“I’m dating another girl by the way. I just wanted to be honest with you.”
—Andrés
How it started…
“Oh don’t worry, I love a competition.”
— Lela
It all started at one of my usual happy hours at my mom’s house with her two best friends, Doris and Annette. I’d been doing these weekly happy hours while being single — honestly thriving, drinking wine, and gossiping with women who have way better stories than anyone my age. I was in my total homebody era.
Yami (my childhood best friend) had been telling me for ages that I had to meet this guy, Andrés. I brushed it off — he’d just gotten out of a nine-year relationship, and I wasn’t about to be anyone’s rebound. Funny twist: we’d actually already matched on Hinge before this, messaged a little, and I… ghosted him. (Oops.)
Fast forward to a Friday night — Yami invites me to a BBQ to celebrate Doug (Andrés’ childhood best friend) getting into flight school. I said no at first. Then a few glasses of wine later, my mom Doris and Annette were hyping me up like I was about to walk a red carpet. We had a full-blown fashion show before I finally left the house.
I get to Yami’s, look through the backyard window… and there he is. Andrés. STUNNING. Like, jaw-on-the-floor, why did I ever ghost this man levels of hot. He walks inside, grabs a beer right in front of me, and I swear I saw slow-motion muscles and dramatic lighting straight out of a movie trailer.
Yami hands me a shot and says, “Ready?” I say, “Let’s do this.” We walk outside — and there he is, playing beer pong with another girl. I walked right up, said, “Hi, I’m Lela, and you know exactly who I am,” kicked the poor girl out of his team, and claimed my spot. The rest of the night? Dancing, laughing, kissing — it felt like we’d known each other forever.
Two days later, we went to brunch and somehow turned it into a 12-hour date… and honestly, I never left his house since.
The Location: Yami & Doug’s Backyard
The year was 2022.
12hr date picture
“Who Knew ‘Fine, I’ll Go’ Would Lead to Forever?”
Fast forward to 2025 — and somehow, that one wine-fueled night of happy hour bravery turned into a forever kind of love. Andrés proposed (yes, there were tears, squeals, and at least one dramatic “is this real life?” moment), and now he’s officially mine — for always and ever. It still feels surreal that a last-minute outfit change, a few glasses of wine, and a dare from my mom’s friends led to this.
We’ve laughed endlessly about how I almost didn’t go to that BBQ, or how I once ghosted him like it was my full-time job. But fate clearly had other plans — and a great sense of humor. So here we are: engaged, obsessed, and still making each other laugh every day.
Huge thank-you to Yami and Doug — the ultimate matchmakers — for unknowingly scripting the best love story ever.