The following weekend was special. Not because Liam had finally managed to get through the day without his heart aching for Daniel, but because he ran into the last person he expected to see. At least outside his office.

He was supposed to make a quick stop at the store to pick up some groceries, since he had no plans for Saturday other than resting until the evening when James would be back from work, and they were going to watch a movie together and order pizza. The key word here was supposed.

It was just his luck that the moment he turned the corner of the aisle, he saw a familiar face in front of the shelves. He almost turned and walked away, pretending he'd never been there, but then Liam noticed what Gavin had in his basket.

"Are you Pooh Bear in disguise?" he called out to the tanned man, who clearly wasn't expecting it. Gavin jerked abruptly before turning toward the voice, confusion written on his face.

His expression quickly cleared, however, as he realized that standing before him was none other than Liam.

"Come here," Gavin told him, but with a tone that left no room for objections, it sounded more like an order.

The blond raised an eyebrow but decided to humor him. He walked over, genuinely curious about why Gavin had at least ten bottles of honey in his basket.

Before he could ask, however, the tall man automatically dropped two bottles of honey into his basket as well. He would have added more if Liam hadn’t quickly moved the basket away, waiting for an explanation instead of more honey.

"Is the zombie apocalypse coming and the only cure is honey?" he asked, still not getting an answer and throwing out another bizarre question.

"Nope," Gavin finally responded. "I'm just being petty."

"What do you mean?" Liam still wasn't sure what the other man was getting at.

"I was on another date yesterday," the tanned man revealed. Liam was surprised by this information, since Gavin hadn't stopped by his office that week. He’d assumed it was because he hadn’t found anyone, so there had been no reason for him to come and talk. But apparently, he was wrong.

"How did it go?" Liam asked automatically.

Gavin rolled his eyes, and then his gaze slid to his basket set on the floor, as he clearly didn't feel like carrying the weight of all that honey.

"That's no answer," the blond commented before Gavin could give him another look that was meant to imply he was an idiot.

"I spent two hours listening to how bees are the most important creatures in this world and how cruel and un-ecological it is to buy honey from stores instead of directly from beekeepers," Gavin finally began to explain. "I figured if I picked a guy with a hobby as boring as beekeeping, nothing could go wrong."

"So now you're buying all the honey in the store to get back at him?" Liam finally understood what was going on here. Or at least, he was beginning to understand.

"Exactly." The tall man nodded, and Liam had no idea how to react, as he was in disbelief. On one hand, it was extremely childish, but on the other, he had to admit he hadn't heard anything so funny in a long time.

Finally, instead of responding, he decided to ask another question. "What do you plan to do with all this later?"

"I don't know yet," Gavin shrugged as if it was no big deal, and at that point, Liam couldn't stop and gave a quick, disbelieving chuckle.

"Couldn't you just take a picture in front of the shelves with honey?" Liam suggested, thinking it was a better idea and, besides, it wouldn't cost that much money.

"That wouldn't have been as effective," Gavin immediately dismissed it.

"It wouldn't cost that much money," Liam countered, his gaze drifting to the contents of his own basket, where he still had two bottles of honey that he hadn't removed.

"When you're petty, you don't care how much you spend because of it," the tanned man lectured him.

"So if he promoted a zero-waste approach and didn't buy packaged products, would you pack everything you could find?" Liam asked.

"Hell yeah," Gavin replied without hesitation. "I'd take the canned goods, wrap them in plastic wrap, and put that in a plastic bag. Easy."

Although Gavin looked dead serious, Liam couldn't help but laugh. "I can't believe we're promoting you as a local eligible bachelor on our app."

"I'm an eligible bachelor?" The tall man seemed amused by the label.

"You've got the face for it," Liam admitted truthfully. "Although… if I were you, I wouldn't take selfies in front of the wall of honey you're planning to make at your house. It might give people the wrong impression."

"If I put chains and a whip in front of it, people will be curious and want to explore their sexual fantasies with me," Gavin was quick to respond.

This time Liam laughed out loud and shook his head, unable to believe he was actually having this conversation. As usual, Gavin seemed extremely pleased that he was the one who made him laugh.

The tall man watched the blond with a smile that softened after a moment before surprising him with the question, "Do you have time?"

"For what?" he asked.

"Coffee," Gavin suggested. "I didn't stop by your office. I broke our tradition."

"Our tradition?" Liam’s tone hovered between surprise and amusement.

"I'm complaining about a date, you're telling me to believe in love… You know how it goes." Gavin shrugged.

"Have you ever considered not complaining?" The blond didn’t let the opportunity pass, offering another possibility for how their encounters might go.

The tanned man immediately shook his head. "You said I could try to find the worst trait of all your clients. I like a challenge."

"All right. I'll go for coffee with you—but just this once. Next time, we'll save this conversation for my office," Liam decided, though he wasn’t sure it was the right choice.

"For someone who owns a dating agency, you're acting more like a lawyer," Gavin remarked.

"A lawyer will get you rid of the wrong person. I'll find you the right one," Liam replied without hesitation.

"Smooth." The expression on the tanned man's face shifted, making it clear to the blond that he'd dazzled him with his quick reply.

"I need to finish my grocery shopping first, though." As usual, it was Liam who steered the conversation back from fun to duty, lifting his basket higher to draw attention to it. "And I seriously hope you have somewhere to put all that honey."

"I'm here by car," Gavin immediately assured him. "I'll see you at the checkout in ten minutes?"

"Works for me."

Funny thing is, when Liam unloaded the groceries onto the conveyor belt at the checkout ten minutes later, the two bottles of honey Gavin had added weren’t missing among them.

"Ready to go?" The tall man appeared at his side the moment he paid, and Liam couldn't believe his eyes when he turned to him and noticed the five full shopping bags in his hands.

"Unbelievable." He shook his head, never taking his eyes off them so Gavin couldn't possibly miss what he meant.

"If you ever need honey, you know where to find me," Gavin said in response as if it was no big deal.

Liam almost replied that he had his own, since he'd bought it after all, just like Gavin had wanted, but he stopped himself. He didn’t need to see his satisfied smile.

"No thanks," the blond replied, lifting his blue eyes back to the other man's face.

"It was a one-time offer," Gavin warned him. "Your loss." Then he turned to leave, and Liam quickly joined him.

Together, they made their way over to Gavin's black BMW.

"You can leave your groceries here for now, too," he suggested after opening the trunk.

Luckily, Liam didn't have anything frozen in his bag or anything that could go bad quickly, so he accepted the offer.

"If it was someone lactose intolerant, would you have a trunk full of cheese right now?" he couldn't help but wonder when he saw all those bags of honey next to his small bag.

"I'm not cruel. Lactose intolerance is a real condition you can't help," Gavin replied, surprising him.

"So your pettiness has limits?" Liam asked, his tone somewhere between a question and a statement.

"Pettiness without boundaries is just being an asshole," the tall man informed him.

"And you don't like being an asshole?" Liam tried, though his voice still carried a hint of  incredulity.

"I'm an asshole to people who deserve it." Gavin shrugged and closed the trunk. "Shall we go?"

The blond nodded, and together they made their way to the nearest coffee shop.

Gavin wasn’t the first client Liam had met outside of work. He’d gone for coffee a couple of times with Marcus, Grace kept inviting him to the game nights she hosted with her girlfriend—whom she’d found through Cupid, Inc.—and every once in a while, when he decided to hit the gym, he’d strike up a conversation with Nicholas. Nicholas had also been looking for love through their agency last year, and even though he and his girlfriend had already broken up, he was still grateful to Liam for helping him broaden his horizons.

Still, for some reason, the blond felt nervous.

"After you." The tanned man opened the door and let Liam in first.

"Are you such a gentleman on dates, too?" the blond asked, curious.

"Of course." Gavin nodded without hesitation. But judging by the way his smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, though, Liam wasn’t entirely convinced. Something about it screamed that he was just pretending to make a good impression in front of him.

They ordered coffee at the counter—Gavin an Americano with an extra shot of espresso and Liam a cappuccino—and then moved to a table by the window.

"Now." Gavin was the one who immediately started the conversation. "Since we're not in your office, I can take the lead with the questions." He seemed more than pleased at the opportunity.

Liam raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to know?"

"What's the most petty thing you've ever done?" Whatever question the blond had been expecting, this wasn't it.

Gavin immediately noticed his shock and perhaps slight reluctance to answer, so he defended his choice. "What? I'm sure your answer will tell me a lot about you."

"What if I'm not petty at all?" Liam suggested, taking a sip from his cup.

"Bullshit," the tanned man responded. "Everyone's petty sometimes." Then his smile widened even more. "Come on, tell me. Don't be shy."

"Do I look like the shy type?" Liam raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly?" Gavin waited until the blond nodded and added, "You look like the type who's shy in real life and the devil in the sheets."

Liam resisted the urge to blush and instead replied, "Too bad you'll never find out." His dry reply, however, was perfect for making the man across from him laugh.

"You've never dated a client?" Gavin asked curiously after he finished laughing.

"It's unprofessional," Liam gave him the answer he thought was obvious.

"'Course it is," Gavin murmured. Then, in his normal volume, he asked, "So? The most petty thing you've ever done."

The blond sighed. "You're not going to leave me alone until I tell you, are you?"

Gavin's smirk immediately gave him an answer. "I'm sure it won't be that bad," he added.

"Fine." Liam himself was surprised at how easily he was convinced. "I dated a guy once. We'd been together for about two months when I found out he had a girlfriend too. It was a shock to me since I already had my own shelf in his bathroom and a drawer in his closet. He seemed serious about me," he began to explain.

"How did you find out he was cheating on you?" Gavin asked the moment he paused.

"I saw him with her. She was pregnant. I felt terrible. My roommate and I found her on social media afterward—she had some pictures of her with him on there and even a picture of an ultrasound," Liam admitted, once again feeling almost as bad as he did then.

"Still his mess and not yours," Gavin immediately assured him and leaned forward, laying his arms on the table.

The blond nodded. "I know." He sipped from his coffee, gathering energy for more remembering. "Anyway, two days later, I went to his house. Someone called him, so he left me there alone. I immediately started packing my things. When I was done, he still wasn't there, and I was pissed. I decided to take something from him as karma."

Gavin seemed surprised at his confession. If Liam had concentrated any harder on his expression, he would have almost noticed that his surprise was slowly but surely turning to pride.

"What did you take?" he asked without hesitation.

When Liam didn't answer right away, Gavin repeated his question. "Come on, what did you take?" He smiled brightly despite the seriousness of the topic.

The blond sighed and then began to explain, "You know that glass thing that's in the microwave and spins." He made a circle in the air with his finger, mimicking the movement of the turntable.

"What?" Gavin chuckled and didn't look like he believed him.

"You ever seen that thing in a store? I'm sure it must have been hell to replace it," Liam defended his choice.

"Oh my god." And then the tall man across from him laughed at the top of his lungs.

The way the wrinkles around his eyes made the first tears glisten at the corners, and the way his head tilted to the side as if under the weight of his laughter, was too contagious. Seconds later, the sound of shared laughter rang out at their table, the two noises blending into each other.

And for a brief second, the same thought from last week flashed through Liam's mind again: Gavin Johnson was attractive, despite his annoyance.