Marco hated grocery shopping on Saturday afternoons. The aisles were a traffic jam of shopping carts and screaming toddlers. But he’d run out of coffee, and some existential boredom had driven him out of his studio apartment.
He smiled. “That’s a generous sample.”
“That one’s free,” Sam said, handing it over. “The tahini, I mean. And my number.” free gay sample
The man laughed, a real one, not a polite grocery-store laugh. “Two hours, actually. My name’s Sam.”
He was staring blankly at an endcap display of artisanal pickles when a voice cut through the noise. Marco hated grocery shopping on Saturday afternoons
Marco glanced at the tiny cup. He wasn’t sure he had any opinions on tahini at all. But the man’s eyes were a warm, curious brown, and his flannel shirt had a small mustard stain on the collar that Marco found inexplicably endearing.
“The secret ingredient is desperation,” Marco said. “You look like you’ve been standing here for an hour.” He smiled
Marco turned. The man was about his age, maybe thirty, with a lopsided smile and a canvas tote bag that read I’m Not A Regular Shopper . He was holding a small plastic cup with a toothpick sticking out of it.