Page 80 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
“For you?”
He nodded. “I sent him a cryptic message sort of revealing the whole… gay thing or bi thing or whatever. I didn’t expect him to jump on a plane. He didn’t respond to my email, and I spent days thinking it weirded him out. Then he showed up at my hockey game, and I realized all this time the only thing that could bring my brother home was…”
“You.”
“I still don’t know why he left, but I don’t think that matters anymore. All I’m saying is that Spencer may be rough around the edges and kind of a jerk sometimes, but he’s also the best guy I know. My parents will remember that soon enough.”
She needed to see him, to look into his eyes and find the version of the man Damien described. Setting the pitchfork back against the wall, she stepped toward the door.
“Hadley,” Damien called.
Her steps faltered as she looked back over her shoulder.
“We need to convince him to stay.” Desperation coated Damien’s words, and she wondered how much Spencer’s three-year absence hurt his brother. If he left again, would their family recover? Would Spencer?
But she thought of the words she’d said to Spencer the day before. She barely knew him. It wasn’t her place to ask him to stay.
She approached the house as Victoria’s car disappeared in a cloud of dust down the drive.
Spencer jumped off the front porch and approached her, his gaze intense. “We just found out another group of cattle broke through the fence in the northern fields.”
“Okay.” She wasn’t sure what this had to do with her.
“I need help repairing the fence.”
“But I wasn’t done in the barn.” She hated quitting one task before taking on another.
“It can wait. Come on, we’re taking the four-wheeler.” He took off in the direction they’d left the mud-coated vehicle. She smiled when she saw the reminder of the day before caked up the black sides and onto the seat. Glancing down at her overalls, she shrugged. What was a little dirt added to the smell of horse poo already drenching her clothes?
Spencer handed her the helmet, and she climbed on after him, this time wasting no time wrapping her arms around him.
As he started out across the fields, she took in the rolling greenery. In the distance, cows grazed on their neighbor’s land—land they leased from the Lees.
Out here, no one else mattered. She rid her mind of Victoria and the adoration the Lees had for her. Damien’s words flew from her thoughts.
They passed the area of the fence bordering the neighbor’s land—the fence they were supposed to repair. But it stood intact.
She tried to get Spencer’s attention, but he kept going, not slowing until they reached the large oak sitting alone at the top of a small hill, its branches spread out to shade the ground below.
Hadley ripped the helmet off. “What are we doing here? I thought we had to repair the fence again.”
He chuckled as he slid from the four-wheeler and turned to face her, a sheepish grin on his face.
“Spencer Lee, did you lie to me?” She set the helmet on the seat and crossed her arms.
“Just a tiny one.”
“A lie is a lie.”
He approached her, his eyes going dark and his voice dropping. “I think you’ll forgive me.”
“And why is that?” she whispered, unable to find her voice as he invaded her space.
His fingers fluttered under her chin, and he dipped his head. “Because I’m irresistible, Hadley.” He smirked. “I thought you’d figured that out.”
Her retort was cut off by his kiss, a kiss she’d dreamed about since the day before.
He was right. She couldn’t resist him as he threaded strong fingers through her hair, pulling it loose from her braid. She couldn’t resist the way his tongue brushed hers or how their bodies acted like magnets drawing closer and closer until no more space existed between them.
