I awoke to the sound of someone breathing next to me combined with the distinct scent of waffles.
“Fin, get out of my room,” I mumbled, flipping onto my side. A deep rumble of laughter echoed across the room.
“It lives!” he exclaimed. My eyes shot open. Levi. I shot straight up.
“Levi. Where am I and how did I get here?” Levi blushed and dropped his gaze to the ground.
“I didn't know where else to take you. You were unconscious and I didn't know where you lived, so I took you here,” he rushed out quietly. He blushed an even deeper red.
“Were you the one who got me out of the water?” I asked incredulously. I vaguely recognized that this would have been the second time he had saved me after an embarrassing moment.
“Actually, no. That would be my brother, Jude. I don't swim well enough to save an unconscious girl from the merciless grips of the invincible ocean.”
“That was quite poetic,” I complimented.
“It better be. I've been waiting hours to say it,” he deadpanned. Then he broke down and smiled, making me laugh. “You should laugh more often. It suits you.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls that end up unconscious in your bed,” I teased.
“Well, yes, considering you're the first one.”
“Really?” I asked feigning surprise. “I suspected at least one other person would fall unconscious just to end up here!” I grinned at him, realizing I loved to tease him.
Just then, an older version of Levi popped his head into the room. “Waffles are ready,” he declared, then left.
“That would be Jude,” Levi explained. I had suspected as much. The resemblance was striking. Levi arose from the bed, heading for the door. Then he stopped, as if he had just remembered something.
“I put one of my shirts on you while you were unconscious so that you weren't just sleeping in your bikini. It's not quite warm enough for that.” With that, he left the room, presumably straight for the waffles.
I followed suit, though I felt extremely self-conscious in just a bikini and a too-big men's tee shirt.
Down in the kitchen, Jude was shoving waffles onto plates. He turned when I got into the kitchen. Jude whistled.
“Shame it's not my tee shirt you're wearing right now,” he flirted with a smirk. I suddenly felt even more self conscious and picked at the hem on Levi's shirt.
Levi handed me a plate full of waffles. “I do apologize for Jude. Jude, she's a guest. Please have some respect.”
Jude winked at me and turned back to the waffles. “What's your name, anyway?”
“Her name is Elizabeth. Darcy Elizabeth Lancaster.”
“Darcy Elizabeth? Aren't those both people from that Pride and Prejudice novel?”
“Jude? Isn't that the name from that Beatles song?” I countered.
Jude smirked. “Fair enough. I'm actually Jude Lennon, so my parents were fanatics, too.”
I turned to Levi. “How come he got named after the Beatles and you got named after a brand of jeans?”
Levi smiled and shrugged. “Levi is short for Oliver. And I suppose my parents got out of their hippie stage after they had Jude.”
It was weird to see Levi like this. He wasn't extraordinarily cocky and actually seemed, well, decent. It was refreshing to know that Levi was a real person and not just someone who liked to flirt with me.
