Page 19 of All I Want is You this Christmas Final

“How’s it going, bro?”

“You know me. Keeping the peace.” Jared looked around. “Speaking of peace, where’s Casey?”

“He’s back in his room,” Gil said. “He dashed back there the minute you pulled up.”

Mike patted his arm from his sitting position. “Maybe you could go talk to him? Clear the air?”

“I’ll see what I can do, Pop.”

Grayson looked up from his phone and gave Jared a nod. Although Grayson shared the same blue eyes with Forrest, his build was slight in comparison and his hair a lighter shade of blonde with long strands falling into his face.

“Hey, Jared, busted any drug dealers with massive amounts of cash?” Grayson asked.

“Not recently, why?”

“Cause I was hoping you could slip a little money my way to help a poor, starving college student.”

Forrest leaned over the arm of the couch and punched Grayson in the shoulder. “Maybe if you actually saved money instead of spending every dime you make; you wouldn’t be so broke.”

Grayson pushed his hair back behind his ear, glaring at Forrest. “I have needs.”

“Get a girlfriend. Then you won’t have to fill your life with video games.”

“Video games are cheaper.”

“Girlfriends have other perks,” Forrest said, waggling his eyebrows. “You’d probably have to cut the man bun to get one, though.”

Grayson climbed to his feet, and Jared jumped in to defuse the situation. “Speaking of girlfriends, is Megan here?”

Forrest’s face lit up at the mention of his longtime girlfriend. “Yeah, she’s in the kitchen. She drove so I could have a few beers with you guys. She’s awesome like that.”

“I rode with you. Can I have a beer?” Grayson asked.

Mike, Jared and Forrest answered at the same time. “No!”

“Just asking, geez,” Grayson grumbled as he sat back down.

They drifted into silence for a few moments, watching tv. Jared’s gaze bounced around to each of them before chuckling. “Does anyone else find it archaic that all the women are in the kitchen preparing the meal, while the men folk sit out here watching T.V.?”

All of them stilled, glancing around at each other.

“You don’t want to go in there, man. They are plotting,” Grayson said.

Forrest nodded in agreement. “I walked in to grab the beers and Isabel was talking about her pregnancy…things I am still too young to hear about.”

Gil shrugged. “Your mom said they were fine when I offered.”

Jared pinned Mike with an amused stare. “And you? What’s your excuse?”

“I was ordered to sit down and stay out of the way. I do what my wife tells me.”

Jared laughed. “Well, I’m going to go and check on them. If it gets too hairy, I’ll be back.”

Grayson grinned. “You just want to see Anna Beth, who is looking fiiiii--ow!” Grayson rubbed the side of his head where Forest smacked him. “What?”

Jared saluted Forest. “Thanks.”

“What did I do?” Grayson asked.