Page 38 of Winter Glam in Amsterdam

“You’re awake? Sorry, did I wake you?”

“You didn’t,” I assure him and pat the mattress next to me.

“Are you sure?” he asks, and I roll my eyes, regretting the movement instantly when it sends a piercing pain through my skull.

“Hurry up before I change my mind,” I whisper and close my eyes again. Almost immediately, I feel the mattress dip as he climbs in.

“You scared us, you know,” he mumbles, settling in.

I blink my eyes open again, shooting him an unamused glare. “Trust me, that was not my intention.”

“I know,” he assures me. “Sometimes, I just forget how much people suck. I wish I’d been there.”

“Nothing you could have done that the Walkers didn’t.” I close my eyes again, willing the pounding in my temples to go away. “I was in the next best hands. Plus, if it were you, we’d probably have to post your bail and deal with a PR nightmare, so really, the situation worked out for the best.”

“You might have a point,” he admits in a whisper. Even though we lie in silence, neither of us manages to go back to sleep. I can tell by the way his fingers twitch from time to time, the way they always did when he was stressed.

“You don’t need to stay here, you know,” I assure him, but he vehemently shakes his head.

“Not a chance, Summer. You scared the crap out of us. And according to Adam, the paramedics said to keep an eye on you today. So, guess what?”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re not letting me out of sight,” I say and hide a yawn in my pillow.

“Do you remember anything?”

I hum instead of nodding, since it’s easier on my head.

“I remember going to the bar with Adrian.” I blink one eye open to look at Luca. “He seemed charming on the bus, and I agreed to meet up with him. But when we reached the bar, something just seemed off.”

There was a heavy pit in my stomach, but I couldn’t quite place it. I mean, the conversation flowed easily, even though he evaded most of my questions about him. He seemed really nice in the beginning.

I had noticed Tanner and Reed in the corner of the bar almost immediately. How could I not, the way Tanner’s stare felt like it was drilling into my skin. And while I was so definitely annoyed in the beginning, wondering what I’d need to do to get some privacy here, I’m so fucking thankful they decided to keep an eye on me.

“The first drink seemed normal,” I mumble, taking a deep breath. “But the second one… he was weirdly insistent on me drinking up, so I faked drinking it.”

Luca starts stroking my hair, like he used to when we were children and I had a bad dream. Only this nightmare was very real.

“Then there were Tanner and Reed, and they got me away from him when I started feeling loopy, then cops and paramedics…” I mumble as memories pop up in my head like lightning. “Yeah, I think I got a pretty good picture of what happened.”

I hide a yawn behind my hand and rub some sleep from my eyes. “Just another turd in the shit show that is my life,” I mumble, feeling a sting behind my eyes as emotions crash over me at once.

The feeling of helplessness as my body didn’t listen to me anymore. Fear when I started to feel out of it and Adrian got more touchy. Relief when Tanner and Reed came to my rescue.

“I’m sorry,” Luca mumbles, still stroking my hair. “I wish I could un-do it.”

“I’m just thankful nothing really happened,” I whisper back. “This could have gone so much worse.”

“So much better too, though. You know, I was kind of a hard-ass about getting you to come here…”

I hear Luca gulp and blindly pat to where I think his face is, silencing him with my hand over his mouth.

“Shut up, Luca. I’m not going to play this game with you.”

“But if I hadn’t made you come here—”

“This could have happened back home too,” I interrupt him. Well, if I’d gone out to a club it could have. But I keep that little add-on to myself. With another yawn, I open my eyes.

“In fact, I’m sure it would have probably been more likely to happen at a bar back home. And there, I wouldn’t have had any of you there to keep an eye on me. So really, if this is something that had to happen in my life, I’m glad you all were close by.”

---