chap35

"That looks like...BRADY" Belle said, jumping to her feet. She started to jog off but then stopped-was that him? Shawn, in the meantime, had also climbed to his feet and started to follow her to protect her, if neccessary.
"It's me, Tink" the then-recognizable Brady said, as he pushed his sunglasses up to the top of his head.
"Oh my God, Brady!" she shouted, before sprinting into his open arms. He caught her up in a huge bear hug that lifted her off her feet She squealed as she hugged him tightly before he set her back down on her feet.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded, a huge smile overtaking her face.
"What? A guy can't come visit his favorite sister?" he teased gently.
"You could have told me you were coming!" she said, slapping his arm gently.
"It's a surprise Belle!" Brady retorted. "Only dad and Marlena knew"
"I'm so happy you're here" she said. "And I see you brought a friend?" she asked, pointedly, giving the girl a small smile.
"Don't tell me you forgot about me" the girl said, and Shawn saw Belle's brow furrow as she thought.
"Belle! I can't believe you forgot about..." Brady started.
"Abby" Shawn finished, as he finally caught up with them.
"That's right, cousin" she said, pushing up her sunglasses also and that's when Belle recognized her. Shawn and Abby quickly embraced and then Belle also gave her a small hug.
"So how did you two hook up?" Belle asked, looking back and forth between the two. Abby and Brady exchanged a small look.
"Hook up?" Brady asked.
"I mean, how did you run into each other and end up here?" Belle continued, taking Abby's arm and beginning to pull her toward the blanket.
"Nice to see you, man" Brady said, as he and Shawn exchanged a handshake.
"Glad you're here" Shawn said, flashing him a grin as they followed the girls.
"You and my little sister looked pretty cozy before I interrupted" Brady hinted. Shawn opened his mouth to answer and then stopped-Belle should be the one to tell her own brother.
"Some things never change" Shawn said, and Brady furrowed his brow at Shawn's answer. The quickly joined the girls and Brady plopped down on the blanket next to Abby.
"So how's the beach treating you two?" he asked, again hinting.
"Forget that!" Belle interrupted. "What's going on between you two?"
"Well, let's see" Brady said, leaning back on his hands. "I guess it started when I decided to come home a few weeks early to surprise my little sister. But the surprise was on me when I arrived home to find no one there, a pile of mail in the box, and about 20 messages on the machine" Belle covered her open mouth with her hands.
"Oops" she said, when she finally pulled her hands away. "I guess we forgot to tell you we were leaving"
"It's alright" Brady continued. "I didn't know what to think so I decided that since I was starving, I would head over to the Brady pub for a quick sandwich and maybe get some information on where my missing family was." He paused and looked at Abby expectantly.
"I guess it's my turn now" she said, pausing to again lower her sunglasses against the sun as it again appeared from behind clouds. "Well, I too came home from Africa as a surprise and was unpleasantly surprised that no one answered Gran's door, where I was going to try and stay. So I hiked it over to Aunt Hope's house where no one also answered. So I went back to Gran's and left my bags on her porch where I also went to the Brady pub to get something to eat"
"Where else?" Shawn joked, and Belle gave a soft giggle.
"So I walk in the door and no one is standing behind the counter but I notice this guy sitting..." she continued.
"Just 'a guy'?" Brady interrupted.
"Ok" she said. "The most strikingly handsome guy I had laid eyes on since I had stepped on American soil...is that better?"
"It'll do" Brady said.
"Anyway, so he doesn't see me cause he's reading the menu. So I walk over and go 'Is this seat taken?' And he says yes, without even looking up!"
"I'm used to beating the women off with sticks" Brady jokes to Shawn.
"If you say so" Abby retorted. "By this time, I'd had enough. So I pick a menu up off the next booth and smash him upside the head with it" Belle burst out laughing.
"What did he do?" Belle asked.
"So I'm like 'What the hell?'" Brady continued. "So I look up and she goes...'Nice to see you too' and flings the menu at me"
"Did you recognize her right away?" Belle asked.
"It took me a little bit" Brady said, pausing as his eyes drifted over the very curvaceous Abby Deveraux. The sunglasses hid his eye's path as they moved over her long, tan legs that were tucked underneath her, her tight behind, before they settled on her cleavage. "But how could I forget those eyes?" he continued, as they snapped up to her dark blue, laughing eyes.
"Whatever you say" Abby murmured, her eyes also sweeping appreciatively over Brady's muscular upper body. Belle watched them both, her eyes darting back and forth between them.
"So when did you two leave?" Belle asked.
"What?" Abby asked, the spell interrupted. "Oh, umm...last night, about 11"
"It took you that long to get here?" Shawn asked, a suspicious grin on his face.
"Well, between our turns of driving and Abby's pee breaks, yeah, it took all night" Brady said, watching Abby's face intently as he continued. "All...night...long" He thought he saw a slight flush come over her face but she quickly gained her composure.
"Who wants to go for a swim?" she asked, springing to her feet. In one swift motion she had off her shorts and tank top, revealing a tiny leopard print bikini. This time it was Brady losing his composure, as he swallowed hard and wiped a line of sweat off his upper lip.
'Two can play at this game' he thought, as he stood to join her. "I'll come" And he pulled off his black tank top, revealing his chiseled chest and rock-hard abs. He took a step toward her and she almost stepped back away from him but changed her mind. Instead she took a confident step forward, pushing her sunglasses off and letting them drop as her eyes swept over his body.
"You like what you see there, Abby?" he asked, almost in a challenging tone. Shawn and Belle held their breath as they watched silently. Abby took yet another step toward him until their chests were almost touching. She leaned in slightly and all three did the same to ensure they heard her.
"Looks like you had too many Twinkies on the drive down" she said, slapping his stomach hard. Brady stared at her for a second and she stepped back, with a smug grin on her face.
"You're getting it now!" he said. She took off in a run down the beach and Brady took off after her, stumbling over his sandels as he attempted to kick them off. They watched as he caught her in the water and they wrestled playfully in the knee-deep water.
"Did you see that?" Belle asked, turning to Shawn excitedly.
"That sign for that pizza place?" Shawn asked, lazily pointing to an airplane pulling a sign announcing Antonio's Pizza Parlor. "That looks good" He laid back in the sunlight as Belle stared at him, completely unable to understand how her boyfriend was so dense.
"No, you bunghole" she said.
"Bunghole?" he asked, his one eyebrow raising above his sunglasses. "Very mature, Miss Black"
"Shut up" she said. "No! Brady and Abby!"
"They seemed tight" Shawn said, deliberately being vague.
"Whatever" she said, her blue eyes watching the two of them play in the water. "But there's something between them, I can just tell"
'Belle, Belle, Belle..." Shawn said, sitting up and wrapping an arm around her bottom, pulling her closer to him. "Focus less energy on them and more on...something else"
"Something else?" she asked, her body tingling still from his touch.
"Mmmm...something like me" he said, leaning his head down to her.
"Hey! Belle! Shawn!" Brady called out, pulling the two of them apart as Belle scrambled away from him.
"What" Shawn yelled back, the first to compose himself.
"Come down and play a game of chicken with us" Brady yelled. "It's the Blacks against you losers" He was caught off guard as Abby shoved him hard and he fell backwards into the water. Belle laughed as she climbed to her feet and pulled Shawn up next to her. HAlfway up, she let go of his hand and he landed back in the sand with a grunt.
"What was that for?" he asked, as she towered above him.
"I'm not helping the enemy" she said, as she turned and started toward the water.