60. Ella
60
***Ella***
I t was shockingly easy to steal them away from the TV. They all followed me with matching expressions of eagerness. I led them around the side of the house and to the picnic table in the backyard. It was a lot colder than it’d been on campus and it only took one teeth chatter for Booth to take his hoodie off and pull it over my head.
“You’re going to be cold now.” I lifted the neck of the hoodie to my nose and inhaled his warm scent. “But I’m never giving this back.”
He wrapped his arms around me from behind and leaned against the side of the table. “Good.”
“So…” I looked back and forth between Fisher and Vaughn. “We’re going to a mountain cabin?”
Vaughn smirked. “Excited?”
I nodded. “I don’t know what I’m more excited about. You guys or the cabin itself.”
Fisher stepped closer to me and gently cupped my face. “Be more excited about us.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
He closed the distance between our mouths and kissed me then, putting all of his effort into making sure it was him that I was most excited about. He only pulled back when the sound of a kid screaming broke the silence around us. “I hate that kid.”
Laughing, I looked over and saw one of our neighbors watching us with her mouth hanging open. I covered my face and laughed. “Oh, god. We’re causing a scene.”
Vaughn tugged me into his arms and dipped me. Smiling down at me, he looked happier than I could ever remember seeing him. “Let’s really give her something to talk about.”
I weaved my fingers into his hair and nodded. I’d already faced a month of ridicule on campus. One shocked neighbor wasn’t going to scare me away. I drank in his kiss and smiled into it, the feeling of everything being okay so nice that I didn’t think I’d ever stop smiling.
“You’re happy?” He pulled me up and kissed me once more. “Really happy?”
“Really, really happy.” I moved back into Booth’s arms and stood between his thighs while stretching up to kiss him. His big hand cupped the back of my head and I moaned when his other hand cupped my ass.
“When we get to the cabin tonight, we’re going to talk about what you said last night.” Booth trailed kisses down my jaw and growled. “About how you love us.”
I clutched his shirt in my hands and tilted my head to offer him more of my neck. “We don’t have to do that. We can just cuddle in front of a fire. Yeah? Yeah. I’m glad we agree.”
His hand moved lower on my ass until he was cupping the bottom curve and his fingers dipped between my thighs. “We’ll cuddle. After we talk. And probably after we figure out just how this is going to work.”
I hadn’t been touched in far too long. I squeezed my eyes shut and nodded. “Sure. Whatever you say.”
“Are you ready for all three of us, Ella Rae?” Booth tightened his grip and then let me go completely at the sudden sound of my mom’s voice coming from the front of the house. When I shot him a frustrated look, he smiled sheepishly. “Your mom is scary.”
“Ella Rae!” Mom came around the side of the house just as I separated from Booth. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. “Did you eat the bag of marshmallows? Those were for the sweet potatoes.”
I groaned. “I’m sorry! I was sad!”
Vaughn stepped forward. “So it’s my fault. I’ll run to the store and buy some.”
Mom suddenly smiled and walked over to pinch his cheeks. “You were always such a good boy. Even when you weren’t. I already sent your dad. I had to get him out of my hair. He wouldn’t stop talking about his new girlfriend. I’m starting to think he made her up.”
“Does your neighbor always scowl like that?” Fisher nodded to the neighbor who’d been staring the whole time we were outside and lifted his hand in a wave. “Oh, shit. Here she comes.”
The woman was a new neighbor that I didn’t recognize and from the look on her face, she wasn’t very happy about us. “There are children in this neighborhood and what’s happening here is shameful.”
My mom was a lot of things. She was wildly inappropriate, way too into talking about sex, my most loyal supporter, and she was one hundred percent momma bear. She was wearing a frilly pink apron and had her hair curled to perfection, all while wearing a pair of heels that I would’ve died in. She looked like the picture of a lady that I was sure our neighbor expected. Until she opened her mouth.
“Look here, lady. If you think you’re going to come into my yard and judge my daughter and her boyfriends, you’re sadly mistaken.” Mom yanked off her apron and marched closer to the woman. “I suggest you take your shitty ass attitude and your bad perm back home before you piss me off. Shameful. Ha! What’s shameful is your lack of ability to see something you don’t like and shut the fuck up.”
“I see all the men coming and going at all hours of the night. It’s no wonder she turned out like she did. Slut . You need Jesus.” The woman’s face had gone bright red. “And watch your language!”
I hurried after Mom and wrapped my arm around her waist. “Okay, let’s not go to jail on Thanksgiving for beating up an old lady, Mom.”
“Ma’am, I think maybe you should go back in your house before my girlfriend’s mom opens up a can of whoop-ass on you. I think your open ignorance and pride in that ignorance is pushing her buttons.” Booth had silently moved across the yard and put himself between Mom and the neighbor. “Also, Jesus doesn’t like ugly.”
“And in case my buddy’s kind suggestion doesn’t cut it for you, here it is with a little more directness.” Vaughn crossed his arms and stood next to Booth. “Beat it. Your opinion isn’t wanted and if you call my girlfriend or her mom a slut again I’m going to let her take a few swings at you.”
Fisher was all grins as he picked both me and Mom up to carry us towards the house. “I feel like I never left Florida at all.”
Mom flipped off her neighbor as we were carried away like rowdy toddlers. “If she calls my daughter a slut one more time I’m going to go Florida Man all over that lady!”
I couldn’t help laughing. It was the most ridiculous fight ever but seeing my support system in action was heart-warming. “To be fair, I think she was calling you a slut.”
“You’re not too old to spank, Ella Rae Daughton. It was definitely you she was calling a slut.” Mom patted Fisher’s arm when he put us down inside the house. “Wow. You’re strong.”
I sniffed the air and frowned. “Mom? Is something burning?”
“Fuck!” Mom took off towards the kitchen, grumbling all the way. “Stupid woman. Made me burn my Thanksgiving dinner. I should get a dog and let it shit in her yard every day. My damn green bean casserole is ruined and she’s worried about my language and who I screw. There are more important things in the world, asshole!”
Fisher’s grin stretched from ear to ear. “This is the best Thanksgiving ever.”