Rebel at Spruce High (Spruce Texas Romance #5) - Daryl Banner Page 0,43

two ashamed kids who were just caught by daddy playing in the mud. A few steps ahead, standing where the sidewalk ended, is a tall figure. From here, he is just a silhouette, the light from the streetlamp behind him casting him in total shadow.

The guy seems to quickly realize I’m not in danger, and his tone changes. “The hell you doing down there, Toby?”

Wait a second. Is that …? “Vann??” I blurt out, just as a clump of mud dislodges itself from my chin and plops into my lap.

Vann, as light-footed and nimble as a ghost, hops off the edge of the concrete and extends a hand to me. Wordlessly, I take it. Back on my feet, I brush off some of the mud, then realize it’s a lost cause as I trudge back onto the street, a complete mess.

I turn to Vann. “What’re you doing out here?” I ask right back at him. “Do you live here?”

“No.” He peers down at Winona. “This dog yours?”

“She’s, uh …” Winona circles my legs like a giant cat, panting maniacally. “Yes, technically. I’m … guessing one of the two idiots I live with didn’t close a door and she got out.”

Vann regards Winona for a moment. Then he crouches down, and Winona immediately takes that as an invitation to go crazy on his face, licking at him. Vann smirks, amused, as he rubs her ears and head, appearing unbothered by her muddy state.

But I’m still not satisfied. “What are you doing out here if you don’t live here?”

“Dunno.” He rises back to his feet. “How else am I gonna get to know this town if I don’t … well … get to know it a bit?”

I squint uncertainly at him. “By walking around at midnight?”

He just shrugs. Winona breaks away and heads down the road a bit, stops, and peers back at us, as if waiting for us to follow her.

I look at him. “Well … thanks for almost saving my life, but it turns out I was never really in danger.”

“No prob.”

“I, uh …” My mind is racing. I’m still stuck on the idea of him just wandering around aimlessly at midnight and somehow ending up on the same street I’m on. I mean, this is a small town, but that is quite an odd chance encounter. “I … lost my apron somewhere down the street. I don’t know where.”

“So let’s get it,” Vann mumbles, heading off.

As we walk down the street, Winona excitedly leads the way, panting and staying several paces ahead of us, nearly lost to the dark. I hope all her running around out here cleans her off enough not to track too much back to the house. I know no matter whose fault it is for letting the dog out, it’ll be mine for getting the house full of mud. I can already picture how Stepdad Carl will twist this all around on me.

Who cares?? That’s the least of my thoughts right now. What the hell is Vann doing out here? What’s on his mind? What does he think of the cast list? A slew of questions fill my head at once, all of them demanding answers.

And of all of them to spill from my lips, this one does: “Do you like it here?”

“Huh?”

What a stupid question. What a stupid, stupid question. “I, uh … I can’t imagine it’s easy. Being the new guy. In a place like this.”

A moment passes. Vann kicks a pebble in the road, sending it skittering ahead. “It’s alright.”

“Are you mad?” I blurt out, unable to help myself.

Vann frowns down at the road, not looking at me. “What?”

My heart is racing like I’m still being chased by a mystery dog I thought was trying to kill me. “About the casting. Today. The … The cast list. Me as ‘Danny’. You as ‘Kingsley’.”

He lets a moment go by. He stuffs his hands into his pockets as he shrugs. “Nah. Why the hell would I be mad?”

I swallow. My heart races faster. “B-Because it means … that … that you and I will, uh … have to—”

“So?” he cuts me off, his face scrunching up with irritation. “I thought that wasn’t a big deal in this town. Two guys kissing? Is this place so damned backwards it actually does care about that?”

“Uh …” Mind floods with imagery. Him kissing me. Me kissing him. Audience watching us. His hand on my face. Tender caressing and lips against mine and, and, and, and— “N-No, it’s