Nick’s Obsession (The Billionaire’s Obsession 3)

We arrived at our hotel quite late, but Chris and Evan were there to welcome us. I released Nick’s hand and crossed the lobby quite fast and wrapped my arms around Evan, pulling him in for a hug. Beside us Chris chuckled, muttering something about feeling left out. We ignored him both, focusing on our little moment.

“I missed you,” I told him because that was exactly how I felt.

Evan squeezed me gently, “Missed you too, Em.”

Pulling away I smiled, holding onto his hands, “Looking good, Evan.”

His eyes scanned me from head to toe, his lips curling up to a smirk, “Is that a ring I spot?” He raised my hand to view it up close, his eyes shifted to Nick, “You didn’t tell me about this, Nick.”

“It took a while to convince Em to marry me.”

Evan dropped my hand, looking very proud, “That’s my girl. Making him work for it.”

Nick rolled our suitcases with him and stopped beside me, “Since when did Em became your girl?” He asked, but we all knew he was joking, “And as my friend, you’re supposed to be on my side. Telling her she was being a fool for not wanting to marry me.”

Evan stepped forward and brought Nick in for a man hug. They didn’t care about people staring, it was cute to see their little bromance. While they were clapping each other’s back and catching up quickly I greeted Chris.

“How have you been?” I asked.

“Good.” The gleam in his eyes told me he as telling the truth, “I’ll introduce you to Hikari soon.”

“Yes, I’d like to meet the girl who stole your heart.”

Chris laughed at that, “I don’t know about that.” He was being cautious, but that was a good thing after he fell hard for a girl who didn’t feel the same about him, “But we’re getting serious about our relationship. So you know, maybe it’s heading that way.”

“Taking your time.” I nodded, “That’s a good thing.” I glanced at Nick.

We fell hard and fast, which could have been disastrous. We could have been hurt so bad neither one of us could move forward. Our relationship turned out to be real though, which was a blessing. Not a lot of people found the one they wanted to spend the rest of their life without having any regrets.

“Where is Zoey?” Nick asked, scanning the room.

“At home.” Evan told him, “She had to catch up with work.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow then.” Nick didn’t seem too upset about that, “How is she doing?”

We all knew that question meant a lot more than it sounded at first. Nick was asking something personal, but I knew Evan wouldn’t answer it. Not when we were all present. Evan’s eyes actually shifted to me before he glanced back at his friend.

“She is fine.”

The look he gave Nick told me enough. They’d talk when I wasn’t there. No matter how close Evan and I were, the bond Nick and Evan shared was something between them. In the end, Evan was Nick’s best friend who’d have his back no matter what. I was glad Evan would at least share his burdens with Nick. I think sometimes you needed someone to confide in to keep you on the right track. When I started out with Nick I had Brandon. He disliked Nick for personal reasons, but he also reminded me not to rush things. I didn’t listen to him, but his voice was definitely always in the back of my mind.

“We’ll let you go to check in and get some rest.” Evan told us, “We’ll meet up tomorrow morning.”

“Yes,” Nick confirmed.

We bid our goodbyes and headed off to check in. Once everything was settled we went to our hotel room, freshened up and got ready for bed. I was finding a comfy position to sleep in when I felt Nick’s warm hand press against my stomach. I smiled when I felt Mathew’s little kick. It wasn’t as harsh as usual.

“For once he isn’t as restless this time at night.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Nick asked, getting all worried.

“No, he is still moving, but not hurting me as much as usual.”

Nick nodded, “It must be odd feeling someone move like that inside you. Can’t imagine it.”

I moved my hand, placing it over his, “I promised my dad we would visit him after our trip.”

Nick didn’t judge, no ‘I told you so’ or anything like that. He just leaned in, pressed a kiss to my temple and held me close to him.

“We’ll visit him as much as we can.”

Nick knew my dad was sick so he wasn’t against visiting him at all. He wanted me to spend as much time as possible with my dad before he passed. The thought hurt, knowing there was a clock ticking away. His time was slowly coming to an end, that was inevitable for everyone. But actually knowing you were going to die soon was different. It made your time feel much more pressured. I hoped dad was still around to at least meet Matthew. Having his house filled with a child’s laughter again.

“Thank you.”

He kissed my temple again, “No need to thank me.” He whispered, “Night, Em.”

I smiled, “Night.”

***

Like we agreed on we had a breakfast meeting with our friends at the hotel. I was sitting beside Nick, Zoey sitting right across me and Evan sitting right across my fiancé. Chris arrived late due to some urgent meeting he had with a client. It didn’t matter that he was late, I was glad he at least made it. Chris took a seat at the head at the table, Nick at his right and Evan at his left. I noticed instantly how awkward things were between Evan and Zoey. They tried really hard to ignore each other, but that was what gave it away. Whenever they brushed up against each other, they’d share a look. It was always brief but I caught it and when I glanced at my fiancé his look told me he caught it as well. There was definitely something going on between the two. To respect their decision not to announce whatever was going on between them yet, we both kept quiet. Pretending not to know.