I was yet again bouncing in my seat with excitement. After hours of switching on and off, Logan and I were finally nearing Louise's address.
We had both agreed that my birthday was getting pretty close and that we should hurry up with seeing Louise. Our solution to cutting time was just to keep driving.
I'd drive until I was too tired, then Logan would while I slept in the back. We only stopped for food and bathroom breaks, although Logan proved all he needed was an empty soda bottle.
Ew.
"Fifteen minutes," Logan smiled at me as we passed a sign signifying the town we were supposed to be in and I grinned.
It'd seemed like an eternity since I saw my best friend. After seeing her five days in a row for years, I felt like I was going through withdrawal.
Louise had taken up a job teaching two sweet little girls in Marquette Michigan. Her house was right on the lake and I could see why she chose this state.
It was so beautiful with all of the lakes and forests. Cooler here, but it just about perfect.
I thought about surprising Louise and not telling her when we were going to arrive, but she insisted on knowing. She told me she was going to cook us a wonderful dinner and clean until everything sparkled.
The last time we stopped for gas, I called her on a pay phone and told her we were about an hour out.
Nix wiggled in my lap, picking up on my excitement. We'd gotten off the interstate a while ago and now we were cruising down some country highway under swaying green trees.
I looked at the torn piece of paper I had written Louise's address on. She said we'd really have to look for her driveway entrance, it was sort of hard to spot but that a couple of small boulders would be marking it.
"Are you sure we haven't gone too far?" I asked Logan, looking out the window to see if I could spot the rocks.
"You've been glued to the window this whole time. You'll see them," he said with a chuckle.
Nix paced anxiously in my lap and I winced as her sharp nails scraped my legs. I put her in the back seat so she could walk around, "I know, I'm going stir crazy too."
I turned back to the window and scanned my side of the road, waiting to see the markers. I tapped Logans shoulder excitedly when I spotted something, "There!"
Two large, smooth rocks the size of dogs stood at either side of a gravel driveway practically hidden by the shrubs and overhanging trees.
Logan practically break-checked me and Nix to stop in time. We turned down the drive and I was surprised how long it was.
After a good two minutes of driving through the woods, the trees opened up to see a small white cottage with red shutters and a wrap around porch.
The lake lay behind it and small waves washed at a smooth pebble beach. Louise was insanely lucky to have such a beautiful place.
I beamed as the screen door of the house swung open with a clatter.
"Careful!" Logan laughed as I jumped out of the truck just before it was fully stopped. Nix began to bark as I sprinted across the rocks.
Louise's red hair flew behind her as she jumped off the porch. We slammed into each other and I wrapped my arms around her slim waist tightly.
"Oh my god, I've missed you so much!" Louise sniffed into my shoulder.
"I'm so sorry the cops tried to raid your house!" I muttered randomly and she let out a laugh.
Louise gently pushed me back and held me at arms length. Her glassy eyes widened as one of her hands tugged a strand of my hair, "Wow, Eva your hair!"
"I know," I giggled, tucking some behind my ear.
Louise grabbed my hand and surveyed my wrist excitedly, "Your tattoo!"
"You like it?" I looked at her worriedly.
"I love it," Louise grinned at me, "It's so you. God you're tan."
I laughed and nodded. We turned at the sound of insane barking and realized Logan had released the beast.
"This is Nix," I chuckled as the white fuzz ball crashed into Louise's legs.
"Oh my god! You're so soft!" Louise chuckled and sat on her knees to cuddle and pet Nix.
I laughed as Nix licked Louise's face, "I think she likes you."
Louise looked up at me with a broad smile. Her eyes shifted over my shoulder and we looked at Logan, who awkwardly leaned against the hood of his truck with his hands in his pockets.
My heart hammered as I helped Louise up, "LuLu, this is Logan."
Please like him.
Logan's cheeks went a little pink as he stood up strait and smiled, "Hi."
Louise strode past me and stuck out her hand, "So, you're the guy my best friend is in love with."
Logan nodded and shook her hand briefly with a nervous chuckle, "I guess so."
Louise had to tilt her head almost all the way up to look at him. She turned to me, "He's a fucking giant."
My cheeks reddened as I nodded, "Eh, you're just short, but he's like six-two."
"Hmm," she hummed, looking at Logan inquisitively, who raised a patient eyebrow.
He looked over her head at me with an unreadable expression. I shrugged helplessly.
I laughed as Louise poked Logans biceps and torso, making him squirm.
Louise glanced at me with her eyebrows raised, "Holy shit."
"Louise, leave him alone," I smiled at her.
"Hold on now, I gotta make sure my best friends first boyfriend checks out," she smirked at me mischievously.
She bent to scoop up Nix and grinned at us, "Come on in guys. I made some dinner."
Logan's eyes brightened at the mentioning of food as we grabbed our bags. I took his hand and we followed Louise into her house.
"I hope you're house trained," Louise muttered to Nix as she set her down on the hardwood floor.
"She is....mostly," Logan said, a tinge of worry in his voice.
I looked around and smiled. Louise always did have incredible taste for design.
The whole house had dark wooden floors that spanned over the open floor plan. White trim bordered silvery grey walls.
We walked into a small kitchen with marble counters and tiled walls. A glorious smell came from the oven and pans on the stove.
"You can just drop the bags for now, I'll show you your room later," Louise said, waving her hand. Logan and I left our bags on the strip of carpet on the floor and took off our shoes.
Louise excitedly grabbed blue plates out of the white cabinets and set the on the table.
"Want any-" I began to offer but she stopped me, "No, no, you guys just sit and relax. You're my first house guests."
Logan and I took a seat next to each other and watched Louise happily bustle around her kitchen.
"Want some?" She opened the fridge and pulled out some red wine.
"Sure," I grinned. She poured all of us a glass each and began to fix our plates.
When she was satisfied with her hosting, she sat across from us and we all started in on the grilled salmon, cheesy potatoes and sautéed asparagus. A bowl of mixed fruits was also available. It was a great improvement from the greasy food we'd been eating on the way here.
"This is amazing," Logan said to Louise with a smile.
I nodded in agreement, "It really is. I forgot how well you can cook, LuLu."
Louise grinned at us as she allowed Nix to nibble some salmon, "Thank you. It's a small passion of mine."
As we finished up, Louise presented us with some chocolate fudge cake.
"Your best friend is amazing," Logan said happily as he eyed his slice of cake.
Louise and I laughed.
"You know, the quickest way to a mans heart is through his stomach," Louise smiled, pointing a chocolatey fork at me.
"I'm not so great with cooking but Logan could probably rival you any day," I smirked playfully and glanced at Logan.
He swiped the chocolate from his lip and held up his hands in surrender, "Hey, I'm not even going to try. She beats me by a mile."
"So, Logan, what was your job before you met Eva," Louise asked casually, setting aside her empty dessert plate.
Logan shifted around next to me, "I was working in a lumber yard for a bigger company but I was in between jobs when I met Eva."
"What do you plan to do when you guys get back to New York?" Louise barreled on, keeping stern eye contact.
I nibbled on my cake as I watched my best friend interrogate my boyfriend. She was going to do it no matter what.
"I plan on doing online classes to major in photography," Logan smiled, knowing perfectly well what she was doing.
"Photography huh?" Louise smiled, noticing how Logans eyes lit up.
I smiled as he pulled out his camera.
"Yeah, I mean, Eva says I'm good at it. This was the very first picture I took of her," he grinned, showing Louise the picture of me in the crown.
"Wow," she murmured as her curiosity got the better of her and she began to scroll through the rest of the pictures, "These are really good. I think photography is perfect for you."
"Thanks," Logan blushed as he took his camera back, "Eva's been my muse this whole trip."
"Awe. So what's your big dream?" Louise kept up with her questions, not pausing for a break. I sipped my wine amusedly. This woman is a teacher, she could make up questions for hours.
Logan rolled his eyes to the ceiling thoughtfully, "Graduate college. Be a professional photographer. Be with Eva."
"Aweeee," Louise looked at me and winked as I smiled downwardly.
"So you guys use condoms right?"
I choked loudly on my wine and Logan started in his chair. He patted my back as he chuckled embarrassedly, "Aha, um, yeah."
"L-Louise," I wheezed, shooting her a specific look of wtf.
She shrugged and took a sip of wine, "Had to ask."
We eventually moved the party to the living room, taking our wine with us. I sat on the grey velvety couch between Logan and Louise. She finished her questions after a while and seemed very satisfied with Logan.
The subject eventually moved to all the places we'd been to and telling all the funny stories we could think of from our travels.
"No, no. I wake up to this girl flying into my bed telling me that there's someone in the room with us," Logan laughed heartily as I smacked his shoulder.
"I was scared!" I protested.
"Of a flickerin' light," Logan chuckled, his wine intake affecting his accent.
I rolled my eyes and tried to get a snorting Louise to shut up, "The hotel was rumored haunted anyway. It was totally a ghost."
"It was totally a set up," Logan chortled.
Louise wiped at her eyes as she tried to catch her breath and looked at her empty glass, "Looks like I'm in need of a refill."
"Here, I'll get it, you've been a great hostess all night," I grinned at her, taking her glass before she could protest.
I walked through the kitchen door and grabbed the wine out of the fridge, refilling her and my glass. I figured I'd just take the whole bottle with me, we'd almost finished it off.
I was about to nudge the door open when I heard Louise talking a little lower.
"So, you love her, right?" She asked softly.
"Absolutely, she's the most wonderful thing I've ever had in my life since my mother died," Logan said without missing a beat.
"Good. That's good. I don't want anyone around Eva if they don't love her, she doesn't need that."
"I know. I don't even want to take her back to New York. I don't want them to find her. The rich are powerful, I don't know what they'd do," Logan said quietly.
"She's going to want a proper goodbye. That's the thing about Eva, she'll love you even if you don't love her back," Louise chuckled.
"I'm going to give her everything I got. She deserves that at the very least," Logan mumbled, seeming tired now.
I leaned against the wall and listened, barely breathing as I shamelessly eavesdropped.
"You're a good man Logan. Exactly what she needs. I know Eva doesn't give a damn about money. She just wants to run with someone, but I don't know what she's going to do when she gets tired of running."
"She told me she wants a small place to come home to. Maybe kids," I could hear the shrug in Logans voice, "Whatever happens."
Louise's soft giggle fluttered to my ears, "Kids. Damn. Eva has always known exactly what she wants. Sometimes I forget she's only seventeen when she talks about shit like that."
I smiled to myself as my two most favorite people in the world got along together. Louise thought Logan was good and exactly what I needed.
I stealthily grabbed another slice of chocolate cake and tucked the bottle of wine under my arm.
"I don't know about you guys, but I can't get enough of this stuff," I grinned casually at them as I pushed the kitchen door open.
"Sly girl, I knew it was taking you a bit long to fill a glass," Louise smirked at me playfully, taking the bottle.
"Yeah, well, what can I say? The chocolate calls to me," I shrugged and took a bite.