“Um, Hadley,” Bailey interrupts. “Where are we supposed to put all these boxes if we can’t even get in the house?”
Crap.I almost forgot about the key situation, thanks to blondie baby douchebag distracting me.
“Stack them on the front porch for now. I’m going to take a look around again, without distractions this time, and see if I can figure out how to get ahold of the landlord.”
I start up the driveway, sending my dad another text, then go up to the front door and try the knob. It’s locked. I have the same luck with the side door, so I start looking around for a sign somewhere, eventually heading over to the shed/garage. The door isn’t automatic, and the only way to get in is to push it up by hand. Once I get it open, I feel around for a light switch.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
I startle, whirling around toward my neighbors’, and find a girl with light brown, shoulder-length hair, maybe a year or two younger than Bailey and Payton, watching me from the other side of the fence.
That’s two times in half an hour that I’ve been startled by the neighbors, which makes me question if they’re going to end up being obnoxious.
“It’s okay. I live here,” I tell her.
“I didn’t mean the garage door.” She takes a step toward the fence. “I meant, you shouldn’t have said that shit to my brother.”
“Who’s your brother?” I wonder as I wipe my dusty hands off on the sides of my shorts.
She smiles, but it’s more mocking than friendly. “They guy you told to go screw himself and that you were going to kick in the dick.”
“Oh.” So, this is blondie baby douchebag’s sister. I guess I can kind of see similarities in their features. “That’s actually not what I said.”
“You sure about that?”
“I just told him the best place to go find a girl who would enjoy his douchebaggery would be on go-screw-yourself lane and don’t ever call me sweetheart or baby again or I’ll kick him in the dick drive.”
She studies me cautiously. “That’s pretty much the same thing.”
“Close, but not quite.” I move to step into the shed/garage.
“Well, just a little warning,” she says, and I pause. “My brothers don’t like when one of them gets insulted or hurt, and they’ll probably get you back for it when they hear about it.”
“Brothers?” I question, glancing back at her with my brow arched. “Why does it involve all of them when I only insulted one, and only after he insulted me first?”
“That doesn’t matter.” She glances over her shoulder at her house, then looks back at me. “My brothers are sort of a package deal. Insult one, you insult them all. And some of them take that stuff pretty personally.”
“Okay.” Why is she warning me? If that’s what she’s even doing.
She must read the confusion on my face because she sighs. “You’re new around this town, aren’t you?”
I nod. “We just moved here from Sunnyvale.”
“Okay, well, here’s a little bit of advice that’s going to put you ahead of the game. My brothers are known around Honeyton as troublemakers. And they more than exceed their reputation.”
A drop of worry prickles inside me, but I shrug it off. I refuse to be worried about some asshole. I’m tougher than that and have had to deal with guys like him before. Sure, I’m not a fan of doing so, but that doesn’t mean I can’t handle it.
“Well, just so you know, I’m a retaliating sort of girl,” I tell her. “Maybe you should warn your brothers about that.”
Her lips almost quirk into a smile, but she wrestles it back. “For your sake, I’m not going to. It’ll only make things worse.” She offers me a partially remorseful look then whirls around and hikes back to her house.
Blowing out a breath, I shove thoughts of the neighbors behind me and duck inside the shed/garage, determined to find a way to get ahold of the landlord.
The space is pretty much empty, so I quickly give up, close it back up, and head back to the car.
“Hey, so, do you want to stay here with Bailey and Payton and keep an eye on our stuff while I go drive around town and try to find Dad’s truck?” I ask Londyn.
“Sure.” She starts for the porch, but I capture her arm.