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Julian gave him a sideways glance. “No. Connect yours to the car and put on some music instead.”
I looked back and forth between them. There was such a stark contrast in their attitudes, but that was how things always were between Miles and Julian. The most unlikely friends, yet it worked.
“I’m glad to see that you guys haven’t changed at all.”
Miles turned around in his seat to look at me. “What do you mean?”
“You two always argued like an old married couple and you still do,” I told him with a smile as I shook my head. “You guys are like a couple out of a grumpy-sunshine romance novel. You’re the sunshine one, while Julian is the grumpy one. He’s always moody and broody, but you just take him as he is.”
Julian’s gaze met mine through the rearview mirror. He lifted an eyebrow. “We are not like a couple from a romance novel.”
“You really are, though.” I laughed and winked at him before looking back at Miles who genuinely looked curious. “It’s kind of cute and weirdly refreshing.”
“So, you think our bromance is cute?”
Julian shot a glare at Miles. “We do not have a bromance.”
Miles rolled his eyes at Julian and ignored his response while he turned his attention back to me. “You didn’t answer my question.”
I looked again between them. Miles was staring at me expectantly, waiting for a response. Julian kept his eyes on the road, as if he was done with the two of us. I couldn’t help but smile to myself. It was easy to get under his skin and it was kind of fun getting a bit of a rise out of him. If there were two people who had the ability to do that to Julian, it was Miles and I.
He used to get so irritated with us when we were younger, but there was always a hint of amusement dancing within his gaze as he watched the two of us. It was almost as if he were afraid to allow himself to be playful. Julian was the eldest child in his family, so he really played into the serious protector role. He needed to loosen up a bit and just relax.
It wasn’t like he was afraid something was going to happen. The Julian Foster I knew was always fearless. He just bordered more on the line of quiet and serious. I could never quite figure out why, except for the fact that he had this need to make sure everyone was good. And that meant he didn’t get to have fun like the rest of us.
“Yes, Miles. What the two of you have is adorable.”
Julian snorted and Miles smiled brightly before turning to face his friend. “I told you we have a bromance.”
Julian looked at him from the corner of his eye. “I never agreed to any of this.”
“I don’t think you ever had much of a choice,” I told him as I stared into the mirror and shrugged.
“Nope,” Miles agreed as he unlocked his phone and connected it to the car. He began to scroll through his Spotify playlists.
Julian’s eyes lifted to mine through the rearview mirror. He studied me for a moment as mischief danced within the flames of his dark eyes. “I suppose I never really did.”
My breath caught in my throat and a shiver slid down my spine with the way he stared at me. His gaze didn’t waver and he didn’t pull away at first. Music began to play through the speakers as Miles settled on a song as Julian’s eyes lingered for a moment longer.
He looked back to the road while Miles turned the music up louder and got comfortable in his seat. I turned my head to look out the window as Julian pulled the car onto the highway that led up the mountain. We were only about ten minutes into our drive and the tension was already so thick in the small space. Thankfully, we were driving to a higher altitude where it would maybe thin out a bit.
Everyone just had pent-up energy from it being the winter months. As soon as we hit the slopes, it was bound to dissipate. And then perhaps I could relax around them instead of feeling like I was back in high school with damn butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. The attraction was always there, but we were all friends. There were different things I liked about them.
I knew in my heart and soul that I could never choose between Miles and Julian, and I would never put either of them in a position where any of us had to choose. I just buried my attraction and my feelings deep inside and pushed away the memories of any time I was close with either of them like they didn’t exist.
Things were different now. We were all older, more mature, and knew what we wanted in life. And now the three of us were about to spend the night together on the mountain.
Perhaps this was a terrible idea…
But it was a little too late to turn around now.
CHAPTERFIVE
Miles checked in at the reception desk and got the key cards before meeting Julian and I by the elevators. We all stepped inside and it was borderline suffocating with the tension. Julian remained silent, staring ahead, while Miles whistled to himself like he didn’t have a damn care in the world. I slid down the zipper of my coat and the sound practically echoed in the silence. Heat crept across my cheeks and I simply ducked my head and stared down at the floor.
The elevator doors slid open when we reached the eighth floor. Miles stepped out first and led the way down the hallway to our room. Julian and I stood behind him when he reached our room and waited for the beep as he held his key card to the small pad on the door. It sounded and Miles pushed it open, motioning for us to go ahead.
“Okay, so I got us a room with two queens and a pull-out couch. That way no one has to feel weird about the sleeping arrangement—” Miles paused as he saw Julian and I staring at the small room. “What the hell?”
