“What brought you to Camden?”
She turns, her shoulders lifting fractionally as she continues to the back of my truck, allowing me to steal a glance at her from head to heel. Hadley’s light gray shorts don’t have back pockets, allowing me an eye-full that confirms she could turn even a breast man into an ass man—anything but subtle. She stops and faces me, and my gaze jumps so damn fast I’m sure she knows I was just checking her out.
“I wanted to see more of the country. My brother and sister both went out of state.”
“To Camden?”
She looks away as she shakes her head. Though I barely know her, I would bet this is a tell—hertell. Her nervous tic when she’s uncomfortable. “No. My sister went to New York and my brother went to California.”
“You’re the youngest?” I ask, moving to stand beside her as I unlatch the hatch of my truck.
She nods as she grabs a garbage bag, hauling it closer to her. “My sister is seven years older, and my brother is nine years older.”
“That’s quite the span.”
Hadley nods again. “Yeah, our dynamic kind of shifts between friends, siblings, and parental roles pretty frequently.” She lifts the bag.
“You don’t have to help. Some guys from the team are coming over as soon as their classes are over.”
She shrugs again. “I might need to get my textbook soon, anyway.”
I shake my head and laugh at the words, knowing I’ll be recycling them, and grab two bags. I follow her back up the walk to the house. “So, what was your vote?”
“My vote?” she asks, eyeing the spider again as we pass it.
“About my moving into the basement.”
She cuts her gaze to me as she passes the threshold. “I was Switzerland. Completely neutral.”
“Because I’m busy withscience club?”
She slows, pulling the door that leads to the basement open. “I didn’t know you were inscience club. I just know that if my brother or sister needed a place to stay, I’d hope Katie and Hannah would be understanding and allow them to move in.”
She heads down the narrow, steep steps that lead down to the basement. They’re unfinished wood, our footsteps echoing with each step. I try to keep my gaze from her ass, realizing Katie might have drawn the line for us but Hadley’s certainly constructing them.
When we hit the bottom of the stairs, Hadley flips the lights on. A single bald lightbulb turns on. She remains still, tracking across the large, empty space that is only partially finished. The walls have all been covered with sheetrock, but only a few have been taped and mudded, and none of them have been painted. The floor is concrete, which adds to making the space feel both darker and colder.
“Are you sure you want to stay here?” Hadley asks, slowly lowering the bag to the floor. “We usually lock the door that leads down here. Maybe you’d be more comfortable in the living room?”
“You don’t like the dark?”
“No, but cockroaches and giant spiders do.”
“I hate to tell you this, but they like the well-lit areas, too.”
She takes a final glance before ascending the stairs. We’re nearly to the top when her phone vibrates against the counter. Hadley takes the final stairs two at a time, grabbing her phone and hesitating only a second before she answers, moving the screen to reveal it’s a video call. “Hey.” Her tone is filled with warmth and affection that has every nosey bone in my body coming to attention, wondering who is on the other end of the call.
I move closer to see her screen and see a woman with similar dark hair, and icy blue eyes.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize you were busy,” the woman says.
Hadley glances at me. “Oh, this is Katie’s brother.”
“I didn’t know Katie had a brother.” She leans forward as though it will help her get a better view of me. I move closer, catching the way Hadley blinks and pulls away before looking more closely at who I’m guessing is her sister. “Hi, Katie’s brother. I’m Lanie, Hadley’s sister.”
“Nolan,” I say. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“I didn’t know Katie had a brother,” she repeats. “I thought she had an older sister?”