Behind the Sundays: HBG Files #2

"Nicoli Carrington: Red flag or misunderstood?"

Welcome to blog post number two in the miniseries "HBG Files." Before you continue to read this blog post, please keep in mind that this post contains SPOILERS. Please read at your discretion.

For those who do not know, Nicoli Carrington is our MMC in the first book in the series, "The Heart Breaker Gang."

He is our wealthy, educated, hard-working, playboy. Nick juggles the responsibility of working for his family's Real Estate and land development empire while owning an up-and-coming club with his childhood best friend, Drew. The last thing on his mind is a relationship.

Is he a red flag?

There is no doubt that Nick has some red flag tendencies. We get to really see Nick's perspective on relationships, not just romantic relationships, either. He struggles with people's expectations of him, which he often combats with a smart remark or completely shutting someone out. I don't see it as a red flag, but maybe that's my own red flag peeking through the pages of this book. As a whole, Nick isn't a red flag, maybe yellow, though. A lot of his personality and views are shaped by the people around him and the heartbreak he has experienced.

His family history

Throughout "The Dare," you will get a chance to really see the dynamic between Nick and his family. As the only boy amongst his siblings, a lot of the pressure to carry on the family legacy falls on his shoulders. Not to mention his mother, Catherine Carrington, is hell-bent on getting her kids married to ideal partners. This causes a big rift in their family, which is explained through Nick's POV in the book. It's also explained that the dynamic of the Carrington family started well before Nick and his siblings were around.

Outside of those two expectations, carrying the family legacy and getting married, Nick can get away with murder. It's pretty clear to all the Carrington siblings that Nick is the favorite. Despite his hard-set boundaries he put in place for his parents, Nick seems to do no wrong in their eyes. Unlike his older sister, Aris, or his younger sister, Jessica, any problems Nick has caused can be fixed without ruffling anyone's feathers. Or so he thinks. While Nick is dead set on doing what he wants with no one controlling him, he can't always see how his actions affect everyone else. His absence from Club Light Year for the last two or three years. This made him an enemy: the club manager, NaCara Davis.

Friendship Influence

Nick is a part of the very close-knit friend group known as "The Heart Breaker Gang." This group was formed by seven young black men, trying to figure out who they were outside their family names. All different in many ways, but they found common ground in developing themselves into their own ideals and not falling in love. In the book, we explore how Nick becomes the wealthy playboy who is really a lover boy at heart. This friendship allows Nick to be someone other than a "Carrington." No sisters, no talk about his wealth, no expectations to be a leader, and the freedom to explore causal relationship desires with no judgment.

In the book, we learn that Nick goes from being a young lover boy to a straightforward heartbreaker after two young heartbreaks of his own. Drew, Leo, Mike, Mateo, Kai, and Carter are all witnesses to the way Nick has changed over the years, a topic that is mentioned more than once in the series.

The final verdict

Is Nick a red flag? My personal opinion is "no." He's definitely misunderstood by anyone who isn't privy to his authentic self. If you don't know that he's basically working two different careers simultaneously, you would think he was irresponsible with his club. If you aren't privy to the history of his love life, you could think that he was just another wealthy man running through women like tissues. That's just my thoughts, though.

Read more about Nicoli Carrington in "The Dare: Remastered," available on Amazon.

Thank you for making it to the end of this Sunday's edition of Behind the Sundays: HBG Files. Make sure to leave a comment and share with your friends. See you next Sunday!