Page 83 of Spencer and the Younger Girl
Spencer
Leaning his head back against the tree, Spencer shielded his eyes from the sun as he stared up at Hadley waiting for a reaction.
It was the truth. Whether he was meant to be with Victoria or not, he’d never imagined they’d end. It wasn’t so much that he thought about marriage as a teenage boy, but there was no future without Victoria in it. She was his best friend, his other half.
One day, he’d tell Hadley the entire story. Maybe. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to even tell Damien or his parents about the pregnancy… or the end to that pregnancy.
It wasn’t Victoria dumping him that cracked something inside him. You couldn’t break what was already broken.
Hadley pursed her lips, her eyes scanning his desperate face. He needed her to understand, to tell him it was okay to move on. For three years, he’d traveled the world with a weight around his neck, never connecting to people, never opening himself up.
But he wanted to. Something about this girl tugged at every part of him. Hadley Gibson was his ticket to the other side of his tragedy.
Maybe she’d help him figure out a way he could stay.
Because that was the truth of the matter. He didn’t want to leave again. He didn’t want to go off to some country where no one lit up at the sight of him.
Yet, he had to. Gulf City stopped welcoming him the moment he stepped onto a plane to leave it all behind.
Whatever Hadley saw in his expression softened the hardness in her eyes. She lowered herself to the ground once more, facing him this time.
“I’m listening.”
Those two words did something to him. Was that really all it took to dig into him? And the worst part… she meant it. He could see it in the way she leaned toward him, willing to take in the secrets, the burdens of a man she barely knew.
He sucked in a breath and gave a small shake of his head. “There’s nothing more to say.” There was so much. “Enough with the emotion and stuff. That’s not us. You and me… we’re anger and passion.” He quirked a brow. “Light and fluffy.”
She laughed. “I don’t think light and fluffy goes with anger and passion, but I get it.” She rose up on her knees and inched toward him. “We’re uncomplicated. Fun.”
He swallowed. Fun sounded so… shallow. But he couldn’t ask her for more. Not when something inside him was irrevocably damaged.
Pasting a smile onto his face, he reached forward and snagged her around the waist. She fell into him in a fit of giggles that made his strained smile lighten.
How could she change his mood so quickly? “Who are you, Hadley Gibson?”
She pressed her lips to his. “I can’t tell you. It’ll ruin the mystery.”
“There’s nothing mysterious about you.” She was the most up-front person he’d ever met. Her eyes held no secrets, no dark pain. What he saw was what he got.
And he liked what he saw more than he’d admit.
“If you keep kissing me like this, you’ll ruin your grumpy reputation.” Her fingers skimmed under the collar of his shirt.
“Maybe I’m grumpy kissing.”
She laughed so hard she had to pull away from him to catch her breath. “You’re strange.”
“No, you’re strange.”
“Great comeback, Mr. Older Boy.” She gripped his chin as she pressed her chest to his. “We should go before they come looking for us.”
“Nope.” He pressed kisses down her neck. “I told Damien we’d be fixing the fence for a while.” He pulled at the shoulder strap of her overalls. “These are hot.”
“Wow, you must be really hard up for some lady affection if my overalls turn you on.”
“Everything you wear turns me on.”
Her lips ticked up. “Where did you come from?”
