Page 37 of Christmas in Paris
“Nope.” Simon smirked. “I’m a teacher. I know everything.”
“You teachFrench,” Ray informed him, his tone amused and superior. “That gives you no authority when it comes to the weight of tinsel that will knock down a Christmas tree.”
“You’re an insufferable brat,” Simon shot back, and when Ray turned to smack his shoulder, he wrapped his hand around his wrist and used his grip to haul his boyfriend in so that he could kiss him. There was no heat, no anger, to any of this exchange, just loving and light teasing.
“You guys. Come on,” Ashley commented, pinning a golden garland to the wall close to the ceiling. “Do I need to put you in time out until you can play nice?”
It was comforting to Simon that Ashley felt comfortable teasing him back. She’d taken a while to adjust to having him around, but not that long, just a few months. Now, she was pretty much used to thinking of him as a member of the family. Or so he sincerely hoped. This was going to be messy otherwise.
“I am playing nice;he’snot,” Ray proclaimed, still with that charmingly young, almost innocent, grin on his face. “You’re lucky I put up with you.”
“Mm. Yeah, I know,” Simon murmured, smiling, holding Ray with one hand on the young man’s back and the other slipping to his own pocket. “I have a question for you, love. How long do you think you can stand to put up with me for?”
“What?” Ray asked, clearly confused, not that Simon could blame him. It was a pretty random question, but it was also the perfect way to lead in to what Simon had been trying to find a way to ask all day.
“Because I have a Christmas present for you,” Simon admitted, pulling the golden ring out of his pants pocket and holding it out for inspection while Ashley and Mandy, who were pretty much inseparable, gasped and stared, watching with undivided attention as soon as they realized what was going on. “If you think you can put up with me for the rest of your life, then I’d like to give this to you.”
Ray
Simon had managed to shock him. Ray had just thought that they were fooling around like they did so much of the time. He hadn’t had any warning that this might happen, so when Simon asked him to marry him, Ray wasn’t even sure, at first, that that was even what had happened.
“Oh my God, Simon,” Mandy said as Ray just stood there staring at the ring like an idiot. “You have to ask properly. That wasn’t even a real proposal. You can’t chicken out on this.”
“Okay, okay,” Simon agreed and then went down onto one knee in front of Ray, still holding his left hand. “Ray Myers, I love you more than anything in the world, and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?”
“Yes, he will,” Ashley said promptly, only to be swatted on the shoulder by Mandy, who was clearly enjoying herself. They both were. And Ray, meanwhile, felt like the slightest gust of wind would have knocked him right over.
“Are you being serious?” Ray asked, his voice slightly weak. It sure looked serious, but the thing about having a relationship like they had was that it could be a little bit hard to tell sometimes.
“I’ve never been more serious in my life. Marry me. We can travel the world together,” Simon offered, still holding out the ring. A surge of the most perfect, pure elation that Ray had ever felt surged through him, and for a moment, all he could do was nod. He couldn’t quite seem to make his voice work.
But Simon understood. Smiling broadly, he slipped the golden band onto Ray’s ring finger, then rose to his feet and kissed him soundly.
“So about that traveling the world thing …” Ray had meant to give this to Simon later, but since they were exchanging presents now, why not? He had worked hard, getting a part-time job even though he was also going to school, at the same campus as Mandy and Ashley were attending, interestingly enough. It had been a crazy six months, but he’d managed to pull it off.
“Joyeaux Noel,Simon. Merry Christmas,” Ray murmured, watching as Simon opened up the envelope. Inside were two airplane tickets from Seattle to Paris, where it had all begun.
It was Simon’s turn to look stunned, and Ray took the chance to kiss him soundly as Mandy and Ashley cheered and clapped. Against all the odds, Ray was going back to Paris. And even better, he was going back there with the man he loved, the man he was going to marry.
If there was a better Christmas present in the world, Ray didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t think there was. Nothing could beat this.
THE END
