Spencer and the Younger Girl (Gulf City High Book 3) Page 3

  College was the goal for his parents. That was how he’d learn the business principles needed to run such a large operation. They’d never imagined their eldest son would jump a plane to the other side of the world as soon as he could.

  It was the ultimate need for space.

  But it instilled something in him, a desire for more. More adventure, more experiences.

  “Was it worth it?” Damien’s question came as a surprise.

  But the answer didn’t. “Yes.” In those three years, he’d lived, jumping from planes and climbing mountains. He saw the world from every vantage point he could. He’d worked himself to the bone in various jobs every place he went, but even with all that, he didn’t regret the experiences.

  “That’s good. I think I’d hate you more if it hadn’t been worth it.”

  “Do you hate me?”

  Damien was silent for a moment. “For three years, I have seen the pain in Dad and Ma. I hate you a bit for that.”

  His brother had always been honest. “Do you think they’ll forgive me?”

  “That’s a stupid question.”

  “Is it?”

  “They’ll forgive you once they know why you came back.” He looked away.

  So, they were talking about this. Spencer hadn’t admitted to Damien why he was home, or even that he’d read his last email. He hadn’t responded to it.

  But Damien had always been the perceptive brother. “It’s because of what I said, isn’t it?”

  “You needed me.”

  “I did, but I didn’t want you to come back for me. That wasn’t the point. A phone call would have sufficed.”

  How could Spencer explain that wouldn’t have been enough for him? That he need to make sure his brother was okay, that he had support.

  Maybe he’d only made it worse.

  “Damien, I—”

  Damien cut him off as they reached the barn. “Will you come to the house for lunch?”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  “Ma won’t kick you out if I invited you.” He handed off Chet to one of the hands who’d unsaddle him.

  “I don’t want to be there if she isn’t okay with it.”

  “She’ll live.”

  “Damien.”

  “Spencer, just stop, okay?” Damien rounded on him. “After three years of dry emails that never said anything, my brother is home. I don’t care what anyone else says. I don’t care if I should be angry with you for leaving or angry with you for coming home for me. The fact is I’m so freaking glad to see you working this ranch with me every day that none of the rest of it matters.”

  There was so much emotion on Damien’s face, it didn’t hit Spencer until right then just how much trauma he’d caused with his absence. He yanked his brother into a hug, not bothering with the manly back thumping this time.

  He was right. Seeing his brother, his best friend, every day made being home in Florida worth every moment of uncomfortable guilt.

  Over three years, he’d made a lot of friends around the world, some he’d traveled with for months.

  But no one meant as much to him as his little brother.

  Damien gripped him like he was afraid of letting go, and Spencer let him. He just hoped the next time he left, it didn’t cause the same ripples of pain.

  Someone clapped nearby, and Spencer pulled back, turning to find a beautiful girl with long blond hair and sparkling green eyes watching them. Beside her was a grinning boy.

  “So touching.” The girl’s lips curved into a smile.

  In all Spencer’s travels, he hadn’t met a girl who froze everything inside him with just a look. No, he had to come back to Gulf City for that.

  Damien wiped his face. “Hey, guys. What are you doing here?”

  Spencer snapped out of his trance. “You know them?” The question came out more harshly than he’d intended.

  The girl’s smile dropped. “Damien and I are great friends.” She walked to Damien and hooked her arm through his.

  Spencer lifted an eyebrow.

  Damien mouthed “help” at the other kid.

  The boy chuckled. “Hads, leave the poor guy alone. Damo, we need your help.”

  Damien extricated himself from the girl. “Spence, this is Roman and Hadley.”

  Hadley. The name stuck in his mind, repeating over and over. “Wait, Roman, you’re on Damien’s hockey team. I saw the game Friday.”

  Roman’s face lit up. “Yeah?”

  “Rome, this is my brother, Spencer.” Damien gestured to Spencer.

  “Brother? I didn’t know you had a brother.”

  Spencer bristled at that, but he guessed he deserved to be an after-thought to Damien, someone not worth telling his friends about. He remembered Roman Sullivan as a cocky freshman who seemed to forget his underclassman status the moment he made the hockey team. He’d always thought too much of himself.

  Were these the kind of people Damien spent his time with now? The quiet farm boy hanging with arrogant rich kids.

  Hadley glanced past him to where a few of the horses roamed the pen. “You have horses?” she squealed.

  Spencer rolled his eyes. “You ever been on a ranch before, sweetheart?”

  Her gaze hardened as she turned it on him. “I’m not your sweetheart.” She scanned him from head to toe, a look of disgust on her face, but she didn’t say another word before turning to Damien. “I will love you forever if you help us.”

  “With what?” Damien didn’t get an answer to his question as their mom stepped outside.

  “Damien,” she called. “Lunch is ready. Are your friends staying?”

  Spencer didn’t miss how she failed to invite him. “I’ll catch you later.” He turned on his heel to head to the bunkhouse, but Damien ran after him.

  “You’re coming to lunch.”

  “It’s okay. I don’t want to upset her.”

  “She’s been upset long enough. Come on, Spence.”

  His brother’s voice was so desperate, so earnest, Spencer couldn’t deny him anything. With a sigh, he turned back to the house. “Fine, but if it’s awkward, I’m blaming you.”

  “Rome, Hadley, you can tell us over lunch why you’d risk dirtying those expensive clothes of yours on a ranch.” Damien laughed.

  The three of them went ahead, and Spencer paused on the threshold, gathering up the nerve he needed to follow them. Suppressing the urge to turn back around, he stepped into his old house for the first time in three years.

  4

  Hadley

  Mrs. Lee was Hadley’s new favorite person in the entire world.

  “Mrs. L, I haven’t tasted anything like this in a long time,” Roman said, slurping up another noodle in the homemade chicken noodle soup.

  Hadley tore a roll and dipped it in the broth. “Seriously, this is amazing.”

  Damien, Spencer, and Mrs. Lee watched the two of them like they came from a different world.

  “You two starving over at the Gibson house?” Damien grinned and slid onto a stool next to Hadley.

  She shook her head. “We eat takeout for dinner and leftover takeout for lunch.”

  The fact that her mom and grandfather didn’t cook (except for deserts) never bothered her. It was how she grew up, but it didn’t mean she’d keep herself from seconds or thirds of a home-cooked meal.

  Mrs. Lee bustled around the kitchen. “Then I’ll have to send some of this home with you.” The woman only met them moments before, but Hadley liked her already. Her stout frame was draped in an old apron that said “Momma” and featured kids’ handprints that must have been Spencer and Damien’s when they were little.

  She not only cooked homemade soup for lunch, but smells of the Lee’s dinner wafted from the crock pot.

  This was not a woman who’d be okay with what Roman and Hadley wanted to do. She was the ultimate mom type, not the let-her-kids-get-into-trouble type.

  Spencer scooped soup into a bowl, but Hadley couldn’t help noticing how uncomfortable he looked in their kitchen, as if he was afraid of making a wrong move. She’d only just met him, but the tension in his body was hard to ignore.

  She studied him as she ate. Messy dark hair hung in hazel eyes. Her gaze traveled over his firm jaw and down to his grass-stained shirt. A streak of mud stretched up the thigh of his jeans. At least he’d removed his filthy boots.

  His eyes met hers, catching her staring, but she didn’t look away. He couldn’t intimidate her.

  She didn’t know how long they stayed in their silent stand-off before Roman nudged her with a raised eyebrow, a smirk forming on his smug face.

  Spencer leaned against the counter. “So, what do a couple of…” He eyed them up and down. “… WentWood kids need my little brother’s help with.”

  “Spence,” Damien chastised.

  Spencer only shrugged.

  He wasn’t wrong. Hadley did live in the WentWood neighborhoods, but she refused to be ashamed of it. “That’s none of your business, is it?”

  One corner of his mouth curved up. “If it involves Damien, it is.”

  “You his keeper?”

  “Enough.” Mrs. Lee shook her head. “Spencer, why don’t you take your lunch back to the bunkhouse. Stop antagonizing our guests.”

  Hurt flashed across his face, but it was gone so quickly Hadley wondered if she’d imagined it. Without another word, he took his bowl and a plate with rolls. No one said a word until the front door slammed shut.

  “I need to go talk to him.” Damien slid from his stool.

  His mom stopped him. “You will do no such thing. Leave him be, Damien.”

  “Ma—”

  “Entertain your friends. I’m heading out to check on the new foal.” She sent him one final searing look before walking from the room
.

  Damien slumped against the counter. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “I get it.” Hadley jumped up to scoop more soup into her bowl. “I’ve known people like Spencer my entire life. They hate people they think are entitled. I’m used to it.”

  Damien opened his mouth like he wanted to protest her assessment, but a sigh escaped instead. He ran a hand through his hair, which was a shade lighter than Spencer’s. “So, I don’t mind you guys stopping by and all, but…”

  “You want to know why we invaded your home?” Roman drank the last of his soup and set the bowl down.

  “We need your help,” Hadley started.

  “Yeah.” Damien rubbed the back of his neck. “You said that. What? You need another Zamboni tinkered with? I think if I did it again, Coach would have my head.” Two months ago, they needed to delay a hockey game so Charlotte could play after her figure skating performance. Damien messed with the Zamboni, only fixing it once they were ready to play.

  Roman laughed. “No, man. This time, we want to mess with the entire school.”

  Damien’s eyes widened. “Umm, I don’t understand.”

  Hadley leaned in, dropping her voice. “Senior prank.”

  “But I’m not a senior.”

  Hadley grinned. “But you have everything we need.”

  He gulped. “And what exactly do you need?”

  “Just a few animals.” Roman matched Hadley’s smile.

  Damien looked from Roman to Hadley. “Okay… explain.”

  “These are the goats?” Roman asked.

  “No.” Hadley snorted. “They’re the horses.”

  He smirked. “I meant are these all the goats?”

  Damien nodded, resting his hand on top of the wooden fence between them and about twenty goats. “There are a few babies who aren’t out here, but they’re off limits.”

  Hadley never expected Damien to be so open to their idea. She’d prepared herself for some major convincing. But here he was, showing them the goats they’d have to steal/borrow from his parents’ ranch.

  “None of them will be hurt, right?” he asked.

  Hadley shook her head. “We just want them in the halls for a few hours. Once school starts, they’ll probably be rounded up, and your parents can claim they were stolen. Roman is going to stay at the school the entire time the goats are there so they won’t be alone.”

  Across the way, the barn door slid open, and Spencer stepped out, his shirt dripping with water. Hadley couldn’t have torn her eyes away if she tried as he pulled the shirt over his head. “Damien, why didn’t you ever mention your brother?”

  “I’ve hardly ever spoken to you before today. Why would I tell you about him?” Damien followed her gaze with a cringe.

  “Because… you really, really should have.”

  Roman reached over and pushed her jaw up. “You’re drooling.”

  “And?” She continued to stare as Spencer walked toward them, the sun glistening off his wet shoulders.

  “What happened to you?” Damien asked.

  “Stupid horse.” Spencer’s growl made Hadley want to hear more.

  Damien laughed. “Why would you go near Harbi after he threw you this morning?”

  “Because he’s my darn horse. Or at least, he used to be. The beast knocked me into his water trough, and it tipped over, soaking my shirt.”

  “That sounds terrible.” Hadley lifted an eyebrow. “Fighting with a horse, eh?” She’d never been around horses in her life, but she saw the gentle creatures in the movies and couldn’t picture this well-built and entirely too-good-looking cowboy arguing with one.

  Spencer ignored her. Ignored her, Hadley Gibson. That wasn’t something she was used to. The guys at school might fear her, but they went out of their way to compliment her. She’d never asked for the model-like looks she got from her mom and didn’t even particularly want them. They caused more trouble than they were worth.

  For one thing, because she looked like every bombshell cliché in the book, she had a reputation, one she hadn’t earned.

  But for once, she wanted someone to look her way and just see her and not her looks.

  “Stay away from the horse for a couple days.” Damien glanced at the barn where a dark-skinned man watched them. “Was Dad in the barn with you?”

  “Yeah, but it’s not like he helped. He just yelled for me to get out of the stall.”

  “Listen to him. Something has been off with Harbi for a while now. We don’t need you getting hurt.”

  “Yeah.” Spencer wrung water from his shirt. “Whatever.” He trudged toward another building and disappeared inside.

  Damien watched him with sad eyes.

  “Why are you helping us, Damo?” Hadley asked. She’d thought it was a long shot, that there was no legit reason for him to risk suspension with them.

  He didn’t take his eyes from the door his brother walked through. “I’m having a… tough time. I think I need this, something to take my mind off everything else. I know we’ll get in serious trouble if we get caught… but it’ll be worth it.”

  Hadley shared a grin with Roman. “Yeah, it will.” They’d all had a tough year and needed one bright memory to remember it by.

  She didn’t know what Damien was going through, but Roman’s parents had recently moved, leaving him to live with Cassie’s family at the only other home he’d ever known, but he’d just moved in with Hadley’s family so he could date Cassie.

  And Hadley? The girl who seemed to have life by the tail? The one with the money and the looks and the bubbly personality?

  Some would call it a cliché, but every part of her life felt fake, like it wasn’t meant for her. She needed more than a generic existence, more than being Hadley Gibson.

  She wanted to be a legend.

  Driving out to the Lee ranch was a different chore in the middle of the night. Hadley veered down a winding two-lane road. Florida pines stretched to the sky on each side of the road, shadows in the night.

  She gripped the wheel tighter, leaning forward to see the road better. Her headlights cut through the fog just enough for her to keep going.

  Behind her, a line of cars followed. They’d enlisted the help of a few of Roman’s friends—none of them seniors oddly enough.

  The Madison siblings each drove a car they’d borrowed. Bailey—a junior—and Brayden— a sophomore, wanted in as soon as Roman told them about the plan.

  Behind them was Roman, driving a mini-van, something Hadley never in her life thought she’d see. She didn’t know where he got it, but the back was outfitted with straw to transport the goats.

  An arching sign, unreadable in the dark, marked the entrance of the Lee’s ranch, and Hadley slowed as she turned, the asphalt turning to gravel underneath her tires. She cringed at the sound the car made driving up the winding path. Stopping at the predetermined spot, Hadley cut the engine and hopped out.

  Damien waited for them near the small building that housed the goats at night. He jumped off the fence to approach her. “More cars than we agreed on,” he whispered.

  “Well, we needed enough space for the goats. I didn’t want to pile them all into one car where they’d fall all over each other.”

  He shrugged as Roman, Bailey, and Brayden joined them. “We ready for this?”

  They all nodded.

  Brayden sidled up to Hadley as they crossed to the small barn. “This is awesome.”

  She held a finger to her lips to quiet him as she looked toward the darkened house.

  Brayden didn’t know when to shut up. He never had. “After this, I was thinking we should go grab some breakfast.”

  “Bray,” she hissed. “It is two in the morning, and we’re on a mission. Not exactly the time to hit on me.” As the son of the vice principal, he’d always thought he could get away with anything. She didn’t want the sophomore there, but they needed him and his sister.

  They were the ones who obtained the keys to the school, after all.

  Hadley sped up to get away from him and wiped her sweaty palms on her tight black t-shirt. She’d gone all out for this. Black leggings, black shirt, and leather jacket. She’d even tied her blond hair up in a black bandana.

  Roman had laughed at her when he first saw her, saying he was surprised she hadn’t put on war paint.