Chapter 28 Dex
DEX
The entire kitchen went quiet, but I had to fight a laugh. Barely an hour with my family, and Brae already had a sixth sense for when things were about to tip into the danger zone.
“What?” she pressed. “Is that not true?”
Wylder set down his root beer. “We do, but it’s not something I would recommend you partake in unless you’ve got an iron gut.”
Brae shoved her chair back, crossing to where she’d dropped her tote bag with the little Bigfoot on the corner. Jesus. She and Waylon were a match made in heaven.
She crossed back to the table and began depositing hot sauce bottles across the center. “I did some research and found a few things. My gift to the group. Did you know there’s a little gourmet shop two towns over that has a whole wall of hot sauce?”
Orion had barely taken his eyes off her since his arrival. And it wasn’t in an interested way. It was in a looking-for-evidence way. He wanted to prove that she was the enemy combatant he hoped she was.
It annoyed the hell out of me.
As if he could feel my glower, his gaze flicked to me for the barest moment. I fought the urge to bare my teeth at him or flip him off. But his focus was already back on the woman next to me.
“What do you say?” Brae asked. “Hot sauce challenge?”
Maverick let out a hoot. “Will you marry me, Little Badass? You had me at boobie cookies and hot sauce.”
Brae laughed. “I already know I can’t keep up with you.”
“Damn,” Mav muttered. “A heartbreaker on top of it. Mad respect.”
I turned my glare from Orion to Maverick.
He lifted both hands in surrender. “Yeah, yeah. No looky, no touchy.”
“How about you try shutty uppy?” I suggested.
“That’s an almost swear,” Skylar informed. “It’s not nice to tell people to shut up.”
My lips twitched. “Noted, Little Princess.”
Skylar turned to Brae, lowering her voice to a comically conspiratorial tone. “Kick their booties. They’re always bragging about how many peppers they can handle.”
Brae slid back into her chair and leaned across Owen to deliver a whisper of her own. “I’m representing girl power tonight.”
She held out a fist, and Sky grinned as she bumped it.
I leaned back, taking in Brae as she straightened. “You really think you can take everyone at this table?”
A sly smile spread across her face. “Oh, I’m gonna smoke you.”
Mav let out a hoot. “Let’s get this party started, ladies and gents. What did you bring as the offering, Little Badass?”
Brae made a Vanna White move across the hot sauces. “I bring you the burn-your-mouths-off collection from Five Fire Farms outside the Bay Area. One of my personal favorites. I was very pleased to see it here.”
A trickle of awareness slid through me. “You like hot sauce.”
Her damn perfect lips twitched. “I might have a taste for it.”
“Goddamn. She’s a badass. She’s hot. And she likes to eat fire.” Mav laid his head on the table. “I’m done for. No one will ever compete.”
Brae laughed, and the sound wrapped around me like ghosted fingertips. I wanted to lean into it. Bury my face in the sound.
“Why do I have a feeling you’re never hurting for company?” Brae challenged.
Maverick straightened, waggling his eyebrows. “Who, me? I’m one hundred percent a lonely boy.”
Wylder scoffed. “Tell that to the women always bugging me to know when you’re coming into the bar.”
“Hey,” he shot back. “I can’t help it if the ladies want what they can’t have.”
“Enough,” Waylon muttered. “I wanna try these Five Fire Farms.” He reached for the bottle with only one chili pepper. “We start out easy.”
The bottle went around the table, skipping over the kids. Each of us put a little on some brisket or potatoes and chowed down.
“Hoo,” Wylder breathed. “Even the mild’s got a kick.”
“Come on, boss. You can’t hang?” Brae challenged.
“Oh, I can hang,” Wylder shot back as he reached for the two–chili pepper sauce.
That one had me paying attention, the heat building in my gut and mouth.
But as I looked over at Brae, she looked like she was just eating fucking ice cream.
She flipped a strand of blond hair over her shoulder, and I wanted to slide my fingers through it.
Grip the wavy locks as I tipped her head back and took her mouth.
As I undid every damn button down the center of her pale-pink sundress.
“I can barely taste it,” Brae said easily. “What about you, Kol?”
My brother grimaced at her. “You taste it.”
She shrugged. “Let’s see about number three.”
She poured a few shakes onto a bite of mashed potatoes and swallowed it down. “Okay. Now, we’re talking.”
Kol grabbed the bottle from her hand, doubling the amount on his own potatoes as if trying to make a point. As he swallowed, sweat broke out on his brow and his eyes went wide.
Maverick burst out laughing. “Someone’s talking a big game but can’t follow through.”
“Remember, Daddy,” Skylar began. “It’s okay to lose to a girl. We’re all equal.”
Wylder snickered. “Yeah, it’s okay to lose to someone about a third of your size.”
Orion snatched the bottle, trying it himself. He was more stoic about his reaction, but his cheeks turned bright red and he started to pant like Lucy did on a hot summer day. He reached for his water.
“I wouldn’t,” Brae warned. “I hear water makes it worse.”
Orion glared at her and then reached across the table for Skylar’s milk, taking a swig and making his niece giggle.
“If Rion had to do milk, I’m out.” Wylder gave the table two knocks.
Sky let out a cheer. “One down, Miss Brae!”
Wylder shook his head. “That hurts, Little Princess.”
She just grinned at him. “Sometimes, girls gotta stick together.”
Waylon and I survived that round, but when Mav tried the three–chili pepper sauce, he shot out of his chair, running for the sink. He stuck his head under the faucet, trying to wash out his mouth. “What was that?” he spluttered. “Three chilis grown in hell?”
Brae laughed as she held out a hand for Skylar, who slapped it.
“Bruh, that’s a little embarrassing,” Owen told Mav.
Orion’s lips twitched at the comment—the first tiny fissure in his shields.
“God, these kids are freaking harsh,” Mav muttered.
“Try living with one,” Kol shot back.
“On to four,” Waylon said, grabbing the bottle and trying the sauce. He let out a garbled sound before knocking twice on the table. “That’s my hard limit,” he croaked.
I grinned as I took the bottle. I thought about trying to best Brae, but my mouth was still on fire from the last round, and I was having too much fun watching her trounce everyone. I knocked twice on the table and handed her the bottle. “Too much for me.”
Brae’s brow arched. “You sure about that, Buttercup?”
“I preferred Bird Poop Boy,” Wylder cut in.
Brae chuckled. “He can be both.”
I leaned back in my chair. “My stomach is going to thank me for this choice tomorrow.”
Brae sprinkled a few drops on her potatoes and took a nice-sized bite. Pink hit her cheeks this time, but no sweat broke out, and she didn’t even reach for a drink after. She simply offered the bottle to Orion across the table.
He studied her for a long moment before taking the bottle and shaking out several drops over his meat. He took a bite. The moment the brisket hit his tongue, his eyes went wide as saucers. Orion was out of his chair in a flash, running for the trash and spitting out the bite.
“Flag on the play!” Mav hollered. “Disqualified.”
Brae grinned as Skylar cheered. “What do you think, Kol? Got what it takes?” Brae asked.
He glowered at her, which only made Brae smile wider. Kol snagged the bottle from where Orion was sitting and shook out two drops onto his potatoes. Lifting the bite to his mouth, he paused, his hand trembling.
Finally, he dropped the fork to the plate. “Sh—” He halted what he was about to say. “I can’t do it.”
Skylar leapt from her chair, dancing around the room. “Girls rule, boys drool! Girls rule, boys drool!”
Owen grinned up at Brae. “Pretty bussin’, bruh.”
Brae flicked her hair over her shoulder in an exaggerated motion, sending a faint red-currant scent my way. “That’s my trophy right there.”
I reached over, unable to stop myself from touching her, even though I knew it was the last thing I should do.
But everything about her drew me in. That scent.
The way her eyes lit in victory. How her mouth curved in that taunting bow.
My hand slid under that fall of hair, and I squeezed the back of her neck, relishing the feel of her silky skin as the pads of my fingers ghosted over her pulse point. “You did good, Hellion.”
Golden eyes found mine, flashing with something I couldn’t identify. “Thanks, Buttercup. I like your family.”
“You gotta tell me how Buttercup came about,” Wylder said as he struggled not to laugh.
I tried to glare at Brae, but it was more of a twitching smile. “Thanks for that.”
Brae beamed up at me as she answered Wylder. “He was soooooo very sunshiney when I first met him, Buttercup was the only name that fit.”
Kol let out a sound that was a cross between a scoff and a snort.
“Hey,” I shot back at him. “You’re the grumpiest a-hole around, so I don’t think you have room to judge.”
“A-hole still counts as a swear, Uncle Dex,” Sky cut in.
I shook my head. “Noted, Little Princess.”
Mav leaned back in his chair. “Buttercup works for me.”
“Don’t even think about it,” I warned, then turned to Brae. “Do you see what you’ve done?”
She just shrugged. “Sorry, not sorry. You kind of deserve it.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. And as I glanced around the table, I knew she’d made more progress than I’d thought possible. Kol looked at her with grudging respect. Orion with something less than hatred. And Waylon? He was sunk.
It was enough to get started.
* * *
“All right,” Waylon said, rolling out a map over the kitchen table where dinner had once been. Skylar had offered to show Owen the animals, giving the adults time to talk about what we needed to.
I helped Waylon flatten the edges, using the hot sauce bottles from the earlier battle as weights.