Hank lifted a shoulder. “If you must.” He hesitated, then tilted his head. “Does Noah know you’re out here?”
I shrugged back.
Because I already knew what Noah would do if he found me out here alone.
Maybe I wanted to delay that moment a little longer.
I heard another set of footsteps.
“There you are!” Noah’s voice rang out. He strode toward me, his hands on his hips. “Geez, Blue Storm. You’re sweaty.”
“That’s what happens when you work hard, Noah,” Hank muttered, already distancing himself from whatever was about to happen.
Noah ignored him, his focus locked on me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a bit venty.”
“Venty?”
“You know, failing to vent about what happened at the rink.”
He gave me a once-over. “Well, you don’t look good. You don’t smell good.” Before I could protest, he grabbed my wrist. “Come with me.”
I barely had time to react before he tugged me toward the outdoor wash area, the place meant for cleaning up after long days or hosing down the horses.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Then I saw it.
The hose in his hand.
I took a step back. “Don’t you dare.”
Too late.
A blast of freezing water hit me square in the chest.
I let out a shriek, stumbling back as laughter erupted from him.
“Oh, you think that’s funny?” I lunged for my own hose, fumbling with the nozzle before whipping it in his direction.
“Maya!” Noah threw an arm up to shield his face.
“That’s what you get, cowboy!” I turned the pressure up, aiming straight for his stomach.
Across the way, Hank groaned. “First your brother, now you?”
I glanced over my shoulder to find him standing there, looking like a man who had witnessed too much romance for one lifetime.
Noah just smirked, shaking the water from his hair. “You’re just mad ‘cause no one’s sprayin’ you down, Hank.”
The ranch foreman snorted. “That’s the way I like it.” Then he turned to the rest of the hands, who had just come back from the fields. “Alright, boys, let’s clear out before we all drown.”
The others took his advice, dispersing with chuckles and muttered bets on who would win the hose war.
I turned back to Noah, still breathless from laughing and from the unexpected thrill of something so easy.
I had thought if he found me out here, he’d lecture me. Maybe wrap me in one of those hugs that made my guilt press harder.
