Back to the Beach (Hunt Family Book 4)

by Brooke St. James

  I hadn't seen Nico all morning, and my heart skipped a beat when I realized he was the figure approaching from the distance as I was headed to the beach with Charlotte and Cub. I had the urge to make an excuse to turn back toward the house since I knew that's where Nico was headed, but I knew my intentions would be obvious, so I opted to stay on the path.

  I could see from far off that he didn't have on a shirt, and I reminded myself not to stare (or even look for that matter) when we got closer.

  "Where'd you go?" Charlotte called from behind me, obviously talking to Nico.

  He held up a hand to his ear, indicating that he hadn't heard her over the sounds of the waves.

  "Where'd you go?" she repeated once he got a little closer. "You were gone forever."

  He smiled, and my heart melted. His face totally changed when he smiled, and the sight of it was irresistible. I glanced at the ground since looking at his shirtless body or his face were both out of the question at the moment.

  "I went for a swim," he said once we were close enough to hear each other without yelling.

  "We were about to send the coast guard out, you were gone so long," she said.

  He let out a quiet laugh that made me look at him. I sort of expected that he would be looking at me when I made eye contact with him, but he wasn't. He was smiling right at Charlotte, who had come to stand next to me. His hair was wet, which made it appear even darker than it already was. It was basically black when it was wet. I couldn't help myself; I just stared at him.

  He was smiling, but it was somewhat guarded. "I swam for a while, and then I got out and took a breather before heading back," he said, never taking his eyes off of Charlotte.

  "You two are making me feel like a lazy bum," Cub said.

  "Mia went for a run," Charlotte explained.

  Even at the mention of my name, he still did not look at me.

  "I've never been much of a runner," Nico said.

  "Aww, bull," Charlotte said. "You and Logan have been racing each other since you were little kids." She laughed and looked at Cub and me. "You'd think they were still thirteen," she said. "They raced each other just last week; I saw them." She paused and reached out to fake a punch at Nico's shoulder even though she couldn't quite reach him from where she was standing. "I won't tell them who always wins because my brother will get mad at me."

  Nico let out another little laugh that seemed like a gesture of courtesy. "He beat me the other day," he said.

  She laughed. "You weren't happy about it, either. It's because he's preparing for a movie, and his trainer has him doing sprints."

  Nico took the towel that was thrown over his shoulder and used it to dry his face and hair. "I'm heading up for a shower," he said. It was clear by the way he phrased it that those were his parting words.

  My stomach dropped as I realized that the conversation was over, and he would be walking away without even looking at me once! He had glanced back-and-forth from Charlotte to Cub during the entire conversation, but he never laid eyes on me. I felt like I wanted to cry. I knew this would happen. He regretted kissing me last night, and now things were going to be awkward between us.

  He started to step around us in order to continue up to the house, but I was just too stubborn to let him do that. "Are you coming back down to the beach once you finish your shower?" I asked.

  He had already begun to walk off by the time the words got out of my mouth, but he turned with a smile when I finished. "I haven't eaten yet, but I might come down in a little while," he called in a cheerful but non-committal tone as he walked away. He glanced in my general direction, but he did it with such swiftness that I wasn't even sure if he was looking at me.

  A stabbing sensation went through my heart as my hunch about us being in an awkward situation was confirmed. He could barely even look at me, even when I spoke to him directly.

  I was so hurt and angry that I felt like I wanted to pick up the phone and call Travis or any other eligible guy that very instant. I wanted to show Nico Torres just how much I didn't care about him. I tried not to watch as he walked away, but it was hard because of the defined muscles in his back. His back of all places. What sort of person has muscles on their back? I only allowed myself a couple of seconds to stare at him before turning the other way to head to the beach with Charlotte and Cub.

  "What time are we going to the spa tomorrow?" I asked Charlotte since I was desperate to get my mind off of back muscles and lack of eye contact.

  I worked at a salon now, so our tradition of having a girls' spa day wasn't as exciting to me as it used to be, but it would still be fun (assuming I could forget about Nico long enough to enjoy it).

  Before she even had the chance to answer my question, my thoughts turned to Nico again. I smiled sarcastically when I remembered him saying we should get it out of our system last night before we kissed. Apparently, he was completely serious when he said that, and I was, indeed, out of his system. I wished the same were true for me.

  "Our appointment's at 2 o'clock, but I thought we would go early and eat lunch like we usually do," Charlotte said, answering my question.

  "That sounds good," I said, doing my best to seem like I was in a good mood.

  "I wonder what was wrong with Nico," she said, glancing back to make sure he was far enough away not to overhear.

  I glanced back as well, but he was already at the top of the stairs with no chance of hearing.

  "Why do you say that?" Cub asked.

  "He looked mad," she said.

  Cub laughed. "He was smiling the whole time," he said.

  I kept my mouth shut and my eyes on the path before us, but I could see out of the corner of my eye that Charlotte was shaking her head. "He was smiling, but something was wrong," she said. "I've known Nico long enough to be able to tell when something is bothering him."

  "I'm sure he'll work it out," Cub said, obviously not concerned with the other man's mental state.

  It was on the tip of my tongue to tell them we kissed the night before, and now he was being awkward. I was almost mad enough to say something stupid like that.

  "Did you think he was acting funny?" she asked, glancing at me as we walked.

  I came really close to blurting everything out, but instead, I shook my head and said, "No."

  "You're reading too much into it," Cub added. "He's probably just tired from his swim." He paused and let out a little laugh. "Women always assume we are thinking something deeper than we really are," he said.

  "All right," she conceded. "But something was bothering him, just so you know. Mark my word."

  I was in a slightly vulnerable state as we made our way down to the beach, which was probably the reason why I agreed to let Ryan bury me in the sand. I had already taken a shower and would no doubt require another one afterwards, but I sort of just numbly agreed when she asked me. We spent fifteen or twenty minutes digging a trench deep enough to accommodate me before I climbed into it. Once I did, it only took them five minutes or so to cover me up to my neck.

  "I'm so glad you let her do this," Paige said, laughing as she snapped pictures of me. "She needed to get it out of her system so she can stop asking Cody and me."

  "I still want to bury you, too!" Ryan said, giggling with delight as she danced around her mom.

  "I'll bet Uncle Evan wants to be buried," Paige said.

  At least, I thought that was what she said. I couldn't comprehend a single thing they were saying because the phrase get it out of her system was on repeat in my brain since the second Paige said it. I would probably never utter that phrase again for the rest of my life.

  "Smile, Aunt Mia!" Ryan said.

  "She's probably suffocating under there," my mom chimed in.

  "Are you?" Paige asked, dropping her camera with a concerned expression.

  I smiled and shook my head. "I'm fine."

  A few other people snapped photos of me before I freed myself of the heavy sand covering and got to my feet with the help of my
brothers. I started to dust myself off but quickly realized that was a lost cause and took a dip in the ocean instead.

  Ryan came with me into the water, and we ended up playing in the waves for a little while. We were out at the beach for an hour or two before everyone decided to go inside for lunch. All but a few of us had been out there, so a huge group came into the house all at once.

  Nico was sitting at the kitchen island talking to my aunt Denise when we came inside. I was the first one in the door, so he was forced to make unintentional eye contact with me when I opened it.

  "I thought you weren't swimming," Aunt Denise said, seeing that my outfit was wet.

  "I wasn't planning on it," I said, "but Ryan had me up to my ears in sand, so I had to get rinsed off."

  "We buried Aunt Mia, Uncle Evan, and my dad," Ryan said as she came into the kitchen behind me.

  There were a lot of us down at the beach, so the kitchen went from empty to full in about three seconds.

  "We buried you, too," Paige reminded her daughter.

  "And we buried me!" Ryan added excitedly.

  Nico got to his feet as if he was about to exit the room. There was so much commotion that no one really noticed what he was doing, but I noticed. Roughly ten conversations were going on at once, and most of them were about lunch. I watched as Nico snuck away, walking from the kitchen into the living room.

  This was convenient for me because I was also headed in that direction. I had already planned on going upstairs to take a shower, and I had to go through the living room to get to the staircase. I was so aggravated by how he treated me earlier that I was looking forward to talking to him if for no other reason than to make him uncomfortable.

  I followed Nico from the kitchen into the living room with no concern about who was watching. I reached out to tap on his shoulder as soon as I got close enough, and he turned to face me.

  "Hey," I said.

  "Hey."

  "Where you going?" I asked, feeling brave.

  "I was just gonna step outside and take care of a few work calls," he said.

  Charlotte was right; there was an underlying seriousness to his expression in spite of his outward smile. I was staring at him, wondering what I could possibly say next when Evan came and put his arm around my shoulder.

  "Can I borrow one of your rubber bands to keep my hair back?" Evan asked, running a hand through his long hair as if it was in his way.

  "Sure," I said. "They're in my bag upstairs."

  "I'll go with you," Evan said.

  I glanced at Nico and was just about to say something about talking to him later, but apparently, he was already done talking to me. He smiled just a little as he lifted his chin toward Evan and me as if he'd see us later.

  Chapter 9

  We'd been in the house for five days now, and I was still just as confused about Nico. Our time together would be over soon, but we never did connect the way we did on that first night. We didn't have many private moments, and when we did, it always seemed like we were being interrupted.

  Nico was really sweet to me every time we had the chance to interact, but I could tell he wanted to keep our relationship at a friendship level. The attraction I felt towards him was monumental, and it made my heart ache that he was able to turn off his feelings like a switch. I used my best acting skills to pretend I didn't mind, treating him like we were friends, which was obviously what he wanted.

  He and Evan, being the only two bachelors, had been sleeping outside in the hammocks every night. It was a family tradition for some of the guys to sleep outside one or two nights while we were here, but Nico and Evan wound up staying out there every night after the first one.

  A few times during the week, Nico did something that made me feel like he might be pretending also.

  One time, the guys were playing football on the beach, and I almost got hit in the head with a poorly thrown pass as I was walking by. Nico caught it right before it hit me, and he called me "baby" when he jumped in front of me. He said some phrase like, "Watch out, baby," as he caught the ball right before it hit me. The term of endearment made no sense at all based on how he had been treating me in the days before it happened, but I knew in my heart I hadn't misunderstood him. He called me baby, and we both knew it.

  Also, we had several conversations about my job and his job, and he would always say things like, "I could really use you in California for some retail marketing," and "we'd be unstoppable business partners."

  The other thing that happened was that we all went out to eat as a family one night, and when I came downstairs dressed and ready to go, Nico suddenly got a business call that couldn't wait, and he had to stay behind to take care of it. It was obvious by the way he looked at me that he was trying to avoid seeing me all dressed up, and that fact gave me a little satisfaction, even though I missed having him at dinner.

  It was now the week's end, and we had plans to go to Travis's house. Travis was calling it a get together at first, but he must've invited more people than he thought because the last time I talked to him he was referring to it as a party. He asked me how many I'd be bringing with me, and I told him there were six. Cody and Paige were staying home with the new baby, so that left myself, along with Evan, Logan, Rachel, Charlotte, and Cub. Nico wavered some on whether or not he would come, but he ultimately decided to stay back and get some work done. He caught a bunch of flack from Logan about being a workaholic on vacation.

  I was really sad he decided not to go. Not that I thought anything would happen between us, because I didn't—I was sad because the California crew was leaving the next morning, and I knew I wouldn't see Nico again once we left for the party. I was tempted to stay back once I found out he wasn't coming, but I couldn't do that since I was the family's main connection to Travis, and I had already promised them we'd go.

  The six of us that were going had plans to meet on the deck at 8PM so we could walk over there together. Travis, along with his best friend, Jackson, created an extremely successful app when they were younger. Travis now owned one of the most beautiful homes in Myrtle Beach and maybe even all of the east coast.

  Part of me wanted to stay back and make the most of every last second I had with Nico, but I knew we'd have fun catching up with Travis and checking out whatever new stuff he had at his house. Who was I kidding? I didn't want to go at all, but I was making the best of it. Telling myself that it would be fun could only help because I was stuck going anyway.

  All of the girls came up to the third floor so that we could get dressed and Paige could help us with our hair. I bought a little off-white romper when we went shopping earlier in the week, and that's what I decided to wear. It wasn't immodest, but it was fairly low-cut and sleeveless, and it was shorter than anything else I had worn that week. I had to do a thorough job of shaving before I got dressed.

  I put on some jewelry and a pair of comfortable sandals to go with the outfit. Paige styled my hair in loose waves that hung over my shoulders with the sides pulled back. Ryan came upstairs with a little tiara that she wanted one of us to wear. Everyone voted for me since I was the most likely one to wear something like that in my normal life, and I agreed easily, knowing Paige would make it look like a million bucks in my hair in spite of the fact that it had most likely come from Claire's in the mall.

  I smiled as I looked in the mirror once she was done. My hairstyle had enough volume to it that the tiara was hardly noticeable. It was understated and maybe even appropriate for the occasion.

  "You look like a princess, Aunt Mia," Ryan said, coming up to stand behind me as I made last minute adjustments on my jewelry and makeup.

  "Your mama did that," I said. "And you're the one who let me borrow your tiara."

  "I can barely see it," she said, standing on her tiptoes as she craned her neck to see the top of my head in the mirror.

  I stooped down and faced her to let her get a better look. "That's because my hair's so big, you little peanut," I said, reaching out to tickle
her.

  She giggled before stretching up to see the top of my head.

  I looked down.

  "I see it," she said. "There it is."

  "Yep," I said. "Your mama put it in just the right spot."

  "Uh-huh," she agreed. Before I knew what was happening, she put her hands on each side of my face. "You will be the most beautiful princess at the whole party," she stared at my face like she really meant it.

  I couldn’t help but smile at how sincere she was. "I think I'm going to be the only princess there, and that's all because of you. Thank you for letting me borrow this."

  She smiled proudly just as Charlotte came into the bathroom. "Aw, that looks really good," she said, glancing at the top of my head since I was still stooping down.

  "Thank you," I said.

  "Are you gonna grow up to do hair like your mama?" Charlotte asked, looking at Ryan.

  "Uh-huh," Ryan answered.

  "Yes ma'am," Paige corrected as she came to stand in the doorway next to Charlotte.

  "Yes ma'am," Ryan said.

  "She's gonna be great at it, too," Paige said, winking at Ryan. "She's got natural instincts."

  "I guess so," I said, sounding impressed. I stood up to take one last look at myself in the mirror. "I never would have thought to wear one of these, and I love it. I might have to borrow it again to wear to work sometime."

  Ryan was so delighted with all the praise that she started making pretty eyes at all of us, which made us all giggle at her.

  "Are you ladies ready?" Rachel asked, coming to join the group that had congregated at the bathroom door. "Logan just texted me and said they're waiting on the deck for us."

  Paige had done a beautiful job with Rachel and Charlotte's hair as well, and all three of us headed downstairs feeling as confident as ever about how we looked. We thanked Paige about ten times as we made our way downstairs, and she said it had been her pleasure to do it.

  Ryan held my hand down all three flights of stairs, and when we got to the living room she yelled to get everyone's attention. My parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma all looked in our direction the second Ryan yelled, "Introducing…"