Page 67 of Stand By Me

Better, even.

It was real.

They were forced to move after a while, but they were in no hurry as they showered and dressed, seemingly unable to stop touching each other. Mario was grinning so hard he half-expected his cheeks would start hurting.

While they'd already checked many of his relationship boxes, he was also looking forward to slowing down now that they managed to survive the Ben thing. Mario couldn't wait to do a bunch of things with Clay—learn more things about each other, meet each other's friends, go on more fun dates—but he alsocouldwait, because…

Because they had time. They had all night, and tomorrow, too. And the next week, and the next—

"What are you thinking about?" Clay nudged him with his knee.

They were sitting at the table, working their way through the Vietnamese takeout, and Mario had gotten lost in his head while holding a dumpling halfway to his mouth.

Feeling his face heat, he dropped the dumpling and took a sip of his water.

Clay kept his gaze on him, patiently waiting.

"I was thinking about us," Mario finally admitted.

"Anything specific?"

"I'm happy that we have so much ahead of us, I guess." Mario's face was definitely red now, but Clay's smile encouraged him to go on. "Ben knows and he's dealing with it, so it feels like… Like we can breathe a bit easier?"

"Yeah, it does." Clay reached out and squeezed his wrist gently. "I wasn't going to let him dictate who I can and cannot date, but it's definitely a relief that he's not so antagonistic anymore."

"And not just about us, right? He seemed… calmer when he came over after seeing you this morning."

They'd texted each other earlier about the surprise Ben visits, but they hadn't discussed the details, leaving that for a face-to-face conversation.

"He was definitely calmer," Clay said. "Thanks to you, I was able to understand him better and I told him some things I think he needed to hear. We still have a long way to go, of course, but it's… I don't want to jinx it, but I'm hopeful."

Mario beamed at him.

"I'm glad," he said after swallowing the dumpling.

Clay rubbed his thumb over Mario's pulse point, sending a flash of heat down his arm.

"It wouldn't happen without you, so, once again, thank you."

Mario opened his mouth to protest that it was nothing, but one look at Clay made him close it.Fine, it wasn't nothing. But it was selfish, too, since he really, really wanted his best friend and his boyfriend not to be at odds.

His boyfriend.

He squinted at his plate. Could he call a thirty-seven-year-old man his boyfriend?

"What is it?" Clay rubbed his pulse point again, and when Mario glanced up, he had a small frown on his forehead.

Mario could shrug it off and change the subject.

Or, he could act like a grown-up and say what was on his mind.

"I was wondering what I should call you. I thought about 'boyfriend', but I know some people hate that, after they hit a certain age—"

Clay snorted and withdrew his hand.

"'Certain age', thanks a lot. Way to make me feel old."

"Please, you could pass for thirty."

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