"The treadmill won't turn on."

Sam ran a hand through his hair and tried not to sigh. He recognised that voice – the slightly lilting, sarcastic tone and an undercurrent which said 'I'm better than you'. He had hoped never to run into her again. But it seemed that luck wasn't on his side.

Putting on a professional face, Sam turned around to face the woman. "Ruby. I didn't know you were a member here."

For a moment, Ruby looked surprised, before her mouth curved up into a grin. "Sam! Long time no see. Would almost have said you were avoiding me. I'm not a member here, I'm staying up at the hotel for a week with the girls – but if you work here, I might look into membership."

"That would be nice." Sam lied, trying to put a smile on his face. He had a feeling it came out as a grimace, bur Ruby didn't react.

"Anyway," She continued, tucking a strand of brown hair behind her ear, "The treadmill isn't working. It's your job to fix it, right?"

No please, no thank-you. Just a rhetorical question that heavily implied that he had no choice. That was Ruby all over. Sam wanted nothing better than to escape, but he forced himself to walk over towards the treadmills without attempting to throttle Ruby.

None of the treadmills were in use, and Sam nearly rolled his eyes. Of course Ruby would complain rather than simply using another treadmill. She had such an entitlement complex that she could drive anyone insane – he had no idea what he had ever seen in her. Well, he did – but he didn't want to think about that. Sam was long past the events of back then, and he didn't need to berate himself for them anymore.

Stepping onto the treadmill Ruby gestured to, Sam tried the power button to determine that the treadmill wasn't working. Satisfied, he slipped behind the machine and bent down to check the cables. Ruby made an appreciative noise and Sam closed his eyes in desperation.

"Well, Sam, your assets have only improved while I've been gone."

She was checking out his ass. Of course she was checking out his ass. Quickly, Sam fiddled with a couple of the cables and smiled in relief when a little light came on.

"That should be working now." He gave a professional nod to Ruby before making his way towards the exit of the gym.

"Y'know, we should have dinner some time. Talk about what we've been doing for the past few years." Ruby was trying to sound seductive, and Sam attempted to block it out. No. He couldn't go back there.

"I'm quite busy." He lied, not turning back to her. "I doubt I'll have time."

"Well, my number hasn't changed since you left, and you probably still have it somewhere. Call me."

Of course he still had her number. As much as he hated that part of his life, as much as he tried to move on, there were still parts he clung to. Sam practically fled from the room, breathing harder than he normally did when he went running.

When he almost collided with Gabe, he had never been so relieved to see anyone in his life.

"Sammy? You OK?" Gabe asked, his face changing from happiness at seeing his boyfriend to concern.

Not caring if it wasn't professional, Sam engulfed Gabe in a hug, pressing his head into Gabe's hair and inhaling the calming scent of his shampoo.

"That's a no then. Is there a break room or somewhere we can go to talk, Sasquatch? I think you need it."

For someone who was normally so sarcastic, Gabe could be so sweet when he wanted to be.

Coming to his senses, Sam glanced around to make sure that no-one had seen him hug Gabe, before pulling him into the room where they stored the spare weights. Unconsciously grasping his hand, Sam sat down on an old weight bench and waited as Gabe shifted to sit beside him.

"Sorry." Sam apologised, his voice small and quiet. "I'm being ridiculous. And I'm stopping you from exercising."

Gabe put an arm around Sam's shoulders and allowed the larger man to lean into him. "You're not being ridiculous. I would know, I've spent my life being exactly that. As for the exercising – pfft, I only do it for you and Cas. Doesn't really bother me if I don't do it."

Despite everything, Sam laughed, glancing down at Gabe with a smile. "I would love to meet Cas. He must be quite a character to persuade you to do what he says."

"Already wanting to meet the family? You do move fast, Sasquatch." Gabe's tone was fond.

Sam nudged Gabe with one shoulder, causing him to almost fall off the bench. "Shut up."

"Meanie." From nowhere, Gabe produced a lollipop and stuck it in his mouth.

Sam's throat went dry. There was his concentration gone, then. Sure, he'd seen people seductively eating lollipops before – but this wasn't fair. Gabe wasn't even trying to look hot.

"So." Gabe commented idly, running the lollipop along his bottom lip. "What happened earlier to make you so stressed out?"

Tearing his gaze away from Gabe's lips, Sam sighed and wondered what to say. He hadn't been with Gabe very long, but he already knew that he wanted to keep him around. Sam didn't want to scare him away. Deciding to just go with the basics, he turned back to Gabe and determinedly ignored the lollipop.

"An ex-girlfriend of mine, Ruby, turned up at the gym today. She started coming on to me, and I was uncomfortable, so I got out of there. That's all."

From Gabe's expression, Sam could tell that he knew that wasn't all. But fortunately, he didn't press it.

"I thought you said you didn't normally date clients." He teased instead. "I don't feel very special anymore."

"She's not a client, I never expected her to come here. We met at college." Sam paused. "You're the first client I've ever done anything with. Promise."

Gabe leant up and gave Sam a quick, chaste kiss. His lips tasted like sugar, and Sam found himself moving after them as Gabe pulled back. "That's better. But you know what the best thing to do here would be, don't you?"

"What?" Sam asked, already slightly concerned.

Gabe gave Sam a grin. "Show her you're taken. Prove you've moved on and won't take her shit anymore."

"How exactly are you proposing we do that?" Sam stood up, letting go of Gabe's hand. He'd only just realised that he was holding it. "I'm at work, I can't exactly walk in with you and put on a display. They'd fire me for taking advantage of clients."

"Sam-a-lam, you have no imagination." Gabe stood up as well, wandering around Sam almost like a predator. He sucked on his lollipop as he did so, and Sam tried to will away the tightening of his pants. This really was not a good time.

"We don't need to do anything obvious to anyone else." He continued. "Just obvious to her. Trust me, if we drop hints, she'll pick up on them."

Sam scratched his head. "Maybe, but she'll still report me for having a relationship with a client."

Sam suddenly found himself pinned against the wall, Gabe on his tiptoes so he could (almost) look Sam in the eyes. "Not if she doesn't know who you're in a relationship with."

Gabe's lips found Sam's again, and Sam relaxed into it, his hands moving to sit on Gabe's hips. It was strange, not being the one in control, and he had to force himself not to switch their position so Gabe was the one pinned. He trusted Gabe, strange as it might seem, and he wanted to show him that.

Gabe's mouth moved from his lips down his neck, and Sam had an idea of what Gabe was planning to do.

That was quite a good plan, actually. And hot. Sam tilted his head back to give Gabe better access, and Gabe hummed approvingly, his lips trailing towards Sam's collarbone. Gabe moved one hand to pull Sam's polo shirt out of the way before sucking hard on his collarbone, causing Sam to hiss and buck upwards, finally losing control and manhandling Gabe until he was the one against the wall.

"Saammmyyyy." Gabe whined.

"Shut up." Sam growled, pinning Gabe in place and rotating his hips teasingly. He could feel the hard outline of Gabe's cock against his own and all thoughts of sense had left his brain.

"Please..."

The whispered plea made Sam groan, his hands moving over Gabe's body before slipping under his loose t-shirt. He teasingly played with Gabe's nipples as Gabe desperately tried to search for more friction.

"Sasquatch, if you don't fuck me right now –"

Footsteps sounded from outside, and Sam desperately slammed one hand over Gabe's mouth, coming to his senses and stepping back with wide eyes.

Gabe's face was flushed, his pupils hugely dilated and he was breathing like he had just run a marathon. Sam could just about make out the outline of his dick still hard against his gym shorts, and he had to force himself to look away and try to calm down.

"Tease." Gabriel accused, his voice a shade more unsteady than it normally was.

"Sorry." Sam apologised. "I got carried away."

"You should get carried away more often." Gabe replied simply.

Sam smiled, adjusting his top so the hickey was covered and then pulling it down over his half-hard dick.

"I have to get back to work." Sam felt oddly nervous, like a teenager on their first date. "You follow me in a few minutes."

"You got it." Gabe settled himself back on the gym bench, much more relaxed than he had any right to be. "And remember to show your ex that hickey!"

Sam rolled his eyes, still not quite believing that Ruby had unwittingly started all of this. He would have to thank her later. Or perhaps not – if he said anything that positive she might never leave him alone again.

Five minutes later, Sam was greeting a new customer for their gym induction, with no sign of what had transpired just a few minutes before. He had a flashback to when he had been doing this for Gabe and smiled, unable to believe how lucky he had been. Quite how he had managed to get Gabe interested was beyond him.

The smile widened when he passed Ruby and discreetly scratched his collarbone, pulling his top aside just enough so that she could see the hickey. From the sudden jealous look in her eyes, he knew it had had the desired effect.

The way she stormed out a couple of minutes later was a pretty big clue too.