Page 31 of Winter Glam in Amsterdam

For a moment, we just stare at each other, both frozen in our spots, his eyebrows scrunching together in—is that anger?

No, it can't be. Can it?

I tear my eyes from him, the corners of my mouth twitching. He can't be serious, right? Surely, I’m imagining that.

So I force my brain to focus on the conversation with Adrian again.

"And what are you doing in Amsterdam?" I finally ask Adrian, confused when the question appears to suck all of the joy out of him.

"I'm sorry for asking," I quickly say apologetically. "You don’t have to tell me, it's none of my business."

"No, no, it's fine," he assures me, putting his hand on my thigh. I look at it with a lifted eyebrow, and he quickly retracts his hand once he notices.

"I'm sorry. It’s a habit." He clears his throat. “I was actually supposed to come here for my honeymoon."

"Supposed to?" My face softens. Oh wow. "I'm sorry."

Everything inside my wants to question him, get all the dirty details. What can I say, I just live for drama, as long as it doesn’t happen to me.

"At least she left me a week before the wedding instead of at the altar," he jokes, but there’s sadness in his eyes.

I’m not sure whether to force a giggle at his attempt at lightheartedness or not. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm happy to lend you an ear if you want to talk about it."

From the corner of my eye, I see Tanner staring at us again and fight a grin tugging at my mouth.

"How about over a drink this evening?" Adrian asks. "I'm sorry, I get it if you have other stuff to do. Being here with your family and all."

"No, no, it's fine," I quickly tell him. "Give me your phone."

Once he does, I type in my number and save myself under his contacts with my first name.

"How about you message me the when and where? Anytime after seven works for me." I wink at him as I hand the phone back.

"Thank you, Summer. I’m looking forward to it."

"Me too."

The bus turns into our hotel's parking lot and a relieved sigh falls from my lips. Finally. Not that I didn’t enjoy the conversation, but I can’t wait to get out of this stuffy bus.

I watch Adrian hurry to the front of the bus, where his bag is still crammed into the overhead compartment of his prior seat.

Tanner has turned to the front of the bus again, and I try to drill a hole into his skull with my stare.

You think you're the only one who's got people interested in them?

Spoiler alert: you're not.

Tanner

"So, what’s the occasion for inviting me to drinks again?" Reed wonders as he follows me into the hotel bar, eyes immediately scanning the crowd for a girl to hit up.

"Can't a guy just have a fun, drunken evening with his brother anymore without an ulterior motive?" I ask Reed, but he shakes his head with a chuckle.

"‘A,’" he lifts his hands for air quotes, "guy can. But you? Please."

"Your distrust wounds me," I say overly dramatically, clutching my heart as he bursts into a chuckle.

We find seats at a table in a corner of the room, right at the window with a good view of the rest of the bar. I sit down on thedark green couch as Reed turns one of the black chairs around to lean his arms on the backrest as he talks to me—which earns us some sceptical looks from other patrons.

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