Page 96 of Stable Hand

Chapter Eighteen

We walked back to the bunkhouse unobserved, snuck inside, and slipped into our bunks. We were able to get in a few hours sleep before we had to wake up.

Luke had to report to the main house at ten for more time under Kamal’s strict hand, and I had to be in the grooming barn to help prepare the ponyboys for the afternoon show.

This show was an exact replica of the day before, except with different ponyboys. The performances were almost as entertaining as the earlier show except for one very important element.

“It’s not the same without you out there,” I confessed to Noah, who stood with me by the fence.

Noah blushed and flashed me a smile.

I tousled his short hair. “I mean, Ben is a workhorse, Callum is physically impressive, and Trey is cute, but none of them have the same… I don’t know…presence you have when you’re in full pony get-up and performance mode. What I saw yesterday… You have star quality.”

“Awe, Jensen. You are the sweetest.”

I shook my head. “I don’t feel sweet. I feel like the biggest pervert around half the time.”

Noah raised his eyebrows. “You? The biggest pervert? Out of this bunch?” He waved his hand around the arena.

I laughed.

“You surprised Luke though. I don’t think he expected you to be as kinky as you are.”

“Did you?”

“Didn’t really care. I only knew I liked you. But, yeah, I guess when I asked Lorraine to bring you in, I was curious.”

“Oh God. Yeah… I mean, I loved that.”

“I know,” Noah said, looking down at the ground. “Me too.”

*

While I was helping with the ponyboys after the show, Noah came into the grooming barn. He walked over to where I was attending to Callum’s bridle and mask.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” he asked, glancing at Liv who was busy with Ben.

“Sure,” I said, stepping away from Callum. “What’s up?”

“Kamal wants us over at the house when you’re done. He needs us for the final part of Luke’s punishment.” Noah’s voice was low and held a tremor of unease.

“Oh?” I said, wondering what on earth Kamal meant. But I couldn’t deny I was curious as hell.

“I’ll wait outside,” Noah whispered and kissed me on the cheek. As he walked away, I experienced a sudden flashback of the way he’d looked splayed out on the mattress in the shack the night before; how he and Luke had looked when they’d kissed; the vulnerable expression on his face when he’d come in Luke’s mouth.

I closed my eyes for a moment, enjoying the images. My dick reacted but I blocked the memories and got back to work.

Callum remained silent and obedient while I removed his body harness. Then he said, “Thanks.”

“I’m just doing my job. But, you’re welcome.” I grinned.

“No, I mean thanks for punching some sense into me the other day. I don’t know why I was acting that way. Jealous, I guess.” He looked down at the floor the way he was supposed to, but his cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

“Um, I don’t know why. Someone pretty awesome is looking at you with a lot of interest at the moment.”

Callum raised his eyes to mine. I gestured toward the ‘pretty awesome person’. Callum looked at Trey and smiled at him.

“Yeah, we’ve already sort of established we make good fuck buddies. But I don’t know if there’s room for more.”