Though Anthony Reto won a game of “Words with Friends,” it was Tommy Berner who won Reto’s heart six years later with 26 words of his own.
Berner said it wasn’t easy proposing — as Reto was unintentionally interrupting him as he tried to get out the right words during a trip to Greece last month. Finally, Berner pulled out a ring from his pocket and said, “What I’m trying to ask you is if you’ll spend the rest of your life with me and make me the happiest guy in the world.”
“Absolutely Tommy, 1,000-times yes,” Reto said through tears.
In 2011, the two were paired up to play the online word game; they hadn’t yet met in real life but became friends on Facebook because of their number of mutual friends. After several attempts to beat Berner, Reto finally prevailed.
“I was basically kicking his ass the entire time,” Reto said with a laugh.
Reto, 27, sent Berner, 39, a teasing message about being named the reigning champion, to which he replied, “Well, I guess I owe you a drink.”
Both were newly single and went into the initial date without many expectations.
“We went to some bars in the Gayborhood and had a couple of drinks and then after that, it was kind of one of those things where we were like, ‘OK, when are we going to hang out again?’” Reto said.
“As soon as we left each other that night, we couldn’t wait to hang out again,” Berner said. “It was pretty immediate.”
Now, the couple owns a French Bulldog named Pierogi and frequently travels together; among their destinations, they have visited Puerto Rico, Athens and Mexico. This love for travel came into play when Berner started planning his proposal to Reto in December. The pair went to the island of Mykonos in Greece on July 4.
To Reto’s surprise, Berner booked a private yacht with a full crew waiting with champagne upon their arrival. After two hours on the Aegean Sea, the captain pulled into a cove. Berner told Reto how much he loved him and reminisced about the past six years.
“We are very ‘lovey’ with each other but I was on a boat in Mykonos with champagne in my hand, music blasting. I was ready to party. He kept looking at me and kept being like, ‘Babe, you know how much I love you.’ I was like, ‘Dude, why are you being so sentimental? I know you love me. Knock it off,’ and that’s exactly what I said to him,” Reto said. “He was like, ‘No, I’m really trying to tell you that I love you,’ and then he pulled a ring out and I think I said, ‘Oh my God’ about 30 times before I even said ‘Yes’ to him because I was so taken aback by it.”
The couple tentatively scheduled their wedding for summer 2019, but aren’t in a rush to walk down the aisle.
“I want to live in this excitement for a little bit,” Berner said. “I think a lot of people overlook the excitement of the engagement because they’re looking forward to the wedding. This is a brand-new chapter for us and I think we want it to be an actual chapter, not just a page in a chapter.”
Both men consider their relationship to be effortless. Reto said the past six years have not felt like “work” at all.
“The past six years have been the most wonderful years of my life. I’ve really found myself. We both lift each other up and make each other better.”
Berner added that Reto is the one person with whom he always consults when it comes to work or personal matters.
“We complement each other very nicely from a yin and yang perspective,” Berner said. “So if I’m feeling very tense or stressed with work, he’s my ride or die — completely that person that will help reel me in, and I would like to think that I do the exact same thing for him.”
“Absolutely,” Reto responded.