A month later, Liam could proudly say he still had the man who had stolen his heart by his side.

And he had fulfilled his promise with the perfect date. Not that Gavin had been thrilled at the end of it, as it had been the easiest win of Liam's life. After all, he had Cupid on his side, and that was true even when watching reality shows.

Now, however, a test was about to be put to Gavin and his charm. And surprisingly, the tall man was more nervous than Liam had expected.

"How many former clients are you actually friends with?" Judging by the tone in which he said it, he seemed to be anticipating a high answer.

"Not many," the blond man assured him. "Just Gracie, Sarah, Marcus, and Nicholas."

"Right, just," Gavin nodded, pronouncing the word with irony. "Most people aren't even friends with that many colleagues, let alone clients."

"Just be glad I haven't made friends with Benny," Liam promptly responded.

The tanned man turned to him in confusion. "Why Benny?"

He didn't get an answer, though, as the door Liam knocked on swung wide open, so thankfully he didn't have to explain that for a while he'd thought Benny was Gavin's perfect match, and if they were friends, he wouldn't have dared to ruin his chance at happiness.

"Liam!" Unlike the last time he'd been there, this time the petite brunette answered the door.

"Hi, Gracie." He was immediately pulled into a hug and happily returned it. Gracie wasn't done with the cheery greetings, however.

"You must be Gavin. I've heard all about you," she told him with a knowing smile.

"Only good things, I hope. Liam likes to say I'm annoying."

If the blond had been blushing up until now, now his cheeks flamed even more, and Gavin's comment earned him a smack in the chest. Gracie laughed at his reaction, and despite Liam's embarrassment, her next words were directed at the tall man. "I like you, Gavin. Liam seems to finally have good taste."

"Okay, okay, no more revealing my secrets," the blond quickly inserted himself into the conversation and took a step forward so the brunette would finally let them in. Thankfully, she backed away, and he quickly walked in with a "Sarah! Come tame your girlfriend!"

"I don't know if I'd rely on Sarah for that task," came the unexpected reply, and as he turned his head in the direction the familiar voice had come from, he was left staring at Jake in surprise.

Even though he knew this was their typical game night, for some reason it hadn't occurred to him that he'd run into the man who'd flirted with him previously here. He couldn't have prepared Gavin for this either, so he could only hope that the warning hadn't been necessary.

"Jake. Hi," he still sounded slightly caught off guard, but he hoped he salvaged it with a smile.

"Don't sound so surprised." Suddenly another person appeared in the doorway—thankfully, now the one Liam was looking for. "You're the last to arrive."

"But that doesn't matter. As long as you're here." Gracie's voice echoed from behind him, and the fact that she wasn't alone was quickly apparent to the blond when an arm came around his waist and he automatically leaned his hip against Gavin's chest.

All the unease was suddenly gone, and Liam relaxed, despite the fact that across from each other were still the two men who had once pursued him. The fight for Liam's heart, however, had a clear winner.

There was one more battle to be won though, and this time Liam had no intention of making it easy for the tanned man.

"All right, lovebirds. Time to choose. Do you want to play together or against each other?" Sarah asked when they were all finally seated in the living room, and for the blond, the answer was clear.

"Against each other," he and Gavin said at the same time, and their gazes met, making it clear that they both accepted the challenge. The determination in their eyes didn't escape those around them either, judging by Gracie's remark that "it's going to be interesting."

And so the game began.

Each time Liam moved his piece, Gavin checked that he was moving forward the correct number of spaces.

Every time Gavin pulled out a chance card, the blond made him read it out loud so he couldn't make up what it said.

Soon they were shouting at each other across the living room, accusing the other of cheating, and the rest of both teams were laughing at their competitiveness. None of them took the game of Monopoly all that seriously, despite the fact that they were split into teams to make the game more interesting.

The real fun, however, came when Liam finally managed to catch his boyfriend cheating and, with the biggest smile on his face, put orange plastic handcuffs on him.

"Orange is the new black," Gavin immediately responded, making it clear that even though he'd been caught, he wasn't about to give up.

"You mean this orange?" The blond waved the stack of fake bills he'd managed to collect during the game in front of him—the ones with the most value. Some of which he'd additionally managed to steal from the bank, something Gavin had also planned to try, but couldn't anymore since Liam had taken the card offering this chance to cheat along with the money.

"You're lucky you're cute," Gavin assured him, and Liam looked smug until he added, "Otherwise I'd stop going easy on you."

"You're so on." The blond launched into the game with a new wave of determination.

It was no use in the end, though, as after Sarah went bankrupt, he'd lost his last ally as well, putting him at a disadvantage, and it wasn't long before he had to sell all his hotels and promptly lost his money and ended up with debts to the bank.

"You want me to lend you some money, babe?" Gavin suggested with a mischievous grin.

"No." Liam pierced him with a look, even though he knew that if he didn't accept his offer, he had no more chance of winning. He only had two properties left, and even though they were the most expensive on the entire board, it was impossible to win with just them.

So a few moves later, he lost the rest of what was left of his money and his properties and had to admit defeat. Not that he was the type who knew how to lose, and although he had tamed himself last time, now that he was playing Gavin, who had the same competitive spirit, he didn't pause as he theatrically threw the last of the fake money in his hands into the air.

"Oh my God," Gracie commented with a laugh, and she wasn't the only one who ended up amused.

They were all laughing, and watching Gavin so relaxed and accepted among his friends, a wide grin quickly appeared on Liam's face as well. It disappeared for only a few seconds as he decided to comply with the tall man's request for a "kiss for the winner."

After an engrossing game that ended up lasting almost two and a half hours, they decided to take a break and talk for a while alongside some snacks.

"Have you decided what quote you're going to leave in Cupid, Inc.?" Sarah turned to Gavin with her question.

"Quote?" Jake asked, confused, before the tanned man could answer.

"It's a tradition," Liam took over explaining. "Anyone who finds love through our agency can leave us a quote to use on our LED board."

"We left one, too," Gracie revealed.

"Did you come up with your own?"

"Of course." The blonde girl with the dreadlocks nodded. "It was easy." Then she made a gesture with her open palms in front of her to introduce her next words. "Love is like a piece of candy—you just need to have a sweet tooth."

"That's so adorable," Stella commented, while Simon added, "Kind of like the olive theory."

"So... yours?" Sarah twisted the conversation back to the beginning and turned to Gavin expectantly.

"I don't know." He shrugged, making Liam lift his head for a second as he was snuggled against him. "There is nothing for me but to love you?" he suggested then.

"And the way you look tonight," the blond finished the lyrics of the song.

"Shit," Gavin responded, caught cheating. "You've got the love I need to see me through?" he tried again.

Liam, of course, was no amateur and knew all the lyrics to love songs. So he cleverly finished again, "When food is gone, you are my daily need."

"Love can touch us once and last for a lifetime?"

"And never let go 'til we're gone."

"You're the only love I've ever known?"

The blond thought for a moment, but when he finally matched the lyrics to the right song in his head, he turned to his boyfriend in disbelief. "But I hate you, I really hate you," he finished with a raised eyebrow, and it seemed it was only at that instant that Gavin realized how the song went on, since he let out a little "oh."

He still wasn't giving up, though.

"Love is all you need?"

Liam rolled his eyes and said, "You know what? I'll take it." But before he could get an answer or see that stupid triumphant grin on his face again, he took Gavin's chin in his hand and turned him towards him so he could press a kiss to his lips.

He could hear the others laughing, but right now he didn't care.

Gavin was all he needed.

THE END