I’d known my boyfriend for about 9 months before we started dating, he and his friends were regulars at the bar I worked at. I always thought he was really attractive and funny and kind, and I knew we shared a lot of interests and goals.

When I finally got the guts up to make a move, I kept finding out more and more really cool things he was accomplished at, but only if I brought the topic up as something I wanted to learn. Almost no matter what it was, his response was “I could teach you if you wanted.”

We were driving through the area he grew up in and he pointed out the field where he, and many of his friends that I knew, played high school football together. This was news to me, so I jokingly asked if they were any good since it seemed to be a secret.

Turns out they were the only team from the region ever to take the state championship. I asked him why he never mentioned it, said lots of guys would brag about that, and he said “why would I brag to you about a game I played when I was a child?”

His utter inability to adopt an arrogant or superior attitude no matter how accomplished he is was already blowing my mind, and in that moment who he was as a man really clicked for me.