Page 59 of Stable Hand

“You want dessert, sweetheart?” Luke asked. “Jensen, take him to the food table and let him pick something. Or help him pick something if he can’t decide. And bring me one of whatever he chooses.”

Noah and I stood. We walked together to the small dessert table. As we gazed over the myriad of offerings, someone nudged my arm.

“The apple pie is excellent.”

I glanced over to see Ben standing beside me, gesturing to the severely decimated pie in the center of the table.

“Thanks,” I said, “But Noah’s picking for us.”

Noah looked like he suddenly couldn’t take the pressure. “No, you choose, Jensen. Luke likes chocolate.”

I blinked. “You don’t have to pick something chocolate because Luke likes chocolate.”

Noah shuffled his feet and glanced shyly at Ben, who watched him closely. “I guess not. But he wanted me to pick something he’d like.”

I glanced back at Luke, who was picking at his coleslaw and not paying any attention to us.

“Did he? Well, let’s get two of those chocolate tarts and whatever you want. Do you want to try the pie?”

“The pie is awesome,” Ben said. “The berry cobbler’s nice too.”

“I, uh, I’ll try the apple pie, I guess,” Noah said.

“Good choice, Buttercup. Uh, Noah.” Ben cleared his throat, scrambling. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have called you that,” he said, embarrassed.

Noah shrugged and gave Ben a sweet look. “No problem. I like my nickname.”

“Buttercup suits you,” I said.

Noah looked like he would melt under the dessert table. He didn’t know what to say.

“Why are you two hanging out with Luke anyway? I heard he put up a big fuss in the grooming barn and you took the piss out of him. Not sure why you want to expose yourself to more of his rudeness.”

Noah’s expression changed as he took in what Ben had said. “He’s a decent guy under the surface. He struggles because—never mind.”

“Pardon? You got some inside info on our rebel without a cause?” Ben asked, not unkindly, but with an innocent curiosity.

“No,” Noah said so quickly his obfuscation was obvious.

“Let’s get some pie. I’ve got the chocolate,” I said.

Ben turned to me. “Jensen, are you playing volleyball with us later?”

I glanced from Noah to Ben. “Uh, sure. If you need someone.”

Ben grinned. “We can always use a strong body.” He looked me up and down and winked. “You’ll do.”

I found myself laughing. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”

When we got back to the table, Luke had finished and sat there twirling his plastic fork.

“What did Ben want?”

“He invited me to play on his volleyball team later,” I said. “We got you a chocolate tart.” I put one of the rich desserts in front of Luke. “Noah said you’d like it.”

“Noah was right. But you didn’t follow my instructions.”

I blinked at Luke. “Huh?”