Page 68 of Winter Glam in Amsterdam

"Surprisingly, yes." She nods, her eyes on me. "Who would have thought?"

I swallow my answer to that and instead get her a Coke from my fridge, knowing it's her drink of choice.

"That still doesn't explain why you're here," I point out as I hand it to her.

"I just needed some space before returning to university," she admits, putting her feet on my coffee table. I give her filthy shoes a glare, but she doesn't get the hint.

"Goddammit, take your shoes off my clean table."

"Alright, don’t snap like that." She pouts. "When did you turn into such a killjoy?"

"Since I'm the one cleaning my own house." I give her a pointed look.

"Boring." She opens the bottle and takes a sip. "Anyway, I couldn't bear another day with Adam breathing down my neck, so you were the next best choice."

"Wow, I'm so flattered to hear that." I roll my eyes as she starts giggling.

"Also, I figured you could use my help."

"Your help?"

"Well, you've got a girl to win back, don't you?"

"Well, about that," I say, shaking my head. "I fear the last thing I did overstepped boundaries a bit, so I'm laying low for a while."

"You can't give up," she insists quickly and jumps up from her seat, a surprising amount of emotion washing over her face.

"Whoa, I never said anything about giving up. I still have flowers delivered to her place."

"Every day?" I nod. "Okay, that’s a good start." Zoey sits back down again.

"What is it to you?" I wonder, leaning closer, trying to read the reasons off her face.

"I just feel bad about the whole thing," she says and turns the bottle in her hands. "I mean, if it weren't for my dumb accident or not sending that message, you two would probably be together, right?"

"Maybe."

"So, let me help you." She looks eager, her eyes glistening with enthusiasm at the prospect of playing Cupid. "What can I do?"

"Zoey, I'm serious." I take her hand. "The ball's in her court now. All I can currently do is wait."

"Really? That’s all you can do?" she repeats, shooting me a glare before her lips stretch into a wide smile.

"Oh no," I say, reaching for her wrist as she jumps up. "No, no, no, Zoey, sit your as-behinddown."

"Why?" She grins at me. "You might be okay with sitting on your ass, but I can totally play Cupid."

"No. You can leave it alone." I pull her back down until she sits. "You can stay up here for the weekend if you like. My guestroom is your guestroom and all that. But please, keep out of this."

"You're boring," she whines, rolling her eyes. I pinch her upper arm.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. Now, what are we going to do the rest of the day?"

"You don't need to work?" she wonders, tilting her head curiously. “I thought you mentioned you had a deadline coming up?”

"No, I'm done for the day," I lie straight through my teeth. I'll just have to pull an all-nighter to catch up.

"Great! How about we play that game we picked during the family call?" she asks eagerly. "I might still be handicapped, but I really need to learn how you kick your asses."

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