The words didn't come easy in the first moments of their courtship. And even when they did, Stephen Monahan and Britney Hilbun were holding out for the big score.
Theirs was a relationship hatched online, in the virtual world of a game called "Words With Friends." Matched when they hit the game's "random opponent" button, months passed before the two -- who lived 160 miles apart -- even met in person.
Now the two are engaged and living in Tyler, Texas, 90 miles east of Dallas.
"It's kind of funny to think, in retrospect," Monahan said. "If either of us had waited a second later, we may not have ever been paired up."
Look around you: People everywhere are buried in smartphones or computer monitors, making their latest move in multiplayer games like "Words With Friends," which has 20 million players worldwide. Others, less visible, are in front of home consoles, lost in fantasy or in conflict-based games with others across the Internet.
Few, if any, go into these games looking for love. But the ability to "chat" within the contests can spur flirtations much like those in a bar, sporting event, arts festival or any other setting where you might meet an intriguing stranger.
Such relationships will become more commonplace, some believe, as social media redefine our interactions.
"This is probably one of the biggest shifts in the last decade -- the integration of online activities and connections into our social lives," said T.L. Taylor, founding member of the Center for Network Culture at the IT University of Copenhagen.