Eleanor & Grey(77)

“No promises. You know me—I’m a talker.”

We parked the car, and as we began walking toward Greyson’s front porch, he came out wearing a backward baseball hat and a White Sox jersey. “Hey ladies!” He smiled and hurried down the stairs to greet us. “Shay, it’s been a long time. It’s great to see you.” He pulled her into a hug, and Shay stood still as day.

When he let go of her, she gave him a tight smile and then turned back to me and whisper-shouted. “What the hell, Ellie?!”

“What? What’s wrong?”

She pulled me in closer and turned her back even more to Greyson. “Um, how in the ever-loving-shit did you forget to inform me that Greyson, oh, I don’t know, grew up to become a Greek god? Seriously, are those real biceps? Those can’t be real. People don’t look like that. People don’t look like that!”

“Shhh, he’s going to hear you. Stop being weird.”

We turned back to Greyson and smiled. “Are you guys ready to head out? I figured we could all fit into your SUV,” I said.

“Yeah, let me go get the girls. We’ll meet you out here.”

He turned around and started walking away with his hands in his pockets, and Shay moaned.

She moaned.

“Do you see it, Ellie?”

“See what?”

“Those cheeks of steel. Left cheek, right cheek, cheeks cheeks cheeks, oh how cheeky Grey’s cheeks can be,” she said, mocking Greyson’s butt.

“Oh my gosh, Shay, shut up, will you?”

I rolled my eyes at my cousin’s comments, but heck, I did notice Greyson’s behind.

A man couldn’t wear perfectly fitted jeans like that and not have his bum looked at, and Greyson wasn’t lacking in that department.

Not at all.

“Listen, I know there are rules against this, but if you don’t sleep with him, I will,” she joked.

I shoved her lightly. “You’re ridiculous, but hey, I just wanted to warn you before you meet Karla. She can be a bit hard on people when they first meet her.”

“Oh yeah! The growler, right?”

“Yeah. Karla is going to try to freak you out with her scars. Don’t react to it, because that will just make it worse. Just try to be cool about it. Pretend you don’t even notice.”

Shay went to the car, grabbed her black bowler, and placed it on her head. “I’m pretty sure you’re overthinking it. Don’t worry, it will be fine.”

Yeah, that was what I had thought, too.

Greyson and the girls came out of the house, and Lorelai was bouncing up and down with excitement about the baseball game. I didn’t have a clue if she was into sports, but the moment I mentioned cotton candy, she was fully on board.

My stomach knotted as I witnessed Karla’s stare move to Shay.

Karla locked eyes with her.

Shay stared back.

I swore it felt like minutes before Shay nodded. “I like your style,” she said, speaking about Karla’s all black attire. “Very European vibes.”

“Thanks.” Karla nodded back. “I like your hat.”

“Do you want it?”

“Sure.”

Shay took off the bowler hat, walked over to Karla, and placed it on her head.

Karla nodded once more. “Thanks.” She turned and walked to the SUV and climbed inside after Lorelai.

My jaw was on the floor.

What in the world had just happened?

Shay frowned. “That was a very underwhelming growl, Ellie.”

She then walked off and climbed into the SUV, too.

I turned to Greyson, who was standing there just as stunned as I was. “Is your cousin a wizard?”

“That’s the only logical explanation for what just happened. Nothing else would make sense.”

We all drove to the game, and the whole drive there, Shay and Karla spoke like they were the best of friends, talking about music and makeup, and oh my gosh, Karla was talking more than Lorelai.

How did we just enter the twilight zone?

The baseball game turned out to be a lot more fun than I could’ve even imagined. Lorelai was on a sugar high, Greyson was locked in on the game, and every now and then I swore it looked like Karla was chanting, “Let’s go White Sox.”

“Hey, Dad. Can I get some cash to get a hot dog?” Karla said, standing up from her seat.

Greyson sat up a bit, seeming thrown off by Karla’s request. “Yeah, of course, here you go.”

“Thanks. Want anything?” she muttered.

Greyson’s eyes widened. He shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

“All right.”

Karla headed off to get her snack.

“Did you see that?” Greyson asked. “She asked me for money and then asked if I wanted anything.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I saw.”

“That’s one of those good small steps, right?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “It was.” That was the thing about small steps—they had the power to lead to big changes.

When we hit the seventh inning, Lorelai was hitting her breaking point. She was coming down from that sugar high really quick.

“Just a little more,” Greyson said, holding his catching glove on his hand. We’d watched four balls fly in our direction the whole game, and he was more determined than ever to catch one, too.