Page 111 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
“Hadley,” Mr. Thompson snapped. “Is this another one of your pranks? This time it won’t be a suspension for you. Think expulsion.”
The class talked excitedly, their noise drowning out the obstinate teacher.
Hadley crouched down, ignoring the glare aimed her way from Mr. Thompson. She wrapped her arms around Stammer and buried her face in his side. He smelled just like the ranch she’d come to love so much. “I missed you,” she whispered.
“Ms. Gibson!” Mr. Thompson yelled to be heard. “Take that… thing to the principal’s office with you while you go for your punishment. This will not stand in my classroom.”
Hadley straightened to face her teacher, her eyes hard. “Apologize.”
“What?” he sputtered.
“Tell Stammer you’re sorry for calling him a thing.”
Laughter wound through the room, but Hadley wasn’t kidding. Stammer bumped her hand, making a soft sound.
“That’s right, Stammer. He doesn’t matter.” She turned to the door, confidence propelling her past her gaping classmates. “Show me to him, Stammer.” The moment she’d seen her goat friend enter the classroom, she’d realized there’d only be one way for him to get here.
This walk felt decidedly different from the one weeks before when Stammer revealed her brilliance behind the prank.
A small smile tilted her lips as she stepped into the quiet hall and turned to walk to the office.
“Goats aren’t pets.”
That voice. It sang to every part of her. She didn’t turn. “Yeah? What do you know?”
“I know you.”
Turning slowly, she faced Spencer, drinking in how good he looked in his faded jeans, plaid shirt, and a cowboy hat. He looked every bit the man she’d fallen for.
“You don’t know me.”
He stalked forward, never taking his eyes from hers. “I don’t know the Hadley Gibson that walks these halls. You’re right. But the one who loves goats and befriends the meanest of horses—”
“Harbinger isn’t mean.”
A grin spread across his face, and he took another step forward. “I wasn’t sure anyone could fall in love in such a short time. I didn’t plan it. I didn’t want it. But then this girl walked onto my parents’ ranch and pulled me into a high school prank.” He reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “And she yelled at me. A lot.”
The breath froze in Hadley’s lungs, and she couldn’t move. “You probably deserved it.”
“I liked fighting with her almost as much as I liked kissing her. This girl… she made me realize moving on from the past was okay.”
“She sounds like an amazing girl.”
“The most amazing. You see… she doesn’t think she’s worth much, but she’s strong. The way she cares for people, the way she speaks her mind, I’m awed. But I didn’t see it, I didn’t appreciate it. Not until I lost her.”
“Why did you lose her?” she breathed.
He closed the remaining distance between them until they stood chest to chest. “I let people get into my head and make me think maybe I wasn’t good enough, that I didn’t deserve this.”
“Why wouldn’t you deserve it?” All she could seem to do was whisper simple questions.
His eyes shifted between hers in a mesmerizing dance. “I was going to run. None of this was supposed to last.”
“And now?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He captured her lips is a slow kiss like he was savoring the moment, afraid it wouldn’t last.
Hadley only froze for a moment before making the decision she needed. She wound her arms around his neck and pressed herself closer, telling him she was there, that she wasn’t leaving him either.
