Page 21 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
He’d only come to make sure his brother was okay… and to annoy Hadley. But now, he was happy to be part of it.
Hadley sprinted across the lot with a smaller goat in her arms. “I have the perfect place for this one.”
Her laughter still rang in his ears after she ran past them. Damien caught him staring and laughed.
“What?”
“I recognize the Hadley Gibson look when I see it.” Damien grinned. “Half the guys in school are completely in love with her and also completely terrified by her.” He shrugged. “She’s never intimidated me, but I can see why she would.”
“She doesn’t intimidate me. She’s only eighteen years old.”
“Seventeen,” Damien said with a grin. “Make you feel like a creeper, bro?”
“I’m not a creeper.”
“Hey, no judgment here. Hadley can even make me blush sometimes and I’m, well, you know…”
He did. It was why he’d come home.
Damien Lee, hockey star and ranch hand, was gay. And the only person he’d told was his big brother.
It snapped Spencer back to reality. He hadn’t come home to stare at high school girls or fall for someone. His brother was the reason he’d jumped on a plane without even thinking about the reception he’d receive at home.
Draping an arm over Damien’s shoulders, Spencer dropped his voice. “I don’t have the Hadley look. Stop with the delusions.” He laughed as he released him with a shove and re-entered the building.
By the time they finished, goats roamed the halls of Gulf City High. Some slept in classrooms or offices. Others explored.
Spencer stood with Hadley, Damien, Roman, Bailey, and Brayden studying their handiwork.
“We did good.” Hadley nodded in satisfaction.
Roman draped an arm over her shoulders and squeezed her to his side. “We’ll have to thank Jack for the idea.”
Spencer didn’t know who Jack was, but he couldn’t take his eyes off how familiar Hadley and Roman were with each other. Had he missed mention of them dating? He thought back on the words Roman said to him… no, they couldn’t be, right?
Damien shot him a knowing look, and he tore his eyes away.
“You still good to stay here?” Hadley asked Roman.
He nodded. “I’ll be out before anyone gets here in the morning.”
She turned to Damien. “If your mom reports the goats as stolen, the school will return them to her. And we’ll be scot free.” She rubbed her hands together. “We did it, guys!”
Brayden let out a whoop that echoed in the empty hall. The rest of them laughed and waved goodbye to Roman.
Back in the parking lot, Hadley unlocked her car. “You Lee boys getting in? I’ll drop you at home.”
Spencer climbed into the back, letting Damien sit next to Hadley. He wanted to stay as far away from her as he could.
She started the car and cranked up the radio as some pop song he didn’t recognize blared from the speakers.
Apparently, he was the only one who didn’t know it because both Hadley and Damien sang at the top of their lungs, adrenaline still dripping off them from their nighttime shenanigans.
He shook his head, surprised they actually went through with the prank. Maybe his brother wasn’t the same person he’d left three years ago.
But Hadley? He didn’t yet know what she was.
* * *
