We’ve been watching the wonderful Trent Brock and Jamil Price on Instagram for a while. They’ve been tagging us here and there, too, but we’ve seen them before that. Sometimes you see the love and companionship come through Insta photos and you’re just like, “Hey, what’s your secret?” So sometimes we just ask that question, and a couple more.
Here’s our attempt to get to know Trent and Jamil, the men behind @trentbrock and @priceisright28.
How did you two initially meet and was it love at first sight?
- Trent: Oh gosh. We’re starting with that question?! We’ll give you the abbreviated version. We met online in 2015 as young professionals in Knoxville, Tennessee. We talked online for a while before I invited Jamil to a comedy show at the Tennessee Theatre.
- Jamil: Our first date was a lot of fun, but in the weeks afterward, we got busy and weren’t as communicative. A couple of months later, we reconnected at a friend’s birthday, and I invited Trent to lunch to celebrate his birthday. That’s when I suggested going to Atlanta for a weekend getaway, plus the New York Yankees (my favorite MLB team) would be in town.
- Trent: It was a whirlwind of a weekend! Fast forward a bit—I moved to Louisville, Kentucky, a few months after we started spending more time together. About six months later, Jamil relocated to Tampa, Florida. After a year in a long-distance relationship, I joined Jamil in Tampa.
- Jamil: More recently, we got married! On 2/2/2022, a small group of our closest family and friends joined us for our beautiful wedding at Oxford Exchange in Tampa. We had been planning it for nearly a year and a half, and only those invited knew about it. They were sworn to secrecy!
What is your favorite thing to love about each other?
- Trent: Jamil jokes that I only keep him around because of his cooking. Don’t get me wrong, his food is delicious, but I love him for so much more than that. He challenges and inspires me daily. I’m an introvert in large social settings. Meanwhile, Jamil has never met a stranger and is always the life of the party. He’s also incredibly committed to doing what he says he’s doing to do. Our wedding was so stunning because Jamil was meticulous about every detail.
- Jamil: I struggle with naming just one, so I’ll share a little about what I enjoy about Trent as my husband. First, he’s so attractive. Many nights, I lay awake watching him sleep, asking myself how I attracted such a good-looking man and convinced him to marry me. More importantly, as looks will fade, Trent encourages and allows me to be my best self. Throughout our relationship, we have set ambitious goals and achieved them, but only because of our partnership. I’m not saying every day is easy, as it isn’t, but I’m happy that I have him at the end of each day.
Are you monogamous or in an open relationship? How do you make either work?
- Jamil: We’re monogamous. Every relationship is different, though, so there’s no right or wrong answer here.
- Trent: You need to determine what’s best for you and your partner. For us, it was monogamy, and communication and respect are key.
What has COVID been like for the two of you? Has it brought you closer together?
- Jamil: The pandemic allowed us to slow down. I was constantly traveling for work, so I was grateful for the opportunity to spend more time at home with Trent and focus on getting into a routine of eating healthy and working out.
- Trent: Since we were always on the go, we had never honestly spent much time at home. The pandemic made us appreciate the house we built a few years earlier and motivated us to finish some outstanding projects, like redoing a guest bedroom and finalizing the home office. We commend all the couples who worked remotely from their apartments. We would’ve struggled!
- Jamil: Before the pandemic, we always talked about getting bikes. After just a couple of months into isolation, we finally got some. We’d go on half-day rides around Tampa to get out of the house but keep our distance from others. Thankfully, our neighbors were part of our “social bubble.” We spent a lot of weekends playing Catan, ordering take-out, and getting super close to them.
- Trent: The pandemic also allowed us to evaluate and align on what’s important. That’s when we realized marriage was the next step in our relationship and started planning our wedding.
Has the topic of adopting or having kids via surrogate ever come up?
- Trent: Absolutely! Having children is certainly something we’ve discussed. We’re not in that chapter of our relationship yet, as we’re enjoying being newlyweds, advancing our careers, and scratching our persistent itch to travel around the world.
- Jamil: We hope we’re blessed to become parents in a few years. For now, we’re comfortable being guncles to our nieces, nephew, and friends’ kids.
What is the best advice you would give to anyone who is looking for love out there but hasn’t found it?
- Jamil: I recognize it may be counter-intuitive for a married gay man to give a single gay man advice, but I’d say relax. Everything happens for a reason. As mentioned earlier, Trent and I started talking online, lost touch for the next few months (I’d actually forgotten about him!), reconnected in August, and started dating. We honestly had both moved on. I believe we found each other because we weren’t trying to force a relationship, which worked for us.
- Trent: It’s essential to recognize you’ll have to put forth an effort and know what you want from the start. A hookup or friends-with-benefits is very different than a partnership. You certainly don’t want to come across as being desperate, though. Avoid rushing into anything or settling for anything less than what you deserve. Also, know who you are before adding someone else into the mix.
- Jamil: As RuPaul says, “If you don’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?”
- Trent: Amen
I love seeing cute stories of gay love! Thanks for sharing.