Page 73 of Just A Little Joy

Owen

Agreed.

Anders

Agreed. Unless you refuse to come, and then we’ll change it.

Right, Rory?

Rory

Ugh. Fine. Yes.

Casey

I appreciate you all thinking of me. Let’s have ourselves a party.

Rory and Gabe’s house was lit up like a Christmas tree. Garland with lights ran along the front iron fence. The actual trees were wrapped in lights. The porch had wreaths, more garland, and even more lights. Every window had a glowing candle. It was beautiful. It was…a lot. A lot, a lot. But still beautiful.

I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other and climb the steps. Rory told me to just walk in, but it felt weird not to knock. The chill off the ocean was killer tonight, being this close to the water, but the cold in my chest wasn’t from the breeze. It was because I was leaving Daddy behind.

I’d thought I was ready to give up my rolling stone ways, but the sheer force of panic that hit me when I realized that if I stayed, he’d want to build something with me…yeah. It knocked the breath out of me. I’d said that’s exactly what I wanted. But the reality of it scared the absolute shit out of me. And he didn’t even close the door on me. If it had been me, I would’ve slammed it shut and locked it.

I told him I was leaving by text because I’m a coward, and he just said thanks for letting him know and asked if I wantedto come over for a movie. Of course I said yes because I love torturing myself. I saw the sadness in his eyes, but he didn’t make me feel guilty for my decision. The only thing he said was to remind me to pack warm socks because it got cold in Alaska. Whatever I had done in my life, I didn’t deserve him. He was too kind, too sweet, too everything I ever wanted. Which obviously meant he was too good to be true.

Ugh. Tonight was not the time to circle the drain. There was a party, and apparently, I was the guest of honor. I needed to get inside.

I squared my shoulders, opened the door, and stepped into the warmth.

Oh damn. If I’d thought the outside was pretty, it was nothing compared to the explosion of joy Rory had created inside. Right in the entryway was a whole collection of moose. Meese? No, still moose. Whatever. They were adorable. I shook the rain off my jacket and tossed it onto the pile in the corner. The noise from the back of the house said the party was already in full swing.

I crossed polished wooden floors into the living room—then stopped dead. In front of the huge window stood a ginormous fir tree covered in white twinkle lights, red beads, and…my face?

“Surprise! Happy going-away party and Merry Christmas!” Rory shouted from across the room. His sweater—covered in tinsel—physically hurt my eyes, but he somehow still looked great in it. At the commotion, everyone turned toward me.

“Uh…hey. Thanks.”

Rory jogged over as I turned to the tree. “Why is my face on this? Oh my god, where did you get these?”

“Before I tell you, you have to tell me if you’re mad. Because if you are, then you don’t get to know.”

“Nope, not mad. Just…surprised? Shocked? Mildly horrified?”

“Fair. Those are all fine,” Rory said with a breezy wave of his hand. “We got your server friend to take pictures of you without you knowing, then had them printed on ornaments so we could celebrate you. Do you know how hard it is to get photos of someone with no social media? It’s wild. And I couldn’t ask you for any because then you’d know, and that would be awkward.”

“That is quite the conundrum for you.”

Rory beamed at me. My sarcasm did not land. At all.

“Exactly! I’m glad you understand how hard it was. And let me tell you—trying to explain to Drew why I needed covert pictures of you? I think he thought I was undercover or something,” Rory whispered loudly.

“No, I thought you were stalking him, and it was about to get weird,” Drew said, walking into the living room with a plate piled high. “Either the other guys were gonna jump in on the stalking, or Rory was gonna get kicked out of the band.”

“So why did you help him?” I asked.

“Because I wanted to see which one happened,” Drew said with a shrug, like it was the most normal answer in the world.

“So you were gonna help my stalker stalk me?”