Page 5 of Christmas in Paris
Only wait. There was one student who was notably not here. Ashley. Where was Ashley, and where was her father? A surge of panic rushed through Simon’s body as he scanned through the crowd of sleepy students. Without Ray, he was in trouble. He had only been allowed to do this at all because he had backup, another adult to help keep an eye on all of the children.
If he tried to take these kids to Paris now, it would mean losing his job. The parents who had disapproved of this whole idea from the beginning would see to that. And honestly, he wasn’t sure he was up to the daunting task of supervising this horde of teenagers without someone to help him.
Just as his panic had reached peak point, where he was pretty sure he was going to have to call the whole thing off, after all, he saw them. Ashley first, racing ahead and wheeling her bag madly ahead of her, and then her father, his pale cheeks flushed with exertion and his whole body clearly, even from the distance that separated them, tense.
“I’m sorry,” Ray panted as he raced up, so adorably flustered and disheveled that Simon, despite his panic, couldn’t help but forgive him instantly. “Our car got a flat tire, and it took forever to change it.”
As the panic lessened its hold on him, Simon found a little smile touching his lips. The giddiness at seeing Ray probably, he figured, had less to do with the other man and more with relief. Right? Because he had already had some very stern talks with himself about getting infatuated with this man.
“No problem. Let’s get through security,” Simon said, in a fairly quiet voice, and then, much louder, “And onto the plane! Paris awaits!”
The cheer that that got was very encouraging. But as he turned aside to get his bag, his shoulder brushed against Ray’s, and the flush of sensation that even so simple a contact brought through his body was on a whole other level.
The truth was, if not for the fact that this was the father of one of his students, Simon might be tempted to give it a try. To flirt with him and see what happened. Especially given how thick the tension had been between them back in the classroom. He might have thought that it was worth the shot.
But, of course, that wasn’t the situation here. It was way more complicated than that. This wasn’t some guy that he’d met in a bar. This was a man, a father of one of his students, that he just so happened to be stuck with for the next month. Getting into a messy, awkward situation was not going to be all that advisable right now.
It was just as well. He’d figured out through the years that he just wasn’t the sort of person who did relationships. He had neither time nor inclination. So it was easier to focus on work and not go there at all.
It felt like Ray was challenging that, but, of course, he wasn’t doing anything of the sort. Ray hadn’t even shown overt interest. For all Simon knew, Ray was completely heterosexual. It would be much easier if he just allowed himself to think that he was.
“I haven’t flown anywhere since I was a teenager,” Ray confided, bringing Simon back to himself just as he was getting lost in his head. They were through security now, which Simon had navigated without even thinking about and were in the departure terminal at the gate, waiting for their flight.
“Really?” Simon asked, surprised. “The moment summer vacation starts, I’m on a plane somewhere. I think it keeps me sane through the year to know that I have that to look forward to.”
He glanced at Ray, and he couldn’t even help but be curious about just who this man was. A single father, he had gotten that impression, although he didn’t know that for sure. But Ray hadn’t said anything about a wife or girlfriend, and Ashley had never mentioned her mother.
So who was this man? The list of people that Simon wanted to know more than very casually was very short. Some might even say generally nonexistent. But Ray had made it onto the list, and Simon wasn’t even sure how that had happened.
“Must be nice,” Ray said, glancing around at the kids, most of whom were now awake enough that their cheerful conversations betrayed how excited they were. “If I could do anything, if I won the lottery, I would just spend as long as I could traveling.”
Every word that Ray said was drawing Simon in more. What was his story? He didn’t speak in a whiny, bitter way, and he wasn’t complaining. He was just cheerfully stating that he wished things were different. Simon didn’t have many friends, and the people that he did spend time with didn’t tend to say things so effortlessly intimate to him. It could bewitch him if he let it.
But, of course, he wasn’t going to let it.
“Well, we have that in common,” Simon replied, trying to lighten the mood a little, and from the endearing little grin that Ray shot his way, he must have had some level of success. Luckily for him, it seemed that Ray was not a super serious, intense person to be around, which was just one more way in which the man was completely goddamned perfect. It wasn’t even fair.
“Tell me about the places you’ve been?” Ray urged, and just then, they were called to board. In the mad rush to get on the plane, Simon had a chance to settle himself down a bit. There was no way that Ray could know just how irresistible he was. A gorgeous man, who wanted to hear the stories about Simon traveling? If he didn’t know better, Simon might think that he’d died and gone to heaven.
Once they were settled, though, Ray turned to him, a look of expectation on his face. He hadn’t forgotten, and, what’s more, he clearly honestly wanted to know, because why else would he ask again? If it had just been polite interest, he wouldn’t have prodded again.
And that, in retrospect, would be where Ray started to worm his way into Simon’s heart. The trip from Seattle to Paris was nine hours, and the plane flights were usually Simon’s least favorite time of any trip. Normally, he would plug himself into a movie, since it wouldn’t be responsible for him to sleep while he was supposed to be watching all of these kids.
The nine hours just seemed to breeze by. Simon hadn’t realized, until he was in the situation, how much he had missed this social aspect. He hadn’t had anyone who cared about what he did, not since Nick. He hadn’t gotten more than a polite pretense at interest in anything about his life in years. And he had forgotten how incredible it could be to sit and talk, especially when someone was as interested as Ray clearly was.
On that plane flight, they became friends, rather than simply acquaintances. Simon supposed that Ray would probably laugh if he knew how much it meant to him. A guy like Ray, handsome and extroverted, was probably ridiculously friendly. But for Simon, at least, it was like he had been freezing to death and had just been invited inside to sit by a cozy fire.
Not that it mattered, of course. He wasn’t stupid enough to let someone hurt him like Nick had. He wasn’t going to be one of those people who kept making bad decisions, the same bad decisions, over and over again. So yes, he was going to enjoy Ray’s company, but he wasn’t going to let himself be drawn in.
Keep it casual. That was pretty much Simon’s mantra, and it had served him well. There was no reason to do anything else now. But why shouldn’t he enjoy it? There was no law against it, and Ray seemed to be showing every sign that he was just as interested in chatting with Simon as Simon was with him.
One thing that Simon was sure about, this was going to be a fun trip. He had been looking forward to it, of course, even before Ray had signed up to help him out, but now he was excited. He would get to be there when Ray saw the Eiffel Tower in person for the first time. And the Louvre, theChamps-Elysees,and all of the other famous Parisian landmarks. And somehow, Simon had the distinct sense that it would be a lot of fun to get to be the one to get to show this energetic young man. Ray had this touching innocence, almost, to him, and there was no harm in Simon enjoying that, right?
“I think this is going to be a good trip,” Ray murmured, surprising Simon. It was a little strange how the younger man had echoed his exact thoughts, and only seconds after Simon had thought them. Only Ray had said it. Simon had the idea that Ray said a lot of what he thought, which Simon, who overthought everything, envied.
“I agree,” Simon replied, and they shared a slightly bashful little smile before they both got down to the very serious, and not particularly easy, job of getting thirty overtired teenagers to stay together as they deplaned. It was an awful lot like trying to herd an equal number of especially stubborn cats.
Granted, it would have been easier if he hadn’t been as obsessed with looking over at Ray. But if he hadn’t been, then he wouldn’t get the delicious little thrill when he caught Ray looking back at him.
