Page 104 of Behind the Bars

When I turned to Jason and Kelly, they were frozen solid, staring at Ray with their jaws on the floor. I snickered seeing their reaction. “Everyone, this is my dad, Ray Gable. Ray, this is everyone.” I went around introducing them all, and Ray shook each of theirhands.

“It’s so nice to meet you all.” Ray smiled warmly. “I can take all your coats and put them in the guestroom.”

“Holy shit!” Jason shouted, stillstunned.

“Holy shit!” Kelly echoed, her mouth still open. “Your dad is RayGable?”

I smiled, seeing the small wave of pride that hit Ray. Being recognized by fans was the best Christmas gift he could ever receive. “Yeah, heis.”

“No need to make such a big deal about it.” Ray smirked, standing a bit taller than before. “I’m just a normal everyday person, like you. I use the bathroom and pump my own gas. Here, let me take yourcoats.”

Kelly giggled and started twirling her hair. “Oh, Ray.” She blushed, nudging him in the armplayfully.

Jason chuckled and twirled his short hair too, still starstruck. “Oh, Ray.” He blushed, also nudging him in thearm.

I hadn’t known Kelly for more than two seconds, but it was completely obvious that she and Jason were two peas in a pod. It was cute to see how alike the two were. “Does Elliott know your dad is Ray Gable? He’s your biggest fan,” Jason said, handing his jacket to Ray. “After me, ofcourse.”

Kelly nodded rapidly. “Yeah, he’s totally your biggest fan,” she said, slipping out of her coat and handing it to Ray. “After me, ofcourse.”

I could see it happening all too clearly: Ray’s egoexpanding.

He turned to Laura for her jacket, and she smiled wide. “I’m sorry, I have no clue who you are,” she said sweetly, and that ego balloon of his? It popped even quicker than it hadinflated.

“It’s okay,” Ray said, silently licking his wound. “I’m more of a midlister. I’m not AdamLevine.”

Laura’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I love Maroon 5! Do you knowthem?”

That made megiggle.

Laura and Kelly headed to the kitchen to set up and start preparing the meal while Ray tossed the coats into a room, and Jason pushed TJ into the livingroom.

“MerryChristmas.”

I turned to the door to see Elliott standing there with a bottle of champagne in his hand, wrapped in abow.

My emotions began to swirl. “MerryChristmas.”

He took off his gray newsboy hat, followed by his black pea coat and scarf. He looked so handsome—handsome beyond words—and my heartbeat noticed. Elliott wore black slacks and a burgundy button-down dress shirt with black suspenders attached. The way the shirt hugged his muscular arms was enough to get any woman pregnant onsight.

“You look…” I started, but my words faded away. I blinked once and tried my best to move my stare away from his body, but it was harder than itseemed.

“You look…” he started, but his words trailed away, too, then he smiled. I smiled back. I was so happy we were to the place where we equally smiled at oneanother.

“Who do we have here?” Ray said, walking back over to the front door as I closed it behindElliott.

“Ray Gable.” Elliott nodded, holding his hand out toward him. “There’s no way I’d forget you. Nice to see youagain.”

“See me again?” Ray asked,confused.

“Yeah, um, we met him when we were kids. Remember the boy I used to play music with on the corner?” Iasked.

Ray nodded, cocking an eyebrow. “Yeah, uh, did this guy…eat him or something?” he joked, referencing Elliott’s improvedbuild.

We all laughed and laughed then Elliott and I just stood there staring at one another. I wondered if his heartbeats were as wild asmine.

“Okay, um, let me…” Ray squeezed into the space between Elliott and me. “I’ll take your coat,Elliott.”

We both broke our stare and cleared ourthroats.

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