Back to the Beach (Hunt Family Book 4) by Brooke St. James

Charlotte were having and continued staring at Nico, who hadn't, even for a split second, taken his eyes off of me.
    "I guess this is goodbye," I said to him with a regretful smile.
    He shook his head. "I'm going," he said.
    "What?" Cody and I both asked at the same time.
    "I was planning on going anyway," Nico said.
    "That's what I'm talking about," Logan yelled, letting his hands come together with a loud clap to show his enthusiasm about Nico's change of heart.
    I could barely breathe at the thought that he might come with us.

 
    Chapter 10
     
     
    "I thought you had to work," Cody said, looking at Nico with a confused expression.
    "I can take care of it from the party," Nico said. He regarded seriously and said, "Your friend gets cell phone reception at his house, doesn't he?" He had a straight face, but it was obvious that he was being sarcastic.
    I nodded in answer to his question even though we already knew it.
    "It's settled, then," Nico said. "I can work from her friend's house." He glanced at Logan. "I'd like to change if you guys can wait five minutes."
    "Do it, bro," Logan said, thrilled by the idea that his best friend would be coming with us.
    Logan attracted quite a bit of attention every time he went out, and Nico always knew how to help him handle it gracefully. It was for this reason that Logan had gotten used to having him around in social situations and preferred it that way.
    Of course, I loved the fact that Logan was encouraging him to come. I was so excited about the change of events that I had to work hard to stifle the huge smile that threatened to cover my face as I watched Nico disappear into the house to get dressed.
    During the conversation we had while waiting for him, Cody almost changed his mind about going as well, but ultimately decided that he needed to stay home with Paige and the kids. He made sure Evan knew to look out for me, which made the rest of us give him a hard time about being so protective.
    I couldn't understand what had gotten into him. My outfit wasn't really that revealing, and besides, I was a grown woman. I had my own apartment and made my own living. It wasn't like Cody or Evan escorted me everywhere when I was back home in Charlotte. If anything, I could get in more trouble back home than I would at Travis's. I thought maybe Cody was just acting that way because we were on vacation and we were all together.
    I tried not to overthink it or let it annoy me. I gave my brother a big hug and assured him I'd be fine once he made his final decision to stay behind.
    "All right," Nico said a few minutes later when he came back onto the deck. He was wearing dark jeans and a shirt I hadn't seen on him. It was a light green button-down shirt with a subtle plaid design. It was fitted, but he had the sleeves rolled up and the top button undone making it more casual. He had run a comb through his hair, and he must have put on some cologne, because he looked and smelled like a million bucks. I couldn't believe it was the same guy who ran upstairs a few minutes before. My heart skipped a beat as I took him in. He had obviously been in a hurry because he was still working on getting his sleeves rolled up when he came outside.
    "A little overdressed, don't you think?" Cody asked.
    "No," Charlotte said emphatically, taking up for Nico. You could tell by her tone that she was also accusing Cody of being rude when she said it.
    "It's all right," Nico said. "I know I look good."
    "You do look good," Charlotte said, taking up for him.
    He did. He looked so good I wanted to go stand right beside him—so close that he had no other choice but to put his arm around me. I wanted to hug him and never let go.
    "Let's go," Logan said, reaching out to take Rachel by the hand.
    My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour as we walked down to the beach. Logan and Rachel were holding hands, as were Charlotte and Cub—that left Nico, Evan, and me in our own little group, trailing behind. I was between