"Are you done?" I asked, folding my arms.
"Oh, come on, Logan," Dan said, coming down the steps to hit me on the shoulder and take one of my bags. "You can't be a storm cloud here of all places! Look around. It's beautiful."
"I'll look around when I've got the smell of plane and car and ferry off of me and had a chance to sleep for more than two seconds at a time," I said, letting the irritation and exhaustion bleed fully into my voice.
Dan had known me since college. He knew how I was.
He rolled his eyes and started hauling my bag up towards the house. "Logan's in a shit mood, everybody!" he announced.
"He needs a nap because he's cranky."
The rest of them laughed, and I let out a breath through my nose before snatching my bag back from him. "You're not funny."
"I'm hilarious. There's a room for you upstairs. All the ones with open doors are still free to choose from."
"Thanks," I bit out, and took myself and my things into the cool shade of the house, letting the door snap closed on their laughter.
It was much quieter inside, and I breathed a little sigh of relief to finally have a second to myself.
I followed the entry hall into the kitchen while looking for the way upstairs, and was surprised to see someone else standing there, humming softly.
Oh. It was Elise.
I'd almost forgotten that Dan's little sister was along for this trip, and it had been almost a year since the last time I'd seen her. Her back was to me, so she hadn't noticed my arrival yet, and I took a second to look her over.
Still average height or so, even with the platform flip flops she was wearing. Her skin was tanned, probably from the beach here, and she was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and a bikini top that showed off most of her back and the freckles that dotted her skin.
Her brown hair was wound up into a bun, leaving the slope of her neck bare, and my eyes traveled over it for a second before I shook myself.
It was just the exhaustion making me do dumb shit.
Before I could back out, she turned around, reaching for the canister of sugar on the kitchen island behind her, and she jumped when she saw me.
"Oh! Logan, you scared me. You made it, huh?"
"Obviously," I said, rolling my eyes. "How else would I be standing here?"
Her lips pursed into a little frown. "I guess you wouldn't be," she said. "Well, nice of you to finally join us."
"Some of us can't just take off from our jobs whenever we want," I said. "I had work to do."
"Okay? I'm not criticizing you. It was just a joke."
"Fine," I said. "Whatever."
"You know, I'm not sure why you came all the way out here, considering it was such a trial and all, if you're just going to be cranky and miserable the whole time. You could do that just as well back home."
I curled my fingers tighter around the handle of my suitcase, feeling my irritation spike. She always talked like she knew so much about me and the way I was, and like she was better than me somehow because she was cheerful and naive. I hated that.
But before I could lash out at her, she was sighing and blowing her bangs out of her face. "Sorry. That wasn't nice. I know things have been rough for you lately. I'm glad you made it."
"No, you aren't," I said back. I didn't need to be lied to. "And you don't know the first thing about what I've been through."
Without waiting for her to reply, I left the kitchen, walking further down the hall until I found the stairs.
I spent an uncomfortable few minutes huffing while I dragged my bags up the stairs and then fell into the first open room I found.
It had large, arched windows that let in the last light of the afternoon, filtered through gauzy, sheer white curtains that flapped a little in the breeze. The bed was large and raised, draped in a blue duvet and crisp white sheets.
It looked so fucking divine after everything, but I made myself stay upright for a bit longer, going through my bags until I found clothes to change into and my toiletries and then heading back into the hall to find a bathroom.
The hot water of the shower was like bliss on my travel sore body, and I let out a soft, pleased sigh as it relaxed my muscles and washed away the sweat and grime from the day. Some of my irritation went along with it.
I wasn't sure why I was always so irked by Elise. She was a nice person, always smiling and teasing, always bright. I'd known her by association since I'd known Dan, but we'd never gotten along.
She had a way of getting under my skin that I didn't like, and it made me even more prickly than usual when I was around her. And now I had a whole eight or nine days to deal with that.
Joy.
