Page 38 of Stand By Me

How about tonight, at my place? We could order in.

Jesus. There were two options here. Either Mario had had incredibly bad luck with dating, or things were way different in Switzerland.

Maybe both.

Or maybe it was simply who Clay was. No bullshit, no games. If Mario managed to stop himself from putting his foot in his mouth,again, they could actually have a great time.

Sounds good! Text me the address and I'll be there.

They hashed out the details and flirted some more, but then Clay had to go, and Mario needed to fill his day somehow or he'd end up overthinking everything about tonight.

Nothing on his e-reader could keep his interest for longer than a few minutes, so he finally decided to clean the whole apartment, aside from Roberto's room. That would keep him busy for a while.

He muttered curses all the way through cleaning the kitchen, but it did work as a distraction.

Around four, he got a text from Ben.

I know it's last minute, but do you want to come over and hang out tonight? It's been a while.

Shit.

Can't tonight, Mario texted back, choosing not to explain himself. He didn't want to lie outright—the situation was already bad enough.How about next weekend?

I have a shift scheduled but they might pull me off of it after yesterday. I'll let you know on Monday, k?

Sure. I'm free that whole weekend, so anytime is good.

Mario took a deep breath. The next weekend, then. He would tell Ben about him and Clay the next weekend.

And then he'd just watch the dust fall.

* * *

Get it together, Mario told himself a few hours later as he waited for Clay to let him in.You wanted this before you truly knew what it meant, but you're an adult now.

An adult who shouldnotbe acting like a teenager on his first date at the thought of this evening possibly involving having sex.

As he walked up the stairs, he noticed the stairway was nicely kept, definitely better than the one at his place. On the outside, their buildings were very similar, but the inside was a different story.

Up on the third floor, Clay was standing in the open doorway, and the soft light from his apartment lit him from behind, leaving him in a shadow.

Mario's heart sped up.

He forgot about the building and everything else. His sole focus came down to the man in front of him.

"Hey." Clay stepped aside to let Mario in but stayed close enough for them to brush against each other as Mario passed him.

Mario could swear he felt the heat of Clay's body through all the layers of clothing between them. There was definitely heat pooling low in his stomach at the smell of Clay's fresh, citrusy cologne.

"Hey." His voice came out low, a little breathless, and Mario busied himself with taking off his jacket as he looked around in search of a distraction.

Everything was in muted colors, and what little furniture there was, it appeared to be made from natural materials. Among a lot of open space, the big leather couch dominated the room, and Mario was glad to note that it was big enough to comfortably fit them both, if the mood struck them to do something other than sitting on it.

"Nice place," he commented, glancing down the small corridor to what he assumed was the bedroom door before handing Clay his jacket.

"Thanks. Although I didn't have much to do with it. It was pretty much like this when I rented it, which was one of the reasons I chose it."

Clay motioned for Mario to take a seat on the couch and offered him a glass of wine before ordering food from an Indian place nearby. Soon enough, they were facing each other as they sat sideways on the couch, wine glasses in hand and legs almost-but-not-quite brushing.

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