What's a Fourth with no fireworks?

Friday morning I was up before anyone else.  I felt antsy right away.  I went down into the kitchen, and started quietly cleaning up some dishes from the day before.  Once the dishes were done, I wiped down the counters.  I couldn't find a broom, so I snuck back into the room and grabbed my Kindle and a sweatshirt.  I made myself a cup of coffee, and went to sit on the deck and read.  It was chilly, and I marveled at the difference a couple thousand feet of altitude makes.

After about a half hour, the door onto the deck opened and Savannah's friend, Allie, came out.  "I always feel like I'm the first one up everywhere I go," she said, yawning.  "I'm glad someone else is up!"

I laughed.  "I've only lived here for a few weeks, so I'm pretty sure my internal clock is still ahead an hour."

We chatted about my move, the differences in weather, and the noticeable lack of mosquitoes (compared to Wisconsin, anyway) for close to 45 minutes.

By this point, people were starting to get up.  Brody and Kevin came out onto the deck.  "Did you guys clean?" Brody asked.  Allie shook her head.

"I did," I said.  "I was feeling restless."

"Well, thanks, you didn't have to," he said, smiling.  "But I get the restlessness.  There's a hiking trail nearby, we could go in a bit if you wanted."

"That sounds awesome!" I said.  I love to hike.  "Do you believe I haven't been hiking yet since I moved out here?  It's tragic."

"We have to remedy that.  That's not acceptable!" he responded, chuckling.

We headed inside where Lauren, Kinsley, and Alex were making breakfast.  After we ate, Lauren and I got ready to head out with Brody and Kevin.  No one else wanted to hike, so it was just the four of us.  The trailhead was about a half mile back down the dirt road we'd driven in on.  Brody said the trail went about 5 miles out to a lake.  We walked a mile and a half down to a gorgeous overlook.  Along the way we saw 3 fat marmots sunning on the rocks.  We took a break at the overlook.  The path was minimally maintained, and my feet were a little sore from walking over the sharp rocks in just my sneakers.

I walked close to the edge overlooking a gorgeous valley.  I could see the lake where the trail ended down below in the distance.  Lauren and Kevin were exploring off to the side of the small clearing, and Brody had sat on a rock behind me to dig a pebble out of his shoe.  "Be careful," he called to me.  "Some of that rock at the edge is loose."

"I won't get too close," I replied, turning so he could hear me.  "I love the view!"

"So do I," he said, raising his eyebrows and smirking.  "It's even better from back here, but if you come back to look, the best scenery will disappear."

I glared at him for a second before laughing and rolling my eyes.   He just kept smirking at me.

We decided to turn around and head back.  Walking back, I was disappointed that the marmots were gone.  My restless feeling was gone, and I was glad Brody had suggested a hike.  We made it back in time for lunch, and found that while we were gone, Christian and Kendra had arrived. 

After lunch, Alex suggested starting up the hot tub.  Hot tubs aren't usually my thing, but hell if I was going to waste my 4 trips to the gym this week!  When Lauren, Kinsley, and I came back out from changing, the guys were already out there, pulling the cover off the hot tub.  I shamelessly checked out all three guys.  Kevin clearly spent a lot of time at the gym, and his biceps were roughly the size of my head.  Alex and Brody were both lean but well-muscled, and I saw flashes of a tattoo across his ribs.  Lauren saw me looking and elbowed me in the side.  I almost yelped, but managed to contain it as a strangled, snorted laugh.  At that, Kinsley and Lauren both burst into laughter.  Alex walked over with three beers in his hands, but stopped a few paces from us.  "I was going to offer these, but I'm not sure any of you need them!" he said, eying their red faces.  Lauren was bent double.  It wasn't that funny.

"Are you kidding?  I've never needed it more.  You try sharing a room with these weirdos."  I grabbed a beer from him and nodded thanks.  Lauren had managed to get herself together but Kinsley was still gasping.  Brody had gotten the hot tub going and we got in, joined quickly by Christian, Savannah, and Allie.  Christian said that Kendra had a headache and was going to lay down for a little while.  I had managed to score a spot next to Brody, but of course Savannah weaseled in on his other side.  Oh well, so far she had been relatively tame.  Alex slipped in on my other side, his leg brushing mine.  I suddenly felt a little lightheaded and a lot uncomfortable.

We ended up spending a couple hours in the hot tub, drinking and laughing.  Savannah drank quickly, putting away 3 beers before I had finished my first one.  I raised an eyebrow at Lauren across from me and she gave a small shrug.  When Kinsley declared that she couldn't take the heat anymore and got out, I followed.  We grabbed towels and went inside to change.

As we walked down the hall after quick showers and changing, I heard what sounded like arguing coming from the living room.  We walked in in time to hear Savannah begin yelling, swearing at Alex and Allie who seemed to be arguing with her in the corner.  Suddenly, an empty beer bottle was flying through the air.  It smashed into the wall 6 inches from my head and shattered.  Kinsley and I jumped out of the way.  Everyone else froze, including Savannah.  Then she started crying.  Alex and Allie each took one of her arms, hauled her up, and half dragged her towards the room she was sharing with Allie.

Kinsley and I were cleaning up the glass when Lauren and Kevin walked in.  "What the hell happened?" Kevin asked.

"Savannah happened," Kinsley snapped back.  "And now we're cleaning up the mess."

Awhile later Alex and Allie came back out, Savannah-less.  Brody had reappeared as well, helping us get the last of the glass we could find cleaned up.  "At least it was empty," he said.

"Fucking optimist," Kinsley muttered.  Brody laughed and squeezed her shoulder as he walked past.

We talked about going into the small town for some of their Fourth festivities, but decided against it with Savannah and Kendra both out of commission.  We lounged in the living room for a bit.  The windows were open, and a cool breeze drifted through.  I got up to grab a sweatshirt, but as I was walking from the living room into the hall, I yelped in surprise as something stabbed me in the foot.

"Oh shit, did you guys miss a piece of glass?" Kevin asked.  I lifted my foot off the ground and sure enough, there was a piece of sharp, brown glass embedded in my heel.

"That was the ONE piece that you were supposed to get, Kevin," Kinsley said, smiling sweetly.  "Way to blow it."

Brody had walked over and crouched down to look at my foot.  "That should be easy to get out.  Come on, there's first aid stuff in my room."

I followed him to his room, walking carefully on my toes to avoid shoving the glass further into my heel.  He sat me down on the edge of the tub and knelt in front of me, holding my ankle carefully to see the glass.  He rinsed my heel with some water, disinfected a pair of tweezers, and grabbed the glass.  I grimaced.  He pulled the tweezers away and looked again. "It must have gone in at an angle," he said, pulling my foot up a little higher.  "It's partially underneath the skin.  Hold on."  He grabbed something else out of the medicine cabinet and wiped it off with alcohol.  Before I could even think about what he was doing, he had made a tiny slit in my heel with a razor blade and neatly plucked the piece of glass out.  He washed the cut carefully, inspected it again, and put some Neosporin and a small square of gauze on it, held in place by medical tape.

"That was impressive," I said, as he cleaned up his surgical tools.  "It didn't even hurt."

"I went to college in Miami," he responded.  "I was a lifeguard there.  I pulled more glass out of feet than I did just about anything else." 

"Well, I'm thankful for that," I said, smiling at him.  He pulled me to my feet and gestured for me to walk ahead of him out of the bathroom.  I walked into the bedroom, but stopped by the window.  This window faced the gorgeous valley I had noticed the day before.  I put my hands on the sill and gazed out.  I was suddenly conscious of Brody close behind me.  One of his hands slid onto my hip, while the other swept my hair over my shoulder, his fingertips trailing fire across my neck, over my shoulder, and down my arm.  They stopped at the inside of my wrist, and I shivered involuntarily. He turned me gently towards him, keeping his left hand on my hip.  His right traced along my hairline, across my jaw, and down my neck.  It had just started a path across my collarbone when I heard footsteps coming down the hall.

Alex appeared in the doorway.  I stiffened.  Brody let his hands fall away and turned towards the door.  Alex didn't say anything for several seconds, then said "Um, sorry.  Did you have any matches?  Or a lighter?  The starter button on the grill..."  He trailed off, cheeks red, but stubbornly staring directly at us.

"Sure.  There are some in the kitchen drawer," Brody responded, starting to turn back towards me.

"Yeah, we looked.  Couldn't find them.  Can you come look?"  Alex made no move to leave.

I couldn't see Brody's face, but the red of Alex's cheeks darkened slightly.

"Ok.  I'll be there in a second."  Still Alex stood, not moving towards the kitchen.  Brody sighed, and turning to me with an apologetic look, he said quietly, "Come on.  Let me know if it hurts when you put weight on that heel.  It's ok if it's a little sore, but if there's sharp pain, I might have missed some glass."

I swallowed hard, irritated at the intrusion and baffled at Brody's ability to walk away right now.  Then I nodded, and walked towards the door.  Alex was watching me.  He didn't look mad.  He didn't look surprised.  He just looked embarrassed.