“Sorry. I snore.”
“I’m pretty sure it was moaning I heard, like Trey said.” Luke sat on the edge of my mattress. He was wearing a pair of grey sweats and a black T-shirt. His feet were bare.
He looked around to see if anyone was near. Noah’s bunk and the one above had been neatly made, and their owners were nowhere to be seen.
His eyes returned to mine with a mischievous glint. “What were you dreaming about, cowboy?”
Heat flushed my cheeks and my cock twitched. “Nothing.”
Our eyes held for a long moment. Then Luke’s gaze flicked down to my crotch and back up. “You want me to take care of that for you?” he whispered.
I coughed, unprepared for Luke to say anything so direct. I wished we were alone so I could say yes.
“Uh, not right now.” I glanced toward the other end of the bunkhouse where the men were moving around, getting dressed, etc. “I’m not much of an exhibitionist.”
Luke smiled and licked his lips. “What a shame. Because I am. In fact, you’ll find most of us ponyboys are. I guess that’s why we’re here, right?”
My chest rose and fell with my breaths, and now I wanted Luke to leave so I could get my body under control. “I guess.”
Luke stood up and covered me with the blankets again. “Don’t be too long. You don’t want to be late on your first day.”
Chapter Six
The grooming barn sat about thirty meters away from the arena, slightly smaller but painted the same bright-red color. All the buildings were so clean and new. They looked like horse barns but with no smell of hay or manure, or animal. It was taking me a long time to acclimate.
When I got to the nearest door, I grabbed the metal handle and pulled. Three of the men from the bunkhouse were right there, in the act of undressing.
“Wrong door, cowboy,” Trey said.
Noah regarded me with an indulgent smile. “Stable hands go in the other entrance. Marked door’s around back.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, flustered, trying not to stare at Noah. God, he was cute.
I closed the door. Only then did I see it was marked PONIES. Would I ever get used to this place?
The other door marked STAFF was around the other side of the building. God, I could be such an idiot. I took a deep breath, and pushed this door open a little warily, in case I came upon anything else unexpected.
This side of the grooming barn looked spacious and airy, with wide polished pine boards over most of the floor. There was a tiled section at the far end with three evenly spaced showerheads and a narrow doorway to the changing area I’d unwittingly stumbled upon earlier.
As I stood there, taking this in, Callum came through the doorway completely naked and walked calmly to stand beneath a showerhead. He winked at me before crossing his hands behind his back and inclining his head. Although I’d expected this to happen, the sight of a naked man in my vicinity was a shock to the senses.
“Good morning, Jensen.”
I tore my gaze from the naked man in the shower stall and met that of Liv, whose eyes sparkled with amusement. She leaned against the corner of a broad table, dressed in black leggings, flip flops and a tank top. “Did you sleep well in a bunkhouse full of barely contained testosterone?”
I removed my hat politely, rubbing the edge of the brim with nervous fingers. I nodded. “As well as can be expected, I guess.”
Liv grinned. “Yeah. I’m happy I get to miss all the shenanigans and dick jokes. They’re much better behaved here.”
I tried to concentrate on Liv as Trey and Noah came through the doorway, also naked. Noah shot me a sweet smile before putting himself in place.
“They’re such good ponyboys,” Liv cooed.
They sure were pretty. The Braided Crop Ranch knew how to pick attractive men to play ponyboy; that was for damn sure. The BCR wanted to attract paying guests to watch the spectacle and their ponyboys needed to be fit and healthy in order to fulfill the physical demands of performing. Whatever the performances entailed, they would probably be similar to a regular horse show. Running, jumping, pulling carts etc.
I decided I should stop trying to imagine the ponyboys I knew doing those things.
“You can put your hat on the table there. Your jeans are fine for today, but you’ll probably want to wear some shorts and flip-flops when you’re here. I can guarantee you’re going to get a little wet and more than a little dirty. And though it’s air-conditioned in here, it gets hot when we’re working.”
