Bryan Abasolo appears to have The Bachelorette competition in the bag -- at least at this point in Rachel Lindsay's season.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rachel and Bryan, a 37-year-old chiropractor, enjoyed their first one-on-one date together in Monday night's episode of The Bachelorette. Not only did they face their fears by rappelling down a 187-foot Olympic ski jump in Oslo, Norway, but they also couldn't keep their hands off each other.
"I vividly recall getting [Nick Viall]'s First Impression Rose last season, and how excruciating it was to wait for that first one-on-one. But Bryan made it clear he had never let that spark fade. In fact, he had let that spark build into a roaring four-alarm blaze," Rachel wrote in her People blog.
As fans recall, Bryan received Rachel's First Impression Rose as well as the first kiss of Season 13. His charming ways and smooth conversation seemingly had Rachel in a trance -- so much so, she was willing to participate in activities completely out of her comfort zone.
"I absolutely love the dates that let us hit the town and explore the local culture. But a little known fact about me is that I hate weird food. Not just food that tastes weird, but even food that has a weird sounding name, like squash or beets (I know -- very basic of me.) I always say I am only boring when it comes to food," Rachel explained.
ADVERTISEMENT
"If you would have told me at any point in my life that I'd eat a sheep's testicle on a date someday, I would have laughed in your face and probably slapped it too. Well, the possibility of love makes you do crazy things, so having a bite of the local sheep's testicle did not stop me on my date with Bryan. And don't even get me started on rappelling from the ski jump."
Rachel, typically adventurous, was clearly terrified when rappelling with Bryan; however, the bachelor attempted to comfort her at every opportunity.
"Between laughing and screaming, I don't think I took a breath until my toes touched the ground and I was safely in Bryan's arms," said the 32-year-old Dallas attorney.
"That night, Bryan not only showed me that our emotional connection had caught up to our physical chemistry, he told me he was falling in love!"
Bryan has been shown communicating with Rachel so openly, telling her that they could have the fairy tale and are a perfect match.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bryan seems to have no doubt in his mind that he'll marry Rachel and eventually become the father of her children, but his confidence makes the Bachelorette worry he's too good to be true.
"I thought I had banished old 'scared-of-vocalizing-feelings Rachel' before this journey had started, but suddenly that old fearful me was in my chair staring across the dinner table at Bryan and starting to panic," Rachel said of her reaction to Bryan's profession of love.
"But something changed that night, and I was able to push past my old familiar fears and really take in the feelings behind Bryan's words. Bryan's vulnerability challenged me to reciprocate that vulnerability."
Rachel added, "I was developing feelings, too, and that knot of fear in my stomach turned into butterflies. I've always liked butterflies."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski