Page 26 of Stand By Me

And they were going to do much more than that.

It had taken a lot out of him not to invite Clay upstairs, since even after only one taste, he wanted everything. To hell with his rules and being careful, he wanted Claynow.

And Clay wanted him back. That was more than clear, in the way he'd looked at Mario, the way he'd touched him, the way he'd kissed him…

Mario hit the back of his head against the door. He wasnotgoing to think about this here, where anyone could walk in at any time.

As he got to his apartment, his first impulse was to call Ben to tell him everything—almosteverything—and talk at him until the mess in his head quieted down to something more manageable than happy flailing all over the place.

But there was no way he could tell Ben about this. Not now. Probably not for a while yet, assuming he and Clay worked out.

Please, Mario thought, pouring himself a glass of water.Please, let us work out.

He'd been here a few times before—wanting so badly for the first date to turn into the second, and the next, and the next. But he'd never wanted it quite as much as this time around.

He'd wanted Clay half a lifetime ago, and he wanted him now. All that history made it feel bigger, somehow.

Before tonight, there had been a bit of a doubt at the back of his mind whether Clay could ever measure up to that picture-perfect vision of him Mario had been harboring as a teenager. Now, that worry was gone. While Clay wasn't exactly the same, he was still himself in many ways that first attracted Mario to him all those years ago. And he fit in new ways, too.

Mario could also see a chance of there being athem, now. A couple. A real relationship, not just a teenage fantasy.

Don't get too much ahead of yourself, he could already hear Carina say. And she'd be right, of course. She had seen him get excited about a guy way too many times, only to watch it crash and burn soon after.

But neither of those men were Clay, so maybe they'd been doomed from the start anyway.

Okay, time to hit the brakes. He didn't need Carina's voice in his head to know that was overkill.

Still, when he went to bed that night, he couldn't help but think that maybe all those twists and turns that had brought him to here and now were ultimately worth it, if they landed Clay Jackson back in his path.

* * *

"Just don't get too much ahead of yourself, honey, okay?" Carina told him the next day at lunch, and he almost choked on his burrito.

"I know," he said when he cleared his throat. "I know. But the date's been great and there's going to be a second one tomorrow, so I don't have to overthink whether or not he's going to want it. I'd say it's an improvement already."

"I despair over how low your bar is, these days."

Mario sighed and put the burrito down.

"Touché. But I know him… Okay, Iknewhim," he corrected himself before she could say it. "He's a reliable, loyal guy. Sure, I don't know his relationship history over the last decade, but without any reason to think he's an asshole, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and go with my gut on this one."

Andie offered him a thumbs up, but Carina kept her gaze on him for a while longer before nodding.

"Okay," she finally said. "I hope you're right."

"Trust me, I hope I'm right, too."

"What does Ben think about you dating his brother?" Andie reached for her lemonade, but paused at whatever she could see on his face. "That bad?"

Mario schooled his expression and sat back.

"I haven't told him yet," he admitted and got two pairs of eyebrows shooting up in response.

"You still haven't told your best friend you went on a date with his brother?" Carina asked slowly.

"It's… complicated."

"We've been over this. The longer you keep it secret, the more complicated it becomes."

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