Page 7 of Winter Glam in Amsterdam

Blissful silence falls in the jet as Adam takes out his phone and Reed’s stare is firmly fixed to the window right next to him.

“Anything else we need to talk about, or can I go take a nap?” I finally ask, hiding a yawn behind my hand. I didn’t sleep too well and knowing the time difference, jet lag is going to be a killer.

Reed gives me a shrug; my main focus is on Adam though, who waves me off without even looking up like he’s some kind of king ordering his peasants around.

“Sleep well,” is all he grumbles, and I quickly scramble off, sleep already tugging at my consciousness. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out.

Summer

"Come on, honey, wake up," my dad whispers and nudges my shoulder until my eyes flutter open and I see him grinning at me full of pity. "I hate to wake you, but you're past the size where I can just carry you inside and tuck you into bed."

I hide a big yawn behind my scarf as I stretch my arms over my head. "Wouldn't want you to break your back," I tease him and unbuckle myself, pulling the door close to keep the cold out.

We landed in Amsterdam around noon in their local time, and I'm wiped.

Luca got us first-class tickets for the flight, and while there's really no room to complain about our seats or comfort, I just couldn't fall asleep. There was just something about the constant loud hum of the air conditioning, the bucking from turbulencethat jolted me around, and constantly seeing stewardesses walk the aisles from the corner of my eye that kept me awake.

So instead I tried to watch movies, thinking that maybe the lull of watching Cinderella for the hundredth time might help falling asleep. Spoiler alert, it did not.

Cars are fine for some reason, though. As soon as my butt hit the seat of this taxi, I was blasted by heat that felt warmer than a sauna and once it started to drive, I was out like a baby being rocked to sleep.

Full-on cheek-plastered-to-the-window-and-drool-running-down-my-skin sleep.

Though after being awake for twenty hours, being woken up after what? Half an hour? However long it was, it feels like a special form of torture.

"Come on, you can sleep some more in the hotel," Mom adds from the seat beside me with a gentle smile that only makes me grumble. She’s way too cheerful for my sleep-deprived state to handle. Then she suddenly pinches me.

“Ow. What did I do?”

“You were closing your eyes again,” she scolds me while I rub the hurting skin. The skill of that woman, pulling a deadly pinch even through the fabric of my winter coat. "Luca said he's waiting for us in the lobby, so come on."

"Alright, alright."

I fight with another yawn and open the car door, grimacing when a wave of coldness sweeps over me and shooting my mom a glare. "On second thought, maybe I'll just stay in here."

"Come on." Dad is already opening the trunk together with the taxi driver, the two of them pulling out our suitcases one by one and letting the coldness seep into the car. "Only a few minutes and you can sleep in a wonderful, comfortable warm bed. You’re almost there, honey."

I sigh and finally get out of the car, pouting as I close the car door behind me and looking at my spot for one last time longingly. "If I must."

"So, exhaustion reverts you back to puberty?"

I startle when I hear my brother's voice from behind me, but when I calm down again, I lift my hand, raise my middle finger without even looking at him, and meet my mothers disapproving glare with a grin. We’re siblings. He’s definitely seen that gesture more than once and so have I.

"I'm tired. You wanted me here. So shut up and let me whine," I mumble but nonetheless hug him back when he pulls me to him.

"Well, good thing I love you and booked early check-in." He pinches my arm, and I elbow him in the gut. Our sibling ritualwhenever we see each other, dating back to when I was nine years old.

"Come on now, make yourself useful and get her suitcase." Mom chuckles and nods toward where Dad is fighting with it.

"What did you pack?" Luca asks me, confused, looking it up and down pointedly. "Hell, I bet I could fit in there."

"This, my brother dearest, is my personal emotional ballast. Well, and a spare winter jacket, a few thick winter boots, and all the clothes I'm going to need to layer up in this coldness," I list and walk past him with my head held high. "But I mean, if you're too weak to pull it, I am perfectly able to do that myself, so step aside, weakling."

Spite is fuelling me, a sudden surge of strength flowing through me as I pick up the suitcase demonstratively. Then, just as predicted, Luca’s hands shoot out to pull me back by my jacket, making me let go of it again as he trudges past me with a pout.

"Stop it, Summer, I got it."

The corners of my mouth curl into a smile. God, he’s so predictable. When I catch my dad eavesdropping on our exchange and shooting me an amused look, I quickly school my face and look at him with wide eyes, making him chuckle in response and shake his head at the two of us.

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