Page 128 of Eleanor & Grey

“Oh, because Landon and Shay are totally going to end up sleeping together,” I explained.

We started walking off, and every time a tray of whiskey passed me, I took a shot to help my nerves. The drunker I was for this, the better off I’d be.

Someone bumped into my shoulder and apologized, touching my forearm lightly. I swore it was Captain America and oh my gosh, I am never washing my arm again.

“I want to show you something,” Greyson said, walking me through the crowd of people. We headed toward the VIP area, and when we walked through a door, there was a long hallway with more closed doors. We walked down the halls, and when we reached one of the rooms, I raised an eyebrow. The door was tagged with my name.

“What is this?” I asked.

Greyson pulled out a key card to open it, and when he did, my eyes watered over.

There were strings of white lights hanging across the room, and the floor was covered in blankets and pillows. There was a table with snacks and another with stacks of novels.

“What is this, Grey?”

“I know how overwhelming parties can be for you. So, I made you a reading nook. You know, so you could escape if you needed to.”

He made me a reading nook…

He made me a reading nook!

Goodbye heart. You now belong to Greyson East.

“Thank you, Grey. This is…” I breathed in deep as I saw the stack of Harry Potter books. “This is beyond perfect.”

“I have to go do some press work, but here’s the key card. You can come and go whenever you want. Just show security that and your VIP landyard. There will be a big confetti drop at midnight to celebrate the official launch of the whiskeys, just FYI in case you want to see it. There are also going to be fireworks outside. I know it probably sounds stupid, but it’s actually pretty neat.”

“I’ll be there,” I said, smiling. I could tell how much it meant to him, and I didn’t want to miss it. “I’ll find you.”

He smiled, and I loved it.

“Yeah, come find me.”

With that, he left, taking my heart with him.

I stayed in my reading nook until the clock hit 11:50 p.m. I read the words of a fictional land that was far, far away for hours, but still, Greyson kept crossing my mind. I didn’t even try to fight the thoughts. I let him stay there.

I stood up to go meet him, and I gasped slightly when I opened the door to see him standing there.

“Greyson,” I said breathlessly.

“Hi, Ellie.”

“What are you doing here? I was just coming to find you for the confetti—”

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he confessed, placing his hands against the frame of the door and leaning toward me. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you for some time, and I don’t know what that means. When I close my eyes, I see your face. When I daydream, it’s you who’s there.”

My heart was racing at a pace I hadn’t known hearts could achieve. I felt hot and cold all at once as my hands fell to my chest and I stared into those beautiful eyes.

“Sometimes when I’m around you, I feel it,” he said.

“Feel what?”

He looked up at me with the sincerest stare, parted his lips, and whispered, “Everything.”

Why wasn’t my mind catching up fast enough? Why weren’t my thoughts forming?

“Tell me I’m crazy, Ellie. Tell me you don’t feel it when you look at me. Tell me you don’t see it when we lock eyes. Tell me I’m insane and there’s nothing between us.”

---