"Hey Nikki! What's up?"
I let go and looked up at him. He sure did look different since the last time I saw him. He shaved off his goatee-thing-a-mabob and his hair was brown again. He looked like a little kid, he was so cute! I had to remind myself that he was turning 21 in a month.
"Nothing at the moment. You look great!"
He grinned and whistled as he "checked" me out. "You don't look too bad yourself!" I laughed.
"How long have you been here?"
"Uh, about 30 minutes," he replied.
"Oh cool."
"Come on, the guys are all over there," he said, leading me towards the beach. I held back and faced him.
"Hold it, Mr. McLean. I have to see my family first!" AJ slapped his forehead.
"Oh, DUH! I'm so sorry. I'll be over there so do your family reunion thing and find me, k?" I nodded and walked off. I found my parents mingling with the boys' parents. Man, I got so many hugs and kisses I was embarassed! But I was really happy to see them too. I also found my sisters hanging out with Nick's sisters and brothers. I was pretty surprised since Nick's sisters were so much older than mine, but they thought they were really cute so they didn't mind.
"Oh," said Kaitlyn, blushing a little. "I forgot you never really met Aaron." Aaron smiled and shook my hand. He was such a gentlemen for a 12-year old!
"Nice to meet you," he said cheerfully. "I heard a lot about you!"
I raised my eyebrows. "Really? Who from?"
He quickly cupped his mouth and looked at me with horrified eyes. "Whoops!"
I laughed and patted him on the back. "Just slipped?" He nodded slowly, with that look still on his face. "Don't worry," I leaned closer to him and whispered. "I'll pretend I never heard it." Aaron sighed in relief and hugged me. I stood up and started walking away.
"Well," I called to the group of kids. "Have fun!"
I was paying so much attention to Kaitlyn and Aaron who were now spraying each other with water guns, I accidentally bumped into my mom who had a plateful of hamburgers in her hand.
"Whoa! Nicole, honey!"
"Sorry, Mom. Hey, what are the burgers for?"
She laughed. "They're to eat, what else?"
I gave her a strange look. "In December we're having hamburgers? On a grill?" She nodded and I shrugged. She set the plate down on the table and put her hand on my shoulder.
"We still have a week until Christmas. We just wanted to bring something from summer in, is that a problem?"
"No, I was just wondering."
"Ok, good," she smiled. I started to walk away, but aporached her again.
"Hey Mom?"
"Hmm?"
"Where's Tim?"
She paused for a second. "Oh, his flight's been delayed for some reasons in New York. He'll be here in a couple of hours. He's gonna miss dinner tonight, but he'll be here in time for the party afterwards."
"Oh, ok...what reasons? Did he say?"
"Uhhh," my mom thought. I rolled my eyes at her.
"You're being a LITTLE too obvious, Mother. What are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing, Nicole! Absolutely nothing!"
I sighed and walked away from her. "Ok," I muttered. "Whatever you say."
"Oh, by the way," I heard my mom call out to me. "I love your hair!" I smiled and walked towards where AJ and everyone else was.