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Miles grabbed his mug and lifted it up as he raised it in the middle of the table. He looked between Julian and me as we both watched him. “Lift your glasses, you idiots. I’m trying to make a toast here.”
Julian chuckled and raised his mug, a smile pulling on my lips as I did the same. The three of us held our glasses toward one another.
“To old friends. Reconnecting and making new memories. And to the three of us being back together again.” He paused as a grin spread across his lips. “This isn’t just a toast, but also a promise that we’ll all make more of a conscious effort to be in each other's lives again, regardless of how busy we are. We’ve been lifelong friends, so let’s make it last a lifetime.”
“To us,” I agreed, pressing my glass against his. We both looked to Julian who was just holding his own in the air.
A smirk pulled on his lips and stars danced in his midnight irises. “To us,” he echoed as he pressed his glass to Miles' and mine.
The three of us pulled them away, each of us throwing back some of the hoppy liquid. I looked between the two men, both of their gazes finding mine, and I couldn’t help but smile.
It felt good to be back in Delmont Ridge.
But more than anything, it felt good to be back with them.
CHAPTERTHREE
It was still dark outside when I woke up the next morning. The days were always shorter in the winter and with the time change from New York to Colorado, my body still hadn’t adjusted. I rolled out of bed and made my way down to the kitchen, careful to be quiet so I didn’t wake anyone else up. As I glanced at the clock while popping a pod into the coffee maker, I noticed it was only five thirty in the morning.
I may have been a natural morning person, but this was too early for me. I waited patiently for my coffee, scrolling the different social media apps on my phone. My laptop was sitting on the kitchen island where I had left it yesterday and I fought the urge to grab it. I could easily just open it up and work on a few things while everyone else was still asleep.
This was the problem I had in life. I never knew when to just set things to the side. Work was always my number one priority, but I needed to change that—at least while I was technically on vacation. It was a holiday and I could spare a few days. It wouldn’t set me back on any of my deadlines, but had a way of prickling my anxiety instead.
Walking right past my laptop, I headed into the living room and curled up on the couch with my cup of coffee. I continued to mindlessly scroll on my phone before grabbing a paperback book that was sitting on the coffee table in front of me. Lifting it up in front of my face, I scanned the front and back of the fantasy novel before flipping to the first page.
There was a time in my life that I used to be a big reader. I would devour and consume books like my life depended on it. That was before I went to college and immersed myself in a world of work. It felt refreshing to be torn from reality and thrust back into a fictional setting.
“The Cruel Princeis one of my recent favorites,” my mother’s voice sounded from the kitchen, pulling me out of the fantasy world I had lost myself in.
I glanced over at her, my eyes wide as I realized I was sitting on the couch in my parents’ house and not lost in Elfhame.
I blinked momentarily. My coffee had since grown cold and two whole hours had passed since I initially walked downstairs.
“I—uh—I found it sitting on the table and figured I could use a distraction.”
My mother smiled brightly from where she was standing. “You used to read all the time. I’m just happy to see you so lost in a book instead of your work.”
“Yeah, it’s been a long time since I’ve read anything that wasn’t work related. It has been a nice escape.”
“When did you get up?” my mother asked me as she came over to the living room and sat down on one of the armchairs. “I thought I heard someone moving around earlier.”
“It was around five thirty.” I shrugged dismissively. “Still adjusting to the time difference.”
My mother nodded as a sad smile pulled on her lips. “You know, if you just lived in Delmont Ridge all the time, you’d never have to deal with the time difference.”
As she was growing older, my mother desperately me to be closer to home. I couldn’t help but feel guilty whenever she brought it up. I could potentially move back and work remotely, but I couldn’t help but be afraid of the feeling of being isolated, as if I were trapped.
I loved my hometown, but growing up in a small town had a way of making you feel as if you were suffocating. You just need a change of scenery and pace. Something different from what you’ve known your entire life. Or, you could be the exception and be the type of person who never moved away.
My mother would have preferred me to be the latter.
“I’m home for the holidays and I really do want to try to visit more. I promise I will make more of an effort to come here more often.”
My mother frowned. “I wouldn’t actually expect you to move back home. I just worry about you, Raegan. I don’t want to see you burn yourself out. You work so hard, I just worry about whether or not you’re actually living your life to the fullest or just going through the motions of it.”
I lifted the book in my hand to show it to her. “I’m taking a break right now.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “You know what I mean.”
