Page 19 of The Christmas Exchange

I would never call Miles insecure, but his moment of vulnerability was tugging at the strings of my heart. This whole time I was worried about my own fears and feelings of the situation. I never once paused to think about how either of them were feeling or what they might be thinking.

I shook my head at him. “No, that’s not it at all. I mean, everything that has happened has changed things between us all, which is what makes me uncomfortable. I don’t know how to act or what I’m supposed to say. I’m afraid to act because, what happens if this all blows up in our faces?”

“Would you like to pretend none of this ever happened?”

My gaze landed on Julian’s as his voice trailed off. “No. I wouldn’t.”

“Just be yourself, Raegan. You don’t have to be anyone different. You don’t have to act any differently.” He paused for a moment, taking a sip of his bourbon before setting it down on the table. “Sure, it changes things, but it can be a good thing.”

“You’re not worried about anything?”

Julian’s eyes were fixed on mine. “Why would I be? Life is constantly shifting, sweetheart. We just have to shift with it.”

“I suppose you’re right,” I agreed with him after mulling over his words for a few moments. He was right. Life was a series of events and changes. Either you move with it or you get left behind. And I wasn’t going to be left behind. I sat on the sidelines for far too long, immersing myself in my work. I hadn’t even thought about any of that since I’d been away with Miles and Julian.

“He is,” Miles said with a wink. Our server arrived at our table with our food and we all began to dig in. Miles paused before he took a bite. “I think we’re all used to Julian always being right by now.”

Julian rolled his eyes at Miles as he swallowed the food in his mouth. “I’m not always right.”

“Oh, I know. You just think you are.”

I laughed at their banter, shaking my head as a memory slipped into my mind. “You two are ridiculous. But you’re right, Miles.” I glanced at Julian who raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. “Don’t look at me like that. You don’t remember that time you told me that the moon doesn’t experience moonquakes.”

“That was a mistake,” he interjected. “I was misinformed and that was the one time in my life I didn’t fact-check.”

“I don’t believe that,” Miles laughed.

Julian stared at him. “You were the one who misinformed me.”

“That was your first mistake. You should have known better,” I said with a laugh before lifting another forkful of salad to my lips. “Miles is just here for the vibes.”

Miles looked at me with a facade of pain. “You wound me, Raegan Thompson.” His eyes dropped down to my lips and I swallowed the food in my mouth. Time was suspended as he shifted toward me, leaning closer. He lifted his hand to the side of my jaw, lightly caressing it as he pressed his thumb against my bottom lip.

My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened as I stared back at him. Miles' gaze was still trained on my lips. He slowly dragged the pad of his thumb along my lips before releasing me. I missed his warmth the instant he pulled his hand away from my face.

He popped his thumb into his mouth, his gaze colliding with mine as he licked his finger. “You had a little bit of sauce on your lip.”

A ragged breath escaped me. “Thank you,” I murmured breathlessly, feeling the warmth in the pit of my stomach while heat simultaneously crept up my neck and spread across my cheeks.

Julian was sitting back in his seat, watching the two of us with a fire blazing in his dark orbs. He slowly sipped his whiskey, not saying anything. Just watching. Something about the entire moment had me clenching my thighs together.

To anyone watching us, it may not have looked as intimate as it really was. It was a fleeting moment, but I hung on to the feeling of Miles' hand on my skin. His thumb brushing my lip. Dammit. I shifted my weight in my seat and Julian smiled against the rim of his glass.

They both knew exactly what they were doing.

And I was easily putty in their hands.

“So, Raegan,” Julian broke through the silence as he sat up. “Since this is our last night together, Miles and I were talking about doing what we used to do.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, not fully following. “Meaning what? There’s a lot of things we used to do.”

“Yeah, but it was tradition. You don’t remember it?”

I scowled. “We’re not in high school or college anymore. I haven’t played any drinking games in so long.”

Miles smiled. “Only more reason why we should.”

I looked between them. Miles was smiling brightly, waiting for my answer. Julian was silent as he studied me with an expectant look on his face. We used to do this whenever we would all get together. We would do an every-man-for-himself and play drinking games. The winner got to pick what the losers did. Usually it was some stupid immature prank and a lot of the time, we were too drunk by the end of the games to follow through.

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