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I sigh and tug at my hair.“Well, I need to unpack, pick out what I will wear for tomorrow, figure out how to get to the Louvre and find the staff entrance.” I grimace. “Since it’s now Tuesday, I have a meeting at four with the manager to have a tour of the museum. Seeing how I have no clue where to go and I’m still in my birthday suit, I doubt I will make that meeting, which will probably put me in a bad situation with-”
“Stop,” says Lucas while turning me around. “Breathe. We’ll figure it out. It’s not that big of a deal. Now get dressed and I’ll order some pizza for us.”
Hunter bounds out of the bed.“Pizza?” He asks while looking around. “Who said pizza?”
I scoff.“We’re in France. We’re not going to eat pizza. Surely we can go to some cute café and have something yummy there.”
Hunter’s eyes widen and he sticks out his bottom lip in a pout. I swear, if he was a dog he would be a golden retriever with his long blonde hair and his docile attitude. I open my mouth, about to insist on the need to eat like the locals and enjoy the culture as much as possible when my stomach stops me, gurgling very loudly.
Hunter, Lucas, and Seth’s gazes lower to my stomach and I cover myself, feeling very embarrassed. “Fine, we can order pizza,” I grumble while grabbing a t-shirt on the floor and throwing it on. It obviously isn’t mine. The fabric ends around my mid-thigh, but it’s comfortable and I decide I’m not going to change.
“Alright, pizza it is,” says Lucas while typing into his phone.
Seth sighs and shakes his head.“I can’t believe we missed a whole day. How is that even possible?”
I dump my body into the chair in front of the vanity, my mouth hanging open at horror at my reflections. Dark bruises cover my neck and I look worse off than I did yesterday with dark bags under my eyes and my curly hair in a tangled mess.
“Hunter, what the hell?” I shout while pointing at my neck.
Hunter smirks and shrugs while rolling out of bed.“I couldn’t help myself.”
I groan and press my face into my hands. Just great. I’m going to need several tubes of concealer to cover this mess.
Sleeping a whole day, a neck covered in hickeys… I’m not prepared for my internship to begin tomorrow.
2
LUCAS
I pad softly into the kitchen. It’s still seven in the morning and I don’t want to wake the others. I hear the shower running, wondering briefly if Rachel would like someone joining her for a quickie. Although, after yesterday’s little freak out, I doubt she would be up for anything. She was so nervous and scattered brained. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it to her tour,and she was even more nervous about how that would look to her intern manager.
If I were her, I wouldn’t care.
But then again, we are completely different people.
One thing I really like about Rachel is she’s a hard worker. Something I should probably work on. Although, it’s hard when everything’s been given to you on a silver platter. I’ve always known what I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do. Nothing is my choice. Not my studies, not my career, not my future.
Nothing.
Sure, my father allowed me to choose my college. He allowed me to choose my friends, my clothes, and my sport. But it’s all fake. It all creates a false illusion that I’m in control, when really it’s quite the opposite. Next year is my senior year and I’m expected to take the LSAT and apply to a law school in the east coast where he can sink his talons into me even further.
After next year, I’m officially no longer a free man.
I lean against the counter, frowning at the Eiffel Tower while I let that settle. I can’t believe the time has flown by so quickly. It was only yesterday I was moving in with the bros, living essentially in a dump compared to my usual pristine, golden platter life.
And now it’s all about to end.
I feel my cell vibrate and pull it out, rolling my eyes when I read:Dad. Speak of the devil. He’s always calling me when I’m thinking about him. He knew I was going to Paris. He was probably calling to check up on me. I grimace, remembering our conversation on the phone. I had told him I won the writing contest, andhe had brushed it off and told me about a position that had just opened up in Samuel’s office.
In Paris.
Obviously, I lied and told him that I would take the apprenticeship at Samuel’s firm. Now, I’m beginning to think I should have told him the truth. At least then I wouldn’t feel so guilty, spending my summer writing and enjoying Paris with Rachel and the bros, not working on my future law career.
Oh, well. It’s not like he’s ever going to find out. He’s too busy to really double check every lie I tell him. It also helps that there’s a whole ocean between us. I doubt he’ll drop everything to come all the way out here.
Rachel stomps into the kitchen and I smile as I watch her tug at the snug, black pencil skirt while carrying her pink pumps. Her black suit jacket is undone and her curly hair is wet and sticking to her face. A blush sits nicely upon her cheeks and she looks around, appearing frazzled for a moment before groaning in disdain and running back to her room.
So much for not waking the roommates.
