Page 57 of Winter Glam in Amsterdam

"Dude," he says with a deep sigh, the annoyance clear even through the phone. "Yeah, you fucked up. God, how could you do that?"

"No shit, Sherlock." I roll my eyes at him and start pacing my room again.

"Let me ask you something first," he finally finds his words again. "Is that still your intention? You want more with her? Like, dating, and… okay, I guess you already met our parents, but you know what I mean."

"Very much so, yes," I admit and hear a frustrated sigh at the other end of the line.

"Let me talk to Millie and get back to you," he says, taking a deep breath. "Just a word of caution: Summer is headstrong."

"So I've noticed," I mutter, but he continues undeterred.

"Getting in her good graces again after what you did? It's not going to be easy. Hell, she even sometimes still teases me about me stealing a damn cookie from her when she was five. So, she's headstrong. And she's resentful. And I'll have you know I heard her mutter something about spite fueling her."

Fuck. This really isn’t going to be easy, if it’s possible at all.

"So, if you're not willing to put on a fight, I'm going to have to ask you to step back. Right now. I’m not watching her get her hopes up only for you to bow out once it becomes difficult."

“I won’t.”

"Good. Because she's worrying about enough shit, and if you don't intend on following through, you need to keep this off her plate."

"Whatever it takes, man," I say, conviction settling in my gut. Thankfully, he seems satisfied with that answer.

"I'll hold you to that," he says.

And I nod, even though he can't see.

She's mine. She's been from the moment she compared me to a fucking didgeridoo. I just didn't know it. And neither did she.

But I'm going to make sure she knows.

Summer

The silence in Luca's old house seemed more blissful when I moved in here a few days after we got back.

I never wanted to accept this more than generous offer, but my parents fussing over me for the whole flight back and at home kind of sealed the deal. I know they mean well, and they’re worried after what happened to me. I really can't blame them, but worry is the last thing I need right now.

If there are people up my ass, I need them to kick it, not touch me with kid gloves because some son of a bitch thought it would be fun to drug me.

Funnily enough, the whole incident isn't at the forefront of my mind, though.

Was it traumatic? Hell yes. Do I lie awake at night, contemplating the what-ifs? Oh, absolutely. Right along with the best ways to hurt Tanner if I ever run into him again.

I’m not saying I’m going to do it. Our paths will surely cross again someday after all, but thinking about kicking him in the nuts still lightens my spirit.

My mind can be my greatest enemy and come up with a million ways of how the night could have ended had the Walker brothers not stepped in, but in the end, thankfully, nothing happened. But, thanks to Luca's insistence, I've agreed to at least be open to therapy. Although I'm determined to get a job before tackling that.

So, in an attempt to do that, I currently pace the room.

Ten more minutes until I have a digital job interview, and my heart is beating in my throat, my hands clammy, and I'm so thankful the interview isn't live because God, I'm sweating. Like, so much.

Hell, I can't remember ever being this nervous before an interview, but before I know it, the clock strikes zero and I log into the call.

"So, how did it go?" Millie asks me on the phone as I pace the huge living room of Luca's old home, all but stomping my feet to the ground.

"It was horrible," I hiss, barely able to contain my anger. "Two of the three people logged in like ten minutes late. One of them, who seemed like the human equivalent of the word ‘ehw’ mixed with a snail, you know, all slimy and just kept calling me ‘honey.’" I shudder just remembering it.

"They asked me if I had any secretary job experience, even though I applied as data security manager. God, Millie." I stop in front of the couch and fall onto the bouncy cushions. "Why do people suck so much?"

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