Page 24 of Stand By Me

Not that anyone complained, including Monica, Mario's oldest sister, who worked as the restaurant's manager already anyway. No one in the family could imagine their father staying home for good.

"Maybe I should drop in there, say hi." Clay paused with his beer halfway to his lips. "I mean… If you don't mind."

"No!" Mario protested as the warmth that had nothing to do with simple desire spread through his body.God, his heart didn't stand a chance, did it? "Of course not. They'll be happy to see you."

Clay sat up straighter. "Okay, then. Now, tell me what all the rest of your family have been up to."

Mario laughed. This, right there, might be the easiest first date he'd ever had.

CHAPTER NINE

As their evening went on, Clay became more and more convinced that finally texting Mario had been the best decision he'd made in a long time, aside from taking the job at KRK Security. He'd wanted to avoid making a mess out of this while he'd been in his funk, but wallowing in self-pity wasn't good for him, either.

Luckily, it was impossible to wallow while in Mario's company.

After they'd covered his family and more of the memories they'd shared from back then, they moved on to things about DC they enjoyed, both old and new.

"I don't know if I've readjusted yet," Clay admitted as they finished their first round. "So many things have changed that there's this weird blend of different and familiar. But I think I'm getting the hang of it, especially now that I have a job and a somewhat normal schedule."

Mario signaled the waiter for more beers before meeting his gaze again.

"How's the work going, by the way? I couldn't exactly ask that while you were on the clock."

"I enjoy it a lot. It's like I said about coming back—it's both familiar and new—but in the best way. Familiar enough to be comforting, and new enough to also be exciting, which, to me, is the perfect combination."

The conversation flew easily over the next round, and then over tacos from a late night food truck nearby. Spring had finally came to DC, so they walked down the block without freezing to death. As it turned out, they lived a few blocks away from each other, so Clay got off on Mario's stop to walk him home.

"You don't have to do that," Mario said, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as they were leaving the platform.

"I know I don't," Clay assured him. "I want to."

He wasn't quite ready to say goodbye yet. Mario's charm and joyful energy drew him in and he didn't want their evening to end.

Mario's smile grew bigger, but he seemed to be trying to hide it as he lowered his head.

"Okay."

The area seemed very similar to Clay's, aside from a few more trees on the sidewalk. Mario explained he was living with his cousin, whose parents had moved to Texas to be closer to the rest of the extended family.

"We renovated the space together to make it more suitable for our needs, which had been a trip. But we're getting along well. Not to mention, this way the rent is something I can actually afford."

Clay grimaced. "I hear you."

The rental prices in DC were astronomical, and if not for his savings, he'd probably be living in his childhood bedroom—at least until Ben would kill him in his sleep, or vice versa. With the KRK Security paychecks, Clay was going to be more than fine going forward, but he knew from Jake that the museum employees weren't making anywhere close to that kind of money.

"Did you live with Jake the whole time in Switzerland?" Mario asked.

"Yeah. This is actually the first time in my life that I live alone. It felt weird at first, but I love it now."

"I bet. Whenever I come home to the mess Roberto leaves in the kitchen, I wish I didn't need a roommate." Mario shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I love his cooking, but the mess, I could live without."

"I hate any kind of mess, just ask—" Clay paused.Nope, not going there. "I've been called anal retentive and, yes, I've heard the jokes."

Mario lifted his hands, playing innocent.

"I wasn't going to say anything," he said, but the badly concealed laughter made Clay roll his eyes.

"I'm particular about the way I keep things, so having to clean up after one person instead of two is a nice change, that's for sure."

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