Page 23 of Here You Are

“She’s in the room. Jeffrey is in there, too. He’s gotten a pretty nice tan since you guys have been here, based on the shade of his white ass I just saw.”

“Oh, no. I guess that explains the Do Not Disturb sign. Were they…?”

“Oh yeah, my eyes can not unsee what I have seen. It’s especially disturbing when it’s your baby sister,” I groaned, closing my eyes and leaning against the wall. “I’m homeless.”

Justin laughed again. “Just come to my room. I suddenly have an open bed. We’ll put the Do Not Disturb sign on. If Jeffrey comes back in the middle of the night, we’ll ignore him and make him sleep in the hallway.”

“It’s okay; I can just wait here,” I replied, not totally comfortable with sleeping in a stranger's room, even though I had evidence he was a good Midwestern boy.

“I promise not to try anything. There are separate beds, and they haven’t even been slept in yet. Scouts honor.”

“Are you an adult Boy Scout?”

“No.”

“Were you a Boy Scout?"

“Also, no”

“Then, I’m sorry, but your Scout’s Honor doesn’t mean much.”

He rubbed his face and groaned, “Yeah, I don’t know why I said that. It was very uncool. Is being uncool enough evidence that I'll be a gentleman?”

I squinted at him, the buzz of the evening and alcohol wearing off, and a slight headache setting in. “Under normal circumstances, no, but I’m starting to get a hangover, so it’s good enough. I will warn you that I can outrun you and out-scream you, so if you try to murder me in the night, you will not succeed.”

“No murder plans, although if that changes, I have been warned.”

We made our way down the hall to Justin and Jeffrey’s room, which was temporarily Justin and homeless Cassie’s room. Justin let me into the room, and it was clean and smelled like a fresh hotel room. It looks like they arrived and immediately left the room.

“Do you need anything to sleep in or anything in the bathroom?” Justin asked. “I can give you a shirt to sleep in.”

‘I’m okay. This dress is basically a nightgown. I’m going to scrounge around the complimentary bathroom supplies and try to find a way to scrub the tequila off my teeth before I sleep.”

“Help yourself to whatever; we can always ask for replacements in the morning.”

I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed with zero supplies and zero patience for the situation Cora forced me into. Sharing a room with a stranger did seem better than sleeping in the hallway until she let me in. I could hear Justin rummaging around the room; he was likely unpacking some of his stuff to get ready for bed.

I opened the bathroom door and walked out toward the beds. Justin had taken his clothes off and was wearing a pair of black boxer briefs. He was bent over his suitcase, digging through his clothes.

I stopped dead in my tracks and let out an, “Ope, sorry!”

He turned around to face me, and I got an eyeful of pecs, abs, and his package. “Sorry, I was trying to look for something to sleep in, but I wasn’t planning on a platonic overnight guest, so I didn't pack anything. Do not scream. I'm not trying anything.”

I giggled at his speech and his “robber caught in the act” hands in the air. “I won’t scream. I’m going to go to bed, and I do have a weapon hidden under my dress, so don’t try anything.”

“I bet you do.” He winked and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

I lay down in the bed that didn’t have his suitcase on it, prepared for a night of lying awake in self-preservation. Apparently, I was pretty tired because I didn’t even hear him come to bed.

The next thing I knew, my eyes popped open to the sound of banging on the door. It was clearly Jeffrey, trying to get back in the room. I rolled over and looked at the alarm clock—4:30 a.m. I saw Justin roll over in bed toward the alarm clock as well.

With a sleepy voice, he told me, “I made a promise. That jackass is sleeping in the hallway. I’ll let him in to get ready for breakfast.”

Jeffrey kept pounding on the door, and Justin yelled, “Go away, you aren’t getting in here. Should have stayed the night with your lady friend.”

We heard Jeffrey muttering some curses, and then the knocking stopped. I fell back asleep with a smile on my face.

I woke up around 8 a.m. Justin was already up, walking around the room, and getting ready for the day. He was brushing his teeth and looked over at me with a big, tooth-pasty smile. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty. I wasn’t expecting to wake up to someone other than Jeffrey’s ugly ass. You want to go find our siblings and get some breakfast, or have you had enough quality time with me for the day?”