Page 42 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
He slid down and reached his arms up to help Hadley.
“I can do it myself.” She swung her leg over the saddle, but it was more of a fall than a slide. Her boot stuck in the mud below, sending her sprawling on all fours.
“Do you enjoy falling?” She had to be the clumsiest person he’d ever met.
She stood and tried to wipe her jeans off, ending up with a mud smear down the front.
Spencer tied Toby to the part of the wooden fence still standing.
“All right, we don’t need to do new post holes because the posts are still standing. That makes it infinitely easier.”
She lifted one hand in a salute. “Whatever you say, boss. Can I ask another question?”
“What is it?”
“Tunes.”
“Tunes?”
She nodded. “As in music. What are we going to do about the music?”
“Do I want to know what you’re talking about?”
Her brow furrowed. “Dude, we can’t work without music.”
“Stop saying dude. It’s weird.”
“Why?”
“What?”
She crossed her arms. “Why is it weird? Because it’s a guy word? Hate to break it to you, dude, but you don’t own my tongue.” Her cheeks reddened at the last word, but she didn’t take it back.
She looked so cute standing there shocked at her own words that Spencer couldn’t help himself. He closed the distance between them, and she didn’t budge.
He dropped his voice. “Trust me, Hadley. If I owned your tongue, you’d never want it back.”
A breath hissed between her teeth as her emerald eyes widened.
“Hey, you two!” Gabe’s cheery voice made them break apart.
“Gabe,” Spencer growled. “I thought I told you I didn’t need your help.”
“Sorry, man. Your pa wants this done by lunch. He sent me to help speed it along.” He slid down from the back of the speckled mare he always rode.
Hadley offered him a smile, and Spencer tore his eyes away. Gabe was a more appropriate friend for the fiery teenager.
He ran a hand over his face as he bent to examine the tools he’d brought up in the truck earlier that morning. He’d been prepping materials for over an hour by the time Hadley showed up.
Hadley and Gabe chatted amicably, the biting tone of her voice gone when she talked to the more congenial boy.
She laughed, and Spencer straightened, wanting her laughter all to himself.
How did a girl both infuriate him and fascinate him all at the same time?
“If you two are finished wasting time, we can get started.” He didn’t want to be a “grump” as Hadley called him, but being home in Gulf City brought it out in him. For three years, he lived life on his own terms, no one to answer to, no one to worry about.
The moment he came back, his parents’ disapproval returned along with his worry about Damien and the general feeling of never being enough.
