Chapter 26 - Jade
I scowled as I shut the cabinets. “Brandon, where are the graham crackers that I bought? Did you let Ilsa get into them?”
I turned as Brandon stepped into the kitchen.
He was rubbing a towel over his head and stood in a pair of jeans that hung low.
I felt my heart stop beating as I took him in.
My mouth hung open as my eyes trailed down his chest toward the scrape of hair below his belly button.
I suddenly felt a wave of want wash over me.
“I packed them already. There is a bag near the front door.”
“What?”
Brandon dropped his arm and raised an eyebrow at me. “The crackers. I already packed them.”
Right, focus. I shook my head and nodded. “Okay, thank you for that.”
He smirked, stepping closer, and I backed against the counter. He caged me as he smirked, his scent filling my senses. I watched as some water trailed down his chest, and heat wrapped around me.
“What’s going through your mind? Something dirty?” His face grew closer, his smirk a full grin now.
I stammered for words and felt my face grow hot. He chuckled, pressing closer, his fingertips brushing against my hips. “You’re getting red, Jade. What are you thinking about?”
My mind slipped back to a couple of nights ago. We had just put Ilsa to bed, and he caught me in the kitchen. He’d slipped my underwear off and taken me from behind. The memory burned, and I felt my face grow even hotter.
“Shall we have a repeat of the other night? Ilsa is upstairs getting dress, so we have a moment.” I felt his hand skate over my hips, his lips brushing against my cheek.
“Daaaad.” Ilsa’s voice bounced down the stairs, and Brandon quickly took a step back, and I gripped the counter from falling.
Brandon smiled softly as Ilsa came down the stairs holding her bag.
She was wearing a yellow sundress and shoes to match it.
It was new, having been picked up just the previous Sunday when we went shopping.
“That is a cute outfit,” Brandon said.
Ilsa twirled for a moment before walking toward us. “I can’t find my teddy bear.”
I knew she was talking about the teddy bear that Brandon bought her just a few days after the hybrid attack. She took it everywhere with her. She told people about how her daddy bought it.
“It’s in the bathroom, sitting on the bench by the sink.”
She beamed as she turned, hurrying back upstairs.
The attack had only been a few weeks ago, but so much had changed.
Brandon and Ilsa were forming their relationship.
He worked hard to be there for her for everything, and Ilsa adored him.
It didn’t take long before things started to feel like we had been doing this forever.
Brandon looked at me, and I blushed once more. “You should finish getting ready. We need to leave in a few minutes, and you can’t go half-naked.”
Brandon gave me a cheeky smirk before he turned, heading back up the stairs. I fanned myself for a moment, taking a few deep breaths in. I needed to remind myself that we weren’t sex animals but rather people who had a busy afternoon.
Twenty minutes later, we were driving over to his parents’ house to drop off Ilsa.
Brandon had worked hard on forming a better relationship with his parents, mostly with his mother, who always jumped at the chance to spend more time with Ilsa.
Now that the truth was out, his mother didn’t seem to hold back on spending time with Ilsa.
We pulled in and found his mother standing by the front door. She smiled as Brandon helped Ilsa out of the car.
“Grandma, look what I brought.” Ilsa waved her teddy bear as she hurried up the steps. I hopped out of the car and walked after them. His mother pulled Ilsa into a tight hug before hugging Brandon. Ilsa hurried inside as I took a step up the stairs.
“It’s lovely to see you again, Jade.” She smiled at me, pulling me into a soft hug. I could feel her warmth and embraced it, finding that she would have been everything I wanted in a mother.
“You as well, Mary.”
“Where is dad?” Brandon asked, looking around.
Mary shrugged. “He had some things he wanted to get done. Won’t be back until later.”
I knew that things were still tense between Brandon and his father. I wasn’t sure if they would ever really have a good relationship, but Brandon seemed to be fine with it.
“We will grab her tomorrow afternoon,” Brandon said, looking through the glass door where Ilsa was already yanking her shoes off.
“Okay, you guys enjoy the day. Have fun at the campfire.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to join? We will have more than enough s’mores to go around,” I offered.
Mary shook her head. “No, I already have the rest of the day planned out. I got some movies for us to watch, and I have some cookie recipes that Ilsa wanted to help bake. We have a packed afternoon of activities to do.”
“Sounds like a fun time.”
“Grandma!!” Ilsa yelled, standing in the doorway. “Come on.”
I smirked, and Mary started to laugh. “Sounds like she’s ready. We will see you guys tomorrow.”
“Thank you again for watching her,” Brandon said, giving his mother a quick kiss on the forehead.
We headed back to our car and drove across town to the campfire. It looked like a majority of people were already here, including the people from the other pack. They had all gotten settled in nicely in town, starting to figure their lives out after having everything ripped away.
“You nervous?” Brandon asked as he pulled into the parking space.
I shrugged. “A little. Mostly because this is the first big event we’ve put together since the newcomers have arrived.
” We hadn’t gotten much pushback about opening our homes up to them.
I expected that some people wouldn’t be happy about it.
It was only a matter of time before people thought they should return home or figure something out.
Brandon reached over, squeezing my hand. “Everything is going to be okay.”
I let his words sink in and nodded. We hopped out and grabbed everything from the back, and started bringing it out. People were setting up tents, and there was a group of guys playing football in the distance.
Nora was sitting on the bench with Kaleb, Asher, and Westley. She waved as we headed for them.
“We have the s’mores,” Brandon said, placing them down onto the table. I realized that they were all writing in paint.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m having them help me write some signs for the games we were going to play.”
Brandon’s eyebrows went up. “They were helping willingly?”
Nora smirked. “Well, not at first.”
Kaleb looked up from his paper. “She took our phones.”
“How?” I asked.
Nora just smiled like it was a secret she wasn’t willing to tell. I couldn’t help but laugh. Brandon took another approach. “Are you kidding me? You let Nora get the upper hand?”
“I think your men have gotten a little rusty,” Nora chirped, and I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing harder.
“Alright, enough painting,” Brandon said, waving his hand. “I need you guys to help set up tents and get everyone situated.”
“Thank god,” the guys said in unison. They practically jumped out of their seats, and I watched in amazement. I sat down next to Nora. “Whatever voodoo you just pulled, I need to know.”
Brandon cleared his throat. “Nora, their phones.”
Nora sighed, pulling out the phones and sliding them toward the guys.
“Seriously, how do you do that?” I asked.
“I grabbed their ears like they were five and twisted.”
“I should never have shown you that move,” Kaleb said, looking embarrassed.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Brandon said, pushing at the guys. As quick as he was to leave, I could see a smirk pulling at his lips, finding this just as funny as I did.
Once everyone arrived, we got started on the activities we had planned. We had a team playing football while some people were using kayaks on the lake. We played trivia, where I hadn’t laughed so hard in my life.
We started the fire a little after eight. We had hot dogs and brats that people could cook with skewers. There was salad and fresh fruit, and vegetables. People baked cookies and brownies. Brandon and I spread out the s’mores we brought and relaxed into our seats.
The afternoon had gone smoothly. There were a few minor fights, mostly between people who were having a disagreement, but nothing serious. The kids who did join were all happily sitting with their parents.
The fire snapped, and Brandon pulled a blanket up, wrapping it around us. I leaned against him, soaking in the calmness. I stared at the group, knowing almost everyone’s names now.
“It’s nice,” I said softly.
I felt his hands hook my legs, pulling my legs over his. His hand was warm against my skin, his thumb rubbing circles over my thigh. He kissed my cheek and turned his attention back to the fire.
“Do you guys want a s’more?” Nora asked, waving her skewer at us.
“No, I can’t eat anymore.” I felt so full I thought I would vomit if I took another bite.
Brandon shook his head, and Kaleb waved his hand. “I will.”
Nora smirked. “Then make one yourself.”
I looked between the two, feeling there was something I was missing. I had noticed a few times that they teased each other, but Brandon pulled me closer before I could think too much about it.
“Shall we head home?” he whispered.
I frowned, “Are you tired?”
I felt his hand move up, and I quickly squirmed, grabbing his hand and stopping him. The corner of his lip curled up. “I’m not intending to sleep.”
I swallowed. Was it wrong to leave now so we could go home and have sex? We were the people running the event.
“You’re thinking really hard about this.”
“I’m not.” I blushed. “But is it appropriate? We kind of need to be here, don’t we?”
His lips pressed against my ear. “I just watched you dance and move around all afternoon. Your ass has had my eyes glued to it most of the day. I think it would be more inappropriate to finger you in front of the entire pack.”