Will They Be More Than Best Friends? Mark and Jesse have been best friends for over a decade. However, Mark has had a secret infatuation with Jesse during that time. Having learned he is dying from a brain tumor, Mark finally gets the courage to tell Jesse how he feels. Mark is hesitant at first. He has a budding relationship with an old female acquaintance, and Jesse is a family man. Several obstacles emerge over the course of the novel, but none are enough to detour the eventual night of passion Mark and Jesse share in a remote cabin.