Page 12 of Winter Glam in Amsterdam

“We can’t all live in this time zone,” I quip back, and Reed shudders.

“All of us in the same time zone? No way!”

The three of them burst into laughter and leave the hotel to find a drink somewhere, joking about us all living too close together and who would kill who first.

But if there's one thing I don't need today, it's alcohol. Exhaustion makes my bones feel heavy, like the ground is tugging at my limbs. Now that the three are out of sight, my whole posture slumps as I make my way to the elevator.

God, I feel like I haven't slept in three days. Which is close enough to reality, I guess, considering I only got a three-hour nap on the plane before we flew into some turbulence, and I couldn’t go back to sleep.

"Well, well, if it isn't Mr. Didgeridoo," I suddenly hear a melodic voice behind me and turn around with a grin on my face.

"What in the ever-loving fuck is a didgeridoo?" I ask amusedly as Summer comes to a stop right next to me to wait for the elevator as well.

"It's an instrument by Australian Aborigines," she explains with a cute giggle. "You know, the kind of instrument that's a prettylong pipe and can go very deep. Kind of like an alphorn, but that just doesn’t have the same ring to it, don’t you think?"

"Now I'd only have to know what an alphorn is," I say, and she glances up at me through her long eyelashes, surprised. Damn, her eyes are really pretty.

"Tell me you've never watchedHeidiwithout telling me you've never watchedHeidi," she mutters and shakes her head disapprovingly.

"No, I can't say I have," I admit with a chuckle and let her enter the elevator first, glancing around for the others, but she seems to be alone.

"Sorry about earlier. I didn't know you're Luca's sister."

She glances up at me, scrunching her eyebrows together, confused. "What does my brother have to do with you trying to chat me up?"

"Well, you know…” I mutter, avoiding her gaze. “Bro code and all that."

She rolls her eyes at me, then shifts her weight, like she's nervous, as she presses the button for her level. She leans her back against the opposite side of the elevator, looking at me with a narrow, stern stare.

"I don't bite, you know," I point out, but she shakes her head and crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"Bro code? Listen, I'm not some object and my brother has no say in who I talk to, much less who I sleep with. So you can put your bro code where the sun doesn't shine. I make my own decisions."

She looks me up and down, disdain seeping from her every pore. Definitely not one of my proudest conversations here.

"Okay?" I clear my throat and gulp. She’s fiery. Not at all what you’d expect, knowing the cinnamon roll that her brother is, always a sweet smile on his lips, soft-spoken and happy, like a damned golden retriever. No, she’s more like a feral cat. Come to close and she’ll scratch you.

"Well, this is me," she says, shooting me a tight grin before she scurries out of the elevator. “Good night, Tanner. Hope you find your way to the twenty-first century overnight.” As she scurries off, she mutters about misogyny and how many sheep she might be worth and it takes every ounce of strength in me to not break into laughter.

"Sleep well, Summer," I shout after her, and she waves at me over her shoulder, just before the elevator doors close.

Wait. Does that mean she wants me to chat her up again? Or the opposite?

I’ll deal with that once my brain has rested a bit and I can think straight. I lean my back against the cool elevator wall, halting when it doesn’t move.

Oh. Maybe it would have helped to press the button to my floor. God, it’s time I catch some sleep.

Summer

"Come on, Summer, we’re going out." Lily barges inside when I open the door for her the next day, hair flying as she whirls around in the middle of my room to look at me wide-eyed and with the biggest grin on her face.

"Huh?" I stare at her, confused, but she isn’t deterred. She spots my jacket on the couch and throws it at me. I catch it just before it hits me in the face.

"We’re going out!" she declares, grabbing my wrist to pull me out the door, but I manage to wrestle free from her grasp.

"Okay, okay, calm down. Let me put on shoes and several layers of clothing first if we’re going out.” I set down the jacket and pull on my shoes, then hurry to my suitcase. “Where did you say we’re going?"

After all, I need to know how much I’ll have to layer up.

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