Page 59 of Stand By Me

Mario shook his head, ready to dismiss it, but Clay didn't let him.

"Seriously, thank you. And also? While the Ben thing definitely sucks, this—" he indicated between them "—is up there with the absolute best things that happened to me in a long time."

Mario beamed at him.

"I agree." He leaned in for a kiss. "The absolute best."

He pulled back to rest his forehead against Clay's and closed his eyes. He had no idea how they were going to sort out this mess, but he couldn't lose either of the Jackson brothers.

He wouldn't.

The rest… The rest would have to figure itself out.

* * *

Fridays could be a drag to get through at work, since everyone wanted to start the weekend already, but this one was among the slowest ones Mario could remember.

He went through the motions with all his tasks, sent Ben a text with an offer to talk whenever he was ready, and even managed to muster up some enthusiasm for a school trip group that was testing the trivia game his team had been working on.

And yet, when he checked the time afterwards, it turned out to be barely eleven thirty.

By the time he met up with Andie for lunch, he was ready to crawl out of his skin.

"What's with you today?" she finally asked, when he couldn't stop fidgeting in his chair.

"Friday," he told her, not wanting to get into the whole Ben mess. "I want the weekend to get here already."

"From your lips…" Andie saluted him with her cup. "Any exciting plans?"

"Clay has the gala tonight, but we'll see each other tomorrow."

"Lucky you." Andie smiled. "This guy of yours sounds seriously dreamy."

That made him grin. "Can't argue with that."

"You should bring him with you on Monday at some point."

Mario raised his eyebrows. Hardly anyone was ever invited to their Monday outings since the three of them wanted to have some dedicated time for each other.

It felt good that at least some of his friends were giving Clay a chance.

"What will Carina say?" he asked to distract himself.

Andie shrugged. "She'll grumble beforehand, but she knows it's the best chance for us to get to know him and make sure he's good for you."

"Trust me, he's good for me."

"He seems to be," Andie admitted. "But friends' approval can't hurt, can it?"

Ouch.

He tried to hide a wince, but she caught it. "What is it?"

"Nothing, don't worry about.I'mactually quite worried you'll team up against me."

She was clearly unconvinced about his misdirection, but let them move on to her weekend plans, which included a pottery lesson, a protest, and a friend's wedding.

By the time their break was over, he'd forgotten about his bad mood, at least temporarily. It made it easier to get back to work now, even if he was still counting down the hours.

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