Four Letter Word (Love Logic #2) - K.M. Neuhold Page 0,113

a little homier.”

“Huh,” Leo says.

“Huh, what?” Riot asks.

“Nothing. Cupcake?”

Chapter 28

Hudson

“Can everyone hear me?” I check, making sure the call shows it’s connected to all three other men. A chorus of yeahs and yeses comes through the speaker. “I have a surprise.”

“A surprise?” Bishop repeats. “For all of us?”

“No, for everyone except for you,” I tease, and he huffs indignantly. “Of course, it’s for all of us, peaches.”

“Boo! Hate the nickname. Please tell us our surprise,” Bishop says.

“Don’t leave us hanging, Belly,” Leo prompts, and my stomach flutters. I never thought I’d hear him use that stupid nickname again. I hated it in high school when he called me Belly, but now, it might be my favorite thing in the world. Riot may think it’s a lazy nickname, but it means things might be okay between us after all, and I’m happy to cling to that idea all day.

“My parents usually throw a big shindig at the cabin for Labor Day weekend, but my uncle made a big thing about them going out to his place on Martha’s Vineyard instead, which means their place is wide open if we want it.”

“The cabin?” Riot asks.

“My parents have a place in Lake Tahoe. It’s ridiculous to even call it a cabin—it’s basically a mansion,” I explain. “We had a good time there when we were teenagers. What do you guys say?” I tempt, and I hear an annoyed sound that could only have come from Leo.

“That place is obscene.”

“I know,” I agree gleefully. “What do you say? Free vacation for our upcoming three day weekend?”

“It’s hardly free, we still have to get plane tickets, unless you’re planning to drive eight hours each way,” he points out.

“Plane tickets are a couple hundred bucks. I’ll pay for everyone’s if it’s a problem,” I offer easily. It’s not like I’ll miss it, although things are going to change after next week, but that’s the whole point. I want one last hurrah before I give up my life of privilege and leap into the unknown.

“None of us need your charity,” he argues, and I groan.

“Can we not do this financial posturing?” Bishop asks. “I think it sounds fun. We always had fun there as kids, and Riot will love it.”

“I don’t know.” Leo continues to dig his heels in.

“I think a short vacation would really aid in healing my head injury,” he says, and I have to bite back a laugh. Apparently, he really wants to go and is willing to sink to guilting Leo to get him to agree.

“Fine.”

“Yay. You can get off work, right, Riot?” Bishop asks.

“I can get off,” he assures us. “This sounds like a blast. I’m excited.”

“This is going to be great,” I say, and Leo grumbles one more time. “Cheer up, Griff. They put in a heated pool since the last time we were there. We can all go skinny dipping.”

“Now, we’re talking,” Riot says.

“I vote we make it an all naked weekend,” Bishop offers with a laugh. I can’t get over how much he’s come out of his shell since Riot came into our lives. I’ve seen flashes of this brave, funny Bishop before, but never like this. It makes me love Riot that much more.

“All right, yeah, this sounds fun,” Leo agrees reluctantly. “But since it’s your parents’ place, I’m paying for groceries for the weekend,” he counters as if there’s some kind of competition going on that I was never made aware of.

“Whatever you want.”

“Lake Tahoe, here we come!” Bishop cheers. “Okay, I’m getting off the call so I can look at plane tickets.”

“Me too,” Riot agrees.

“Talk to you guys later,” I say before disconnecting. I set my phone down and lean back in my chair with a huge smile on my lips. This weekend is going to be amazing, and whatever fallout might happen with my dad next week, well, it is what it is.

Leo

“Has this place gotten bigger since the last time we were here?” I ask as we all file through the front door of Hudson’s family’s place.

“It’s just happy to see you, Griff,” he teases, bumping his shoulder against mine, drawing a reluctant smile from me. “Come on, I want to show you guys the best part.”

We all follow Hudson up the stairs to the second floor. The place has obviously been redecorated since the last time I was here—more than once, knowing Hudson’s mom—but it still looks mostly the same. Countless memories of summers spent here run through my mind like a soundless