Let's save it for tonight.

Eh, let's save it for tonight.

After hanging my wet clothes and hitting the shower, I headed back downstairs to find Jess and Tina still sitting, silently, on opposite sides of the couch. Two empty wine glasses rested on the hard wooden coffee table.

"OK," I said. "We're officially in it for the long haul. Time to really start drinking."

Tina seemed intrigued with the suggestion but Jess was less amused.

First, she's not excited about the tea. Then she has coffee. Now she's not excited to hunker down and get drunk on wine and boozy hot chocolate? What is going on here?

I played bartender. Tina asked for something chocolaty so I mixed some hot chocolate with hot, mulled wine and a bit of whipped cream vodka that my sister loved.

"Holy shit, this is amazing," Tina said after her first sip.

"Thank god," I said. "There was good chance we'd have to toss it out back."

Jess settled on just plain, mulled wine but I made sure to use the biggest mug we had, pouring nearly half the bottle in it. I made a version of a hot toddy with tea, whisky and honey for myself.

"Oooh, that looks good!" Tina exclaimed.

"Well, there's plenty of time, plenty of tea, and plenty of **** so I can whip you one up any time you like." I almost said, "Jess and I used to drink these all the time. We'd drink two or three then the caffeine would keep us up all night," but I decided to keep that to myself. You can imagine what we'd do all night. I figured Tina would too.

We settled back into the living room with Jess and Tina once again on opposite sides of the long couch while I stretched out on the love seat.

Instinctively, I grabbed the remote and began flipping through the various streaming services we had.

"They made a new Scream movie?" Tina asked as I scrolled.

"Yea," I said with a laugh.

"Wait, Scream 5? So there's five now?"

"Six, actually," I said. "And another one coming out soon."

"What?!"

"Should we watch it?" I asked.

"Well, I haven't seen the last... three, I think?"

"Why don't we start with the first one," I suggested. "We certainly have enough time."

Let's just get this out of the way. The first Scream is a masterpiece. We were enthralled from the get-go, silently watching along and pretending to be surprised at the murders and jump-scares. About an hour in I got everyone another drink and then we started to loosen up, cracking some jokes here and there to lighten the mood. Even Jessica got in on the action, making some comments on the killer's running style. By the time the credits rolled, it felt light everyone had relaxed. The **** had done its job.

"OK, time for Scream 2," I half-joked.

"Why don't we save that for tomorrow," Jess suggested. "I'm exhausted from driving so long."

"I did all the driving," Tina ribbed.

"Yea, but I had to help you navigate and that's a full time job that takes a lot of effort and concentration. Even with a GPS." Jess got up and began walking toward the stairs but Tina grabbed her arm and tried to pull her down. The playful struggle sent their outfits fluttering about, revealing different parts of Tina's body and stretching Jess' jumpsuit to its limits.

So much jiggling

"In Tina's defense, the roads get tricky around here," I said.

"See! Ethan gets it!" Tina said as Jessica pulled herself free of Tina's grasp.

"I'm going to bed," Jess said sternly. And suddenly the air had been sucked from the room once again. Tina nodded her head the shrugged to me.

"Where should we put the glasses?" Tina asked.

"I'll take care of them. You guys get comfy and get some rest. If you need any extra pillows or blankets, Jess knows where they are. Just help yourself."

"Thanks," Tina said. "And thanks again for letting us stay here. This place is so amazing."

"Goodnight, ladies."

My eyes darted between the two perfect asses as they walked away toward the stairs. Tina's legs were a bit longer. Jess' as was a bit rounder. I listened for their doors to click shut then hurried to the bathroom. I grabbed a hand towel and the moisturizing lotion and headed to the couch. I was on a mission. I probably should have went into one of the guest rooms but the warmth of the fire was tough to leave. I spent all that time chopping wood, I wanted to take advantage of each log to the fullest.