“Fuck you.” I reached out a hand for Noah. “Come on.”
Noah took my hand easily and followed me out the door, not looking back.
*
I felt sick as I led Noah down the lighted stairs to Adam’s office where Adam stood waiting. He gestured us inside and shut the door.
“Sit down. We need to talk about what happened.”
Noah sat quickly and I took the remaining chair, removing my hat.
“I’m so sorry, Adam. Luke said he’d cleared the whole thing with you, but I should have known he was lying,” I said, feeling terrible. Noah looked like he might start crying again. The anger I felt toward Luke was building, made worse by the situation he’d put Noah in.
Adam stared at me as I worried the brim of my hat with my fingers. He smiled, placing his hands into a triangle, elbows on the desk. His voice, when he spoke, was calm.
“Jensen. You’ve only been here a few weeks.”
“Still. I should have realized.” I felt like an idiot to have fallen for Luke’s lie.
“I don’t blame you,” Adam said. “Luke is very…persuasive.”
Adam turned to Noah. “And I don’t blame you either, Noah. Your behavior in the bunkhouse and the stables is exemplary, and I realize Luke has a deep influence on you.”
“What are you going to do?” Noah asked. “You’re not going to kick him out… Please, don’t kick him off the ranch.”
Adam shook his head. “I don’t really believe leaving would be the best thing for Luke, Noah. Don’t worry.”
Much of the tension drained from Noah and he slumped in his chair. “Okay.”
“But I do have to punish him. You know that.”
Noah nodded. “Yeah.”
“Did you think for even one minute he might have been lying? You know I don’t lend out my room on a regular basis. Or ever?”
Noah nodded. “I wondered. But he reassured me he had asked you, and you’d said we could use your room. I did feel weird about being there, at first.”
“But Luke was pulling you along, and you’re interested in Jensen, aren’t you?”
Noah glanced at me and blushed. “Yes.”
“Honestly, if you three weren’t all over my stuff I’d be happy you’re all getting along in such an…intimate way. I want you to understand I don’t have a problem with the three of you being together like that. I have a problem with you all being in my room. On my sheets.” He eyed them meaningfully. “And in my bathtub?”
We nodded.
“Uh-huh. I should have had a regular tub put in. It wouldn’t have been so tempting.”
I swallowed. “You have a really nice bathtub, Sir.”
Adam nodded, resigned. “Did he use my bubble bath too?”
“Yeah,” Noah said.
Suddenly, Adam laughed. He collapsed against the back of his chair and let the tension out, laughing softly. “God, I am going to kill him one of these days. Or haul him over my lap and spank the shit out of him. Except he’d probably enjoy a spanking. Anyway, I’m sure Kamal will start polishing the wood paddle when I tell him what Luke did this time.”
“This time?” I said.
“Ah, Jensen, you may have become aware Luke is our resident troublemaker. He’s been in hot water before.” Adam gave them a weak smile. “But never in my bathtub. This is a first.”
