Page 20 of The Christmas Exchange

The last time the three of us were together like this where we took part in our drinking game tradition felt like a lifetime ago. And with the way they were looking at me right now, I knew I couldn’t say no.

“Okay.”

The corners of Julian’s mouth twitched and Miles' face lit up. “Really?”

“Yep,” I nodded as I pushed my nearly empty plate away from me. “Let’s do it. It’s been a long time since we last did and I don’t know the next time we’ll get this chance.”

Miles clapped his hands together. “It’s settled then. Julian, you get the bill. I’m going to see how I can secure some alcohol to take back to our room.”

Miles hopped up from the table, clearly feeling the energy right now. I watched as he disappeared in the direction of the bar before I turned back to Julian. “How are we going to play anything? We don’t have any cups or balls or anything.”

“Shit,” he muttered as he sat up straighter in his seat and placed his empty glass on the table. “I don’t think either of us thought about that.”

I slowly rose to my feet. “Let me see what I can do. They have to have something somewhere that we could use. And since we’re kind of stuck here, I don’t think anyone is going to say no to letting us borrow some extra cups or something.”

Julian smiled up at me from where he sat. “If there’s anyone who can charm a stranger, it’s you.”

His words swiftly rolled through me like a rush of adrenaline. The words were on the tip of my tongue and I decided to let them out instead of holding them in.

“What about a friend?”

He chuckled softly. “I’m already under your charm.”

I winked at Julian, still riding on the high of empowerment and how damn confident both of them made me feel before leaving him at the table. I left the restaurant on a mission. I wasn’t sure if I would get what we needed, but I wasn’t going to come back empty-handed.

CHAPTERTWELVE

Miles and Julian both looked up at me as I tossed the things I collected onto the bed. I didn’t come back empty-handed, but I didn’t exactly come back with the things we needed. There were twelve white Styrofoam cups, a deck of cards, and a roll of masking tape. Miles laid a bottle of vodka alongside everything else.

“This was the best the two of you could do?” Julian questioned us with an eyebrow raised. He was seated at the end of the bed with his legs hanging over the edge and his feet planted on the floor.

Miles was sitting back against the headboard. He pursed his lips and his nostrils flared. “I don’t see you contributing anything.”

Julian slid his finger through the hole in the center of the masking tape and lifted it into the air. His eyes met mine. “What’s this for?”

“Well, they didn’t have any Ping-Pong balls, so I grabbed it in case we wanted to make our own balls,” I explained with a sheepish shrug.

Miles snorted before letting out a string of laughter. I stared back at him with a scowl as he stopped laughing. “Wait, that wasn’t a joke?” He laughed softly again. “I don’t think that would work exactly.”

I lifted my hand and gave him the middle finger. He blew me a kiss back in response.

“I don’t think any of this shit is going to work,” Julian chimed in as he dropped the tape back onto the bed. “Except for the cards, maybe.”

“What do you suggest we do then?” I asked as I grabbed the things from the bed and placed them on the small table in the room. There was no way that would have even worked to play beer pong on.

Miles rose to his feet and meandered over to where I was standing. His chest brushed against my arm as he leaned past me, grabbing a bottle of vodka and three of the cups. “There are other drinking games we can play.”

Julian turned to sit sideways on the bed and Miles handed a Styrofoam cup to each of us before he took his spot back by the headboard. He motioned for me to come over and patted the mattress between them for me to sit. I walked over and sat down just as Miles was twisting off the cap to the bottle.

He leaned across the bed, filling up half of our cups with the clear liquid. “We’re going to play a game none of us have ever played in a long time.” He paused for a second as he put the cap back on and set the bottle on the bed. “Never have I ever.”

“That’s really what you want to play?” I asked him.

“What, are we in high school again?” Julian followed.

Miles looked between us. “Fuck you both. Neither of you had any better ideas, so yes, this is what we’re playing.”

“Fine,” I agreed as Julian grumbled something under his breath. “You go first.”

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