“If you play your cards right,” Trey winked. “You’re awfully cute. Are you a real cowboy?”
“Well I—”
“If I heard correctly, he thought we’d be real horses. Right?”
I wondered for a second if I should deny this fact. But I hated lying, and what Trey said was the truth. I shrugged. “Yeah, I did. Thought I’d be mucking stalls and shoveling horseshit.”
Hunter closed his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to look at me. “Stop it, you tease. You’re making me hard.”
“I’m sure Hunter wouldn’t mind being treated like a real horse. Likes to be ridden hard, anyway.”
“Jesus Christ,” I said.
Hunter opened his eyes and stared at me with some intensity. “True, I’m afraid. I’m a sucker for cowboys. You put the hat on, I’ll let you do anything you want to me.”
I stared at him, wondering if he was serious. When Hunter’s deadpan expression suddenly vanished, and he erupted into loud laughter, I had my answer.
“Stop teasing the poor kid, H.”
“Where the hell is Luke, anyway?” Trey asked.
Hunter stood up, gazing down with affection and good humor at me. He winked, and I didn’t feel the least bit offended.
“Kamal kept him in for some extra attention.”
“Yeah, I bet. Luke’s been pushing all his buttons lately.”
“That ponyboy is gonna get seriously boned by Kamal if he doesn’t watch his sass. A guy can only take so much.”
“No way. Kamal knows he can’t fuck Luke. He can do everything else though. Over and over and over again until Luke’s a quivering, shaking mess. Which is exactly what Luke wants.”
Hunter nodded. “You should have seen Luke looking at this cowboy earlier. Like he wanted to eat him for dinner.”
Trey laughed and gazed at me. “Well, kid, you better hope Kamal wears him out before he comes back here. We can’t be responsible for Luke once he takes a liking to someone.”
Hunter snorted. “Very funny. You’re gonna scare the kid.”
“I’m not a goddamned kid,” I said, feeling awake now and overcome with indignation. “I’m fucking twenty-five years old. And I can look after myself, thank you very much,” I said, standing up from my spot on the bunk, forcing the men to move back and give me some space. “And I can look after all of you too. Taking care of you is my job, right?”
“Oh, fuck, I hope so,” said a short guy with a goatee, wearing a Sex Pistols T-shirt. “You look like you could give me one hell of a rub-down. Especially if you’re used to grooming horses.”
The door opened and someone came in. The group of men turned to look.
“Oh, hey, Adrian. Have you met the new stable hand?” Hunter asked, moving back so the man named Adrian could come forward. “This is Jensen… Oh shit, I don’t know your last name,” he said, the teasing tone gone as he tried to introduce me properly.
“Moriarty. Jensen Moriarty,” I said.
Adrian, a tall man in sweatpants, runners, and a tank top, who looked like he’d just got back from a run, came close and extended his hand. “Good to meet you, Jensen. I’m Adrian. You’ll be working with me and Enzo next week once Brian trains you on the day shift. These guys treating you okay? Let me know if they get out of hand. They can be a bit much before they get to know you.”
I nodded, trying to act like I attracted this much attention on a regular day. “Nice to meet you. It’s fine. They’re fine.”
Trey whistled. “Did you hear what he said? No truer word was ever spoken. We are fine! We are so fine!” He sashayed past me and headed up the ladder to the loft area, followed by the guy with the Sex Pistols shirt and goatee. The rest of the men dispersed to their own bunks, leaving Adrian and me together.
“So, how are you finding things? Did they get you working yet?”
“Not yet. I think I start tomorrow morning? I’m supposed to go to the main house for supper at six.”
“Yeah, everyone eats there. Except the suckers who are on the night shift. Which is me this week and next. We bring something to the barn and take our half hour break in the middle of the shift.”
