“All good?” Sebastian asked, clapping John on the back.

John had actually spent a fair amount of time with these two men over the last few weeks and he liked both of them. Except when they were teasing him over his apparently obvious reaction to Mary’s proximity.

“Yeah,” John said gruffly, catching the pretty bartender’s eye. “Long week, though. You?”

“Pretty good, pretty good,” Sebastian said a little distractedly.

“Yeah. Me too,” Tyler chimed in, sounding just as vague.

John paid for his beer and turned back to face the dance floor, the way the other two men were. He immediately understood their distracted manner. Via and Fin were on the dance floor, cutting two very good-looking rugs.

“Where’s Matty tonight?” John asked.

“Got a babysitter for him,” Sebastian responded, tearing his gaze from his girlfriend. “Actually, Kylie is looking after him.”

“Can you believe that?” Tyler chimed in, looking a little bemused with the development. “Eight months ago, I wouldn’t have even trusted her to be at home on her own. And now she’s looking after your kid.”

“She’s come a long way since Thanksgiving,” Sebastian agreed. “And I gotta admit, it’s nice to be out on the town with you and Mary at the same time. I don’t actually remember the last time that happened.”

“She seems happy,” John said, unable to keep himself from finding Mary in the crowd, laughing at something Beth was saying and lighting up her corner of the room.

“It takes a lot to keep Mary down,” Seb replied. “She’s been through a lot over the last few years. As traumatic as these last few weeks have been, they weren’t anything that she couldn’t handle.”

“She’s strong,” John agreed. “When you first meet her, you kind of think that someone that happy must be out of touch or naive. But she’s not. She works hard to be happy. I respect that.”

Tyler’s beer came down on the bar as he turned to John. “All right, I’m just gonna say it. You avoided answering at Mary’s party, but come on, it’s obvious. You’re into her. She’s in—Mmph!”

Fin, possibly with the accuracy of a clairvoyant, had appeared at Tyler’s side in just enough time to clap a hand over his mouth, tugging him toward the dance floor. She hissed something that sounded suspiciously like “Let them figure it out!”

But John couldn’t be sure. He cleared his throat and finished his beer a lot faster than he’d anticipated. He chanced a quick glance at Sebastian, who looked about as uncomfortable as John felt. “He has a big mouth,” Sebastian said after a beat. “But he means well. And he wants what’s best for Mary.”

“So do I,” John said carefully.

Thirty quiet, awkward seconds passed.

“Look, man,” Sebastian said. “If you—”