This story begins on a long car ride from South Carolina to upstate New York. I had been arrested two months earlier, so my marijuana dealing days were over and my bartending job was slow. I needed something new. My roommate at the time had a company that worked out of town. His contract was to install Point of Sale systems in the kitchens of Red Robin restaurants around the country. There were three of us in the crew. One was my best friend at the time, Matt, and the other was a guy named Dustin who I was also friends with.

We were going to need weed.

I am a man who knows his way around dating apps, so I knew this task would not be a problem. I changed my location to where we were going, and as we drove up there I just kept on swiping. Weed was a priority, but a pretty face would be nice, too. Swipe after swipe, match after match, conversation after conversation—dating apps can be quite exhausting. Finding a girl that is hot, has weed, and is willing to meet a stranger on a business trip isn’t what I would call easy.

After endless swipes, I matched with a girl in Syracuse. Her name was Kelly. She smoked and was gorgeous, so naturally I was scared she wasn’t real. As we got to talking, I knew that she was actually legit, and at that point it was just about making her feel comfortable that I wasn’t fucking weird. Our conversation was good, and she agreed to meet me to sell me bud. She wasn’t a dealer at all; she just understood my situation and wanted to help.

Matt and I went to an Irish bar in Syracuse to wait for her. We took a couple shots of Jameson and waited patiently. She showed up and was in a hurry, so I went out to her car. She was hotter than the pictures and super chill. I got the weed from her, but we agreed to smoke later. I figure she was probably just trying to appear busy in case she wasn’t interested, but once she met me I guess she felt comfortable. Later that night we met up and smoked. She picked me up and we drove around town. We talked the entire time I was in town working, and we started hooking up. We ended up going to this beautiful lake together. We blunt rode in her car everywhere, and she showed me around the area. We didn’t want it to end.

I had to go to Rochester next. which was hours away. We kept talking, though, and continued talking even after we moved on to Buffalo. She drove all the way to Buffalo, which was a four hour drive for her. We partied in town and had an amazing night. She then took me back to Syracuse—just her and I—because we had a day off. We went out and ended the night with some fantastic pizza and sex.

The crew had to go back to Rochester to do another store, so she drove me all the way there to meet up with my friends. She stayed another night with me, and we ended up back at the lake after that. It was as if we had a ten day serious relationship. We did everything together. We had crazy deep talks. Our connection was everything, and we just had so much fun. I don’t think her plan was to spend all that time driving around New York with a guy she’d just met, but during that time it was just a relationship neither one of us could let end. Saying bye to someone when everything is perfect is so fucking hard.

I was out on bail and I knew prison was in my future. She was about to go back to school and had her whole life ahead of her. We still talk to this day, even though she has a child now. She was a great vacation bae, and in my mind she will always be perfect. One of the greatest times of my life all centered around a plant, the same plant I’m in prison for now.