was surprised, she hadn't told him anything like that. "How could you tell?"

Matthew smiled slightly. "You'd make a face every time the waitress passed with food. I wish you had told me that earlier."

Jules shrugged. "It didn't really matter."

"It matters to me," Matthew whined. "I'm just making sure you're having a good time."

What a baby, Jules thought. She decided she'd entertain him a bit longer. "So, what movie are we going to see?"

Matthew looked at her quizically and then smiled. "I've seen a lot of commercials for this one movie. It's called Loved Only Once."

Jules had to laugh internally. This was not looking promising, but at least the company wasn't bad.

Jules was laughing out loud this time. She had been holding it in since the movie started. This was absolutely the worst date she had ever been on.

"What's so funny?" Matthew asked. He looked like he had all the life sucked out of him.

"Oh, that was the best!" she enthused sarcastically. "That was a great movie!"

"You...liked it?" Matthew questions her sanity.

"It was everything and more." That one wasn't exactly a lie. She knew she wasn't going to like it, but she had no idea any movie could possibly be that bad. She absolutely adored that look on Matthew's face. "What was your favorite part?"

"The end, I guess," Matthew answered honestly.

"Yeah? Ooh, so you liked the part where he swore to love her no matter what and then runs off with some other girl? Wasn't the irony amazing?! The director was a genius," Jules went on. She pretended like she couldn't tell that Matthew had hated it just as much as her.

Matthew looked so uncomfortable. He looked so confused, Jules couldn't help but grab his hand. "So, what's next?"

"Th..." Matthew looked at the hand Jules was holding. He pinched his lips together to keep from smiling too obviously. "That's it. That's all I planned."

"Hmmm," Jules hummed. She noticed the buildings they were passing as they walked. "Well, this is where I stop," Jules said when they got to her apartment building.

"Oh." Matthew said. He looked up at the building. "I guess we should say goodbye then."

Jules really did like that look on his face. Or maybe she just liked his face. He brought it close to hers and kissed her lips.

It was unexpected to say the least. And not entirely pleasant if she had to be honest. She didn't know what she had done to deserve this, but at least his lips were soft.

Matthew's lips were pursed as he broke the kiss. "I still smell like fish, don't I."

Jules held back her laugh and nodded.

"Sorry. Sorry," he muttered. "Bye."

"Bye." Jules gave him a little wave, but she didn't think he could see.

A couple days later, Jules decided to go back to that dating website just for kicks. She actually looked at her profile this time. She was impressed by how her friends had filled out the questionaire. They were a lot more honest about her than she ever would have been. She couldn't figure out how they still made her look desirable. It was a shame she was still going to delete it anyway.

A little notification popped up on the corner of the screen. Someone had sent her a message. Jules hoped it wasn't some other guy who managed to match up with her.

"Hey! It's Matthew. I'm not sure if you remember me, but I was wondering if you wanted to go on another date?"

Jules smiled. That guy had sent her another message even after that atrocious date? He must really like her, she thought.

"I was hoping you could give me another chance. I'm not usually that dismal on first dates. I'll understand if you don't want to, but I really think we might have something."

Jules rolled her eyes. She had a guess or two of what that "something" could mean, or what that "something" meant to most guys she met on the Internet.

"Of course I remember you. That was only a few days ago. I'll agree, but on one condition. We have to go on the exact same date. Same restaurant, same movie. Otherwise, I'm just going to assume that you're dismal on all dates."

Jules waited a few minutes as she waited for his reply.

"Ha. You're not making this very easy for me. I accept the challenge. Are you sure you want the same resturant though? If I remember, you don't like seafood."

"Yep. If you really want to prove you can do better, that'll be the only thing to change. Still think you can do it?" I replied.

"I'm going to have to if I want to go out with you again. By the way, is it too much to ask for your phone number?"

She sent him her number. In the text she received, the message read the date and time of their next first date.

On their second first date, Jules noticed him right away. She had no idea a guy in a button down flannel shirt could look that good. The little bit of white undershirt showing on top looked straight out of a magazine if being dressed like a lumberjack was in fashion.

"You look nice," Jules said.

Matthew smiled at the positive reception and even had the common courtesy to blush. "Ah ha ha. Ah ha haha. You...you look..."

"Off to a great start, buddy." She clapped him on the arm.

Matthew cleared his throat when they sat down at their table. "You look really pretty tonight, Jules," he finally got out.

Jules pushed her hair behind her shoulder and turned her head to hide her smile. She knew fishing that skirt from the back of her closet was a good idea. It wasn't often that she made guys incapable of speaking, but this was definitely a felling she could get used to.

"So, how was your day today?" Matthew said, just like he had on their first first date.

"It's getting more interesting," she said. "You're still in school, right? Where do you go?"

Matthew was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected question. "Oh, uh, I'm in vet school. It's the Lionel Byrd School of Veterinary Medicine..."

"Dude, no way! You're going to be a vet." Jules was actually interested in this topic. "That's so cool!"

"Really?" Matthew perked up.

"Animals are the best. Better than people sometimes," Jules said. "So, are you studying to work in zoos or something? Farm animals? Pets?"

"It's pets mostly, but we actually learn a bit of everything," Matthew explained. "Do you have a favorite?"

"I'm a bit partial to dogs. I was a professional dog walker for a while, you know," Jules said.

"Really?" Matthew laughed.

"Just for a bit," Jules clarified. "But if I were to go for a favorite animal, I'd have to say chicks."

"Chickens?" Matthew continued to laugh. "I would never have expected that."

"Baby ones, man. They're so soft and yellow. And then there's the ones where they're brown and freckled... Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I'm crazy or something?"

Jules had caught Matthew staring at her, but he apparently hadn't realized that he was staring at her himself. "Nothing. I've just never heard someone talk so enthusiastically about chickens, baby or otherwise."

The moment paused for a bit as Jules assessed if he was being serious or making fun of her. "So, you said you usually don't do that dismal on first dates. How many of those dating website first dates have you had?"

Matthew laughed uncomfortably. Jules waited patiently for his response. "Eleven," he answered sadly.

"Eleven?!" Jules gasped. "Isn't that a lot?"

"It's more than I would like," he admitted.

"Were they just so uniniteresting that you didn't want to go on another date or something?" Jules was honestly confused about how a guy could try that many dates on a dating website if it didn't work.

"Well, no... By the time I asked them out again, they either couldn't remember me or found someone else they were more interested in."

Jules felt sad for him. He was actually a pretty good guy, but that explained why he asked if she remembered him.

"Moving on from that..." Matthew laughed nervously. "What kind of food do you actually like to eat?"

Jules really couldn't pay as much attention to the movie this time. Matthew kept tapping the back of her hand with his thumb. They had their hands held throughout the entire movie and hadn't let go once. She could tell he wasn't watching either; he was too busy looking at her. Every time she still a glance his way, he looked back at the screen to pretend like he was paying attention to worst example of a movie in existence. She did, however, notice when Matthew reached into his pocket to pull out a stick of gum. Jules expertly timed her automatic smile to one of the parts of the movie that was supposed to be funny or endearing, she really couldn't tell.

"What a great movie!" Jules kept up the charade as she got up as the movie credits were rolling. Unfortunately, she heard a loud rip over the awful credit music.

She looked down to see the horrified face of Matthew. Her skirt had gotten caught and ripped a giant hole. The culprit was Matthew's leg, which still had a bit of fabric caught under his thigh.

Jules could there was no way she would hide her underwear or any other unmentionable simply by adjusting her clothes. Her plain white undies were visible for all the world to see.

"Shit! I'm so sorry!" Matthew quickly apologized. "Shit, um..."

"It's okay. Just take off your shirt," Jules whispered calmly. "You've got another one underneath, right? I can tie the top one around my waist.

"But..." Matthew looked mortified.

"Do you want the world to see my ass? Hurry."

Matthew hastily started unbuttoning his front. It was soon revealed that the shirt Matthew wore underneath was not a plain white undershirt. It had the Mighty Ducks logo and was also quite a few sizes too small on him.

"What the hell is that?" Jules was distracted from her own embarrassment by noticing his.

"It's my lucky shirt. Just take it." His face was redder than hers but he handed her his flannel shirt anyway.

Jules tied it around her waist. She look at Matthew as he still sat in his seat, his hands covering his face.

"Thanks," she said simply.

"It's the least I can do," he groaned. "I'm the one who ripped your clothes. I can buy you a new skirt."

"Nah, I think we're about even now." Jules extended a hand to Matthew.

They got quite a few stares on the way to Jules' apartment. Matthew really didn't say much.

"Well, here we are," Jules announced.

Matthew sighed. "It's probably time I found a new lucky shirt. I really am sorry..."

Jules reached forward and placed her hand on the back of Matthew's head. She closed the distance between them and kissed him.

He seemed surprised but didn't back away. As he moved his lips, he grabbed her hips where his flannel shirt gripped her curves.

Jules soon got lost in his lips. She had no idea he could kiss like this based on their first one. His lips were soft like she remembered, but they moved expertly against hers. When they parted hers, she was in heaven. It was just a matter at this point of who was going to break first, and neither of them seemed keen on losing.

Jules brought her hand to his chest, feeling through his skin tight lucky shirt. She let it fall to his abdomen then slowly brought it lower...and lower...

Matthew abruptly broke it off then, breathing like a mad man. "I-I should probably go."

Pity, Jules thought to herself. She untied the sleeves from around her waist. "Thanks for letting me borrow your shirt."

She gave it back to him and turned to face her apartment building, knowing full well that he could see her ass. She smiled to herself when she heard someone trip.

"You okay back there?" She called out.

"Yeah." Matthew's voice cracked. "I just...didn't see the curb there."

Jules laughed. "Bye, Matthew."

"B-Bye."

"One more time," was all the text said.

The text was sort of out of the blue. Jules hadn't heard from Matthew in a few days, it that she was worried or anything.

"What?" she replied.

"I'd like to redo that date again. Please."

Jules smiled to herself. "You know my conditions. This would make first date number three."

"I'm not going to mess up this time."

"You don't have to be so serious. Dates are supposed to be fun. And I think we have different ideas about what messing up is."

"Then, I promise to make it a lot more fun."

"When did you want to meet?"

Jules went to the restaurant one more time. She didn't see Matthew right away. Instead, she felt a tug on her waist. It twisted her around to meet a gentle pressure on her lips.

Jules had to laugh. "Is this how you usually start a first date?"

"Ideally," he said with a smile. "How was your day today, Jules?" he asked her as he held her in his arms.

"Progressively getting better, Matthew," she answered. "You wearing your lucky shirt tonight?"

"Ha ha ha. No," he laughed dryly.

"Aw, I kind of liked it," she teased him.

"Well, I think I planned something you'll like a lot more," he said.

He led ther into the restaurant where he already had a table set up. Set up on one side of the table was a box of take out.

"Wow, is that for me?" Jules asked.

"Of course. I thought you'd be tired of eating salads," Matthew said. "So I brought you food from somewhere else. Is that okay?"

"You're stretching my conditions a bit, but since you already brought it..." She opened up the box to find a couple of slices of pizza. "Nice."

"Good." Matthew looked relieved. "I may have struck out on seafood, but I figured pizza was a safe bet."

"Safe bet, huh? And that's supposed to be good?" Jules said as she took a bite of pizza.

Matthew couldn't help but smile. "Touché."

There was nobody in the theater that night. The movie had been showing long enough that most of the public knew better than to waste their money watching garbage. The only people who pretended like they didn't were Jules and Matthew. Even then, they were barely attempting to watch the movie.

On their way back to Jules' apartment, they talked enthusiastically about the movie, analyzing "character development," effectiveness of certain camera angles, and how the grainy-like quality actually contributed nicely to the film as a whole.

"Here we are again," Jules said cheerily when they stopped in front of their building.

Matthew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Aren't you aware that there isn't one thing I wouldn't ever never not do for you?" He said that incomprehensible attempt at romantic garbage.

Jules was awed. Not that he had said probably the most romantic thing in that movie, but the fact that he had bothered to memorize a line from the movie at all, and say it out loud no less.

"I'd cut off my toe," he continued to quote. "I'd swallow a bee. I'd succumb to any amount of bearable torture just to..."

Jules kissed him. She couldn't help herself. Not only could she not bear that thought of his lips saying another word from that wretched movie in attempt to woo her, she was also very much turned on by the display. He must have liked her. He must have really liked her.

She was always impressed by the way Matthew kissed. He seemed like he was always trying to find new ways to please her as his hands started to explore her curves a little more. She wanted to know what else he could do.

Matthew's breaths were hot and heavy on her skin, but his smile was the thing that made her light headed. "I should probably go home soon," he laughed as he kissed her again. It was pretty clear that he had no real desire to go home.

Jules had one final test for him. "Do you want to come inside?"

Matthew paused. "What?"

Jules couldn't believe she was doing this. She had met this guy on the Internet less than a month ago. "What I'm trying to say is would you like to go up to my apartment and stay. For the night."

Matthew still looked confused.

"Jesus, Matthew. Sex. I want to have sex with you. Is that okay?" she put into blunt words.

"H-hell yeah!" Matthew kissed her again, but more aggressively this time. He had gathered more boldness and blatantly touched her body how he wanted to, not caring if that meant traversing under several layers of clothes.

"Whoa, hold on, tiger. Let's get inside first." Jules was breathless as she punched in the sequence to open the front door of the building. She grabbed him by the waist of his pants and pulled him after her.

It had been a long time since Jules had been woken up by an alarm sound. She opened her eyes to see the pleasant sight of a broad, naked back.

"Shit," she breathed reverently.

"Sorry." Matthew sat up and turned off the alarm on his phone.

Jules didn't think she had seen anything more beautiful in her entire life. After the night she just had, she couldn't believe she had ever thought of him as anything less than the most amazing man in the universe.

He squinted down at her, sleep not quite gone from his face. He lowered himself to kiss her. "Thanks for last night. That was...awesome."

Jules smiled remembering what they had done. "It was pretty awesome."

"I'm going to have to go though," he groaned as he got out of bed and slipped his glasses on. "I've still got to go back home and grab my stuff for class."

Jules sat up on her elbow, watching him trying to find his clothes. This was her final test. "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Matthew laughed as he pulled on his shirt. "Sure! I mean, I don't know how long Loved Only Once will be in theaters, but we can try to squeeze in one more first date if last night wasn't perfect enough for you."

"No, I mean right now. Do you want to go get some coffee? I don't have much in terms of breakfast here, and the place across the street just opened up. Do you want to actually go out with me?"

Matthew caught the last part of the question. He came over to the bed and kissed Jules. "Of course I want to go out with you. Let's go get coffee."

She smiled. "You sure? You might be late for class."

"I can be a little late. Besides, it's not everyday that you get a second date," he joked.

"Fourth," Jules corrected. She sat up and stretched. "This will be our fourth. I never sleep with guys on a first date."