Noel I Won't

by D.J. Jamison

Gray’s eyebrows shot up. “No kidding? Well, sometimes we need to find ourselves before we can come home.” “Okay, wise one,” one of the guys with him said, tone dripping with sarcasm. He wore ripped jeans, a leather jacket, and a beanie over long blond hair that trailed over his shoulders. Gray half shifted to gesture toward the group. “The sarcastic asshole is my brother Axel.” I recognized him from the photo Kevin had shown us at the pub a few weeks ago. Gray continued. “The man beside him is his boyfriend, Sheriff Harvey. The man is a saint to put up with my brother, just saying.” “Hey,” Axel protested as the rest of the guys laughed in agreement. “Good to see you again, Sheriff,” I said, nodding respectfully. He wasn’t in uniform today, but I’d talked to him a few times in his deputy days when we had to deal with kids trying to party out at the farm during the summer months. “My oldest brother there is Holden. Bossy as fuck. Look out for him.” Holden rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. He held hands with a much shorter man with pretty green eyes. “His boyfriend is Shiloh, and also the only guy who could put up with him.”

There is no mention of Noel actually being part of this group, so what's with the introductions? Hopper already knows them, apparently.