Page 104 of Eleanor & Grey

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “Now go! Go say hi to everyone! It is a party, after all, so go party.” She blew her birthday kazoo in my face and kept that big smile on her face.

I started to walk away but stopped in my tracks. I turned back toward her, and without any thought, I wrapped my arms around her. I wrapped her so tight against me that I was almost certain I’d squeeze her to death, but I couldn’t let go. Luckily, she didn’t ask me to. When I pulled back, I felt a bit embarrassed. Ambushing her with a hug was completely out of character for me, but it had felt right. I’d needed the embrace. It had felt like the only way I could truly show her my gratitude.

She didn’t even look taken aback by my approach. She just kept smiling that gentle smile and she nodded her head toward my friends. “Go have fun, Grey,” she told me.

Fun.

I wasn’t sure I still knew what that was, but I’d try my best to do as she said. I walked over to Landon and patted his shoulder.

He looked at me and gave me a big cheesy grin. “Dude! Great party. You’ll have to point out who the single women are,” he joked.

“What are you even doing here?” I asked, a bit stunned to see my best friend back in Illinois.

He shrugged. “I was just in the neighborhood.”

“You left me a voicemail yesterday from L.A. You weren’t just in the neighborhood, Landon. You were across the country.”

He smiled a genuine smile and patted me on my shoulder. “For you, Greyson, I’m always in the neighborhood.”

That meant more than he’d ever know. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Listen, I know I’ve been a bit off for a while…”

“If you apologize to me one more time, I’m going to kick you in the balls, Greyson,” Landon warned.

I tossed my hands up in surrender. “Alright, alright.”

“So, Eleanor really grew up, huh? Like, holy hell, she’s fucking beautiful.”

She’d been beautiful since day one. Most people overlooked it, though.

He scratched at the beard he was growing out for his upcoming role in an action movie. “So…is she single?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t start, Landon. You aren’t going to sleep with my nanny. Besides, you already slept with her cousin Shay all those years ago.”

“Shay…Shay…” He went deep into his mind trying to connect the dots of a woman he’d slept with named Shay. When it clicked, he slapped me. “Holy shit, Shay Gable. My first love!”

I laughed. “If that’s what you’re calling love, we should be worried. Come on, let me get you a drink.”

“I won’t say no to that,” Landon agreed. “Make it anything but EastHouse—that shit tastes like piss,” he joked, making me chuckle as I flipped him off. It might’ve been the first time I laughed in months.

Everyone interacted with me as if I hadn’t been a recluse over the past year. They welcomed me back in with laughter and smiles and hugs. I got so many hugs that day.

On a weekend that was supposed to be hard, they all made it that much easier.

Seeing Lorelai having the time of her life warmed me up inside. I swore she was riding the pony for the hundredth time, but Karla opted to stay in her bedroom the whole time.

After the party died down I headed to Karla’s bedroom with a slice of the unicorn cake. My stomach was in knots as I knocked on her door.

She looked up from her computer and raised the headphones she wore. “What?” she muttered, staring at me as if I was the biggest nuisance in the world.

“I, uh, I brought you some cake,” I told her, walking into her room.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “Why?”

“I just thought you’d want some.” I set it down beside her, and her intense stare didn’t ease. “It would’ve been nice if you were at the party today. Everyone was asking about you.”

“Yeah, well,” she mumbled, going back to her computer screen.

“Karla, I was thinking—”

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