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“Eh,” Nick shrugged. “I can live with that.”

“We should probably start herding people to where they’re gonna be staying. Otherwise, they’ll stand around like a bunch of confused turkeys,” Nicole told their mother.

His mother huffed, shaking her head. “Ain’t that the truth? Girls, let’s go herd some sheep and leave the boys to chat.”

Maria shoved his bag into his arms. “Here, take your shit. I’m not your bellboy.”

Nick took it, bending forward to kiss her forehead. “Yes, ma’am.”

She grinned wickedly. “I’m going to grab you soon, maybe get some ideas on how we can wear Mom down about the camp thing.”

Nick shook his head, watching his sisters walk off with their mother. The four women were chatting easily, and Nick felt something slip into place inside him. That feeling warmed when his father’s arm wrapped around his shoulders and squeezed. He grinned at the man who had given him his height and size.

“Nice to have you two around again. Your mother always frets when you’re gone too long,” he told Nick.

“Oh, trust me, she already let me know,” Nick assured him.

“How many questions did you have to answer?”

“I don’t know. How long is the drive from the airport?”

His father chuckled, patting him on the back. “Sounds about right. Give me a few minutes to lock up, and I’ll take you boys to your cabin.”

“You really want to escort us or just put off having to go to the main house and deal with everyone?” Nick asked.

His father chuckled but said nothing as he walked back toward the building he’d emerged from. Nick glanced at Matt, who was staring at the surrounding mountains.

“Looks like someone took a nap,” Nick said.

Matt huffed, cheeks going pink for a reason Nick didn’t understand. “No, just pretended to for a little while.”

Nick wrapped his hand around the back of Matt’s neck and squeezed. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you to our cabin. Be nice and quiet there.”

“I’m okay,” Matt muttered.

“Yeah, but I know after all the sitting around, we could both probably use a nap before dinner.”

Matt winced. “I guess that’s going to be a big thing, huh?”

“I bet I can talk Mom into letting us have dinner in our cabin. It’s the first day, so everyone will be a bit jet-lagged and worn out, so we can get away with it.”

“I can’t hide forever.”

“It’s not hiding. It’s resting after too many hours traveling. She won’t mind.”

Matt gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, I guess we could do that.”

Nick gave his friend another squeeze on the back of the neck before, with a twinge of regret, pulling his hand away. Matt was more bothered by his aversion to large groups than Nick had ever been. And his mother, for all her insistence on trying to help, wouldn’t take offense to Matt wanting at least one night before facing the whole family.

“You two ready?” his father called as he closed the door behind him.

“C’mon,” Nick said, pulling Matt with him. “Let’s go pretend we’re on vacation for a while and not surrounded by my crazy family.”

MATT

While he had been warned about the sheer scale of what everyone referred to as ‘The Lodge,’ Matt had not been ready for the reality. Walking a few feet behind Nick and his father while they chatted and led him toward the back of the complex, it felt more like walking through a neighborhood or even a small town instead of a family resort. He’d always known Nick’s family was filthy, stinking rich, but he didn’t think he’d ever get used to how rich.

Dakota House. Nick had said that was the name of the place they would be staying in. Looking around at the other houses they passed, Matt wasn’t sure he wanted to see what it looked like. A couple of the buildings looked like they could have housed a family of six or more, and in style.