I woke in an all new place, to the sounds of distant laughter. Beyond the strange door of the cozy little bedroom, I could hear familiar voices.
And through the window… impossibly bright sunlight streaming in.
Oh my God!
I leapt from the bed, and found myself in a T-shirt and sweat-shorts. I couldn’t remember putting them on. In fact, the shorts were on backwards.
“The hot tub…”
My voice broke against the walls of the empty room. My throat was hoarse and dry. My eyelids were still gummed as I turned the knob and pulled the door open.
Chase and Nathan were in the kitchen, or rather, the kitchenette. I could smell eggs and coffee, and something else. They were burning something for sure.
“Hey sexy,” said Chase.
Toast maybe.
“Well look who finally showed up?” Nathan chided.
I ran one hand through a damp tangle of sweaty hair. Or was it wet hair? That made a lot more sense.
“W—What time is it?”
“Almost eleven,” Chase declared.
“Holy shit.”
“Nah,” he said, with the sweep of one hand. “Holy nothing. You’re on vacation, remember? Eleven’s okay.”
I tried to swallow but only ended up squinting. I scratched at my itchy head. “Coffee…”
Nathan pushed a mug my way, already fixed. With it, came two reddish-brown tablets of Advil.
“Thanks.”
He winked at me, and I tried flashing a weak smile back. It probably came out horrific.
“Where’s Burke?”
“Writing.” Chase pointed his spatula at one of the bedroom doors. “Been in there all morning.”
“Cool.”
“Uh huh,” he said, popping a piece of fried bacon into his mouth. It was nearly black. So that’s what got burnt.
I took a sip, and the coffee was surprisingly not bad. After my second and third sips, I posed the obvious question.
“So… what the hell happened?”
The two of them looked at each other. Their grins were a little too wide.
“You don’t remember?”
“I remember the bar,” I said. “And coming back from the bar.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“And…” I squinted again, then snapped my fingers. “There’s a hot tub out back.”