Page 20 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

“Okay. Just don’t throw up, cause I’m a sympathy-puker.”

I don’t think she heard me. At least, she shows no reaction as she stumbles forward. It's adorable,like watching a puppy that's just learned how to walk, not quite steady on its legs, but very determined.

"Come on." I finally catch up and grab her by the elbow to stop her from running into a lamppost. I take her hand and pull her arm around my back and put mine under her armpit to steady her.

For a moment, she stiffens, but then simply walking is demanding all her focus and she starts to relax. The ten minutes it took us to get here double on our way back, although with her babbling nonsense, it’s much more entertaining.

By the time we make it back to the hotel, she can barely keep her eyes open, leaning against me heavily until we reach the elevator and she leans her back against the wall, sighing happily when her neck touches the cold metal.

"Which room?" I ask, and she wordlessly hands me her room key with her eyes still closed.

"Not very safe." I shake my head, but her eyes remain closed and she slowly lifts her hand to wave me off.

When the elevator announces the arrival on her floor, her eyes blink open slowly and she keeps her hand on the wall to keep herself steady as she walks.

I walk her to her room and open the door for her. A big sigh leaves her lips when she stumbles inside while I remain in the doorframe, watching her sink down on her couch.

Whenever my brothers came home drunk out of their minds, I’d used to wrestle them out of their clothes and throwthem into their bed with a bucket in case they’d need to throw up. Obviously, I’m not doing that.

I walk over to her fridge and take a bottle of water out of it to hand to her.

“Here. Drink this,” I urge her, and she narrows her eyes at me. “I know you want to sleep. But you don’t want to feel like shit tomorrow.”

That gets her to sit up and I twist the bottle open for her. After a few sips, she lowers it and presses it to her forehead instead.

"Finish it before you go to sleep, okay?" I ask, and she nods. "And lock your door."

"Locks by itself."

"Good." I walk over to the door and stop, turning around to check on her one more time. "Sleep well, Lily."

"Thank you, Adam." Another big yawn. "You too."

Lily

The next morning, I am full of regrets. And pain.

“I can’t believe I let Eve talk me into that. I totally embarrassed myself,” I groan, my phone lying on the bed next to me as I recount yesterday evening to Lucy, my sister-in-law. It’s a video call but for the life of me, I can’t be bothered to look at a screen or hold up my phone. “Don’t laugh at my misery!”

“What do you want me to say?” she teases and bursts into laughter. “Why did you let her talk you into it?”

“She just brings out my competitive streak,” I mumble and press my palms against my eyes. The curtains are closed but it’s still way too bright in here.

“At least you won?”

“Not even that, it was a draw.”

It might have been a draw, but I feel utterly defeated. I don’t even dare move, because even answering the phone had me about to throw up. Which is unfortunate because I really needto pee. And to get out of my clothes from yesterday because I was in no mind to change into my pajamas.

“This is why I never drink more than two glasses of champagne,” I mutter and pinch the bridge of my nose as my eyes start to pound with pain. “Some teambuilding that was, embarrassing myself in front of peers… and Adam. God, that was dumb.”

“You totally have a crush on him,” Lucy interjects, sounding way too happy about her revelation. “You’ve mentioned him ten times since you flew to Tokyo. I’ve been counting.”

“Who in the industry doesn’t have a crush on Adam?” I counter, eliciting a giggle from her. “Google him, you’ll know what I mean. Plus, he’s everywhere I go. I’m probably not mentioning him more than Felix.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

“Well, have you counted how often I’ve been mentioning Felix?” I ask, closing my eyes and counting to three before finally sitting up with a loud groan. “Oh god, the whole world is spinning.”

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