Page 66 of Brim Over Boot
“You sign up for that treasure hunt in a couple weeks?” my uncle asks, ignoring his bacon in favor of his eggs.
“Not yet, but I figure I might. It’s for a good cause.”
“Looks like fun, too. And Lord knows—”
“I could use a little more fun in my life,” I fill in, deadpan. “Yes, I’m well aware of your feelings on the matter.”
My uncle mumbles something that sounds likestubborn boy, and I shake my head.
Guess we’ve got that in common.
I leave Walter with a freshly cleaned kitchen and the morning paper as I head out for work. I’m scheduled to shoe Marie’s temporary horses again today, which means there’s a good chance I’ll run into a certain farrier who’s been radio silent for the past week. Not that I expected another call after that…unexpected conversation we had. But the man has been mysteriously absent, as if in hiding.
I wouldn’t put it past him.
Marie isn’t inside the spacious arena when I arrive, nor the adjoining stables, but I prepare an area and set to work, knowing the ropes by now. I’m on my second horse when the door at the end of the hall opens.
I don’t even have to look up to know who it is. I can feel the shift in the air. The quiet tension as Colton walks forward, his footsteps heavy.
“Morning,” I say just as he’s passing.
He falters for only a second, but then he keeps on, grunting out what I assume to be his form of a greeting. His bag thunks lightly to the ground, some rustling following.
“Sleep all right?” I ask.
Absolute silence.
I look over my shoulder in time to see Colton’s gaze darting away. He finishes taking off his jacket, draping it over a hook on the wall. “Fine.”
The color on his cheeks has me smirking to myself. “No more midnight…distractions?”
His gaze whips my way. “What? No. None of your business.”
I hum, going back to clipping my horse’s hoof. After a moment, I add, “’Cause if you needed a hand—”
“I donotneed your hand,” Colton says hotly, slapping his chaps into place. He starts loading tools into the pockets, huffing as I chuckle. “Why are you like this? Why are you fucking with me?”
“Do I really needa spell it out?” I ask, grabbing my rasp.
Finally, Colton says, “Yes. I think you do. Because I can not, for the life of me, figure out what’s going on here, Noah.”
The sincerity in his voice has me setting down my horse’s hoof and standing upright. Colton has his hands on his hips, his jaw set and lips in a straight line, but the fire in his eyes is dimmer than usual. Only a flicker.
I’ve known all these years that Colton was hiding a side of himself from me. I could see it in the way he talked to others. In the smile he never aimed my way. Iknewthere was kindness in him somewhere. That kindness just didn’t extend to me.
What I didn’t realize until recently is that Colton is also vulnerable. He’s so quick to snap and snarl, but the man who melted at my fingertips inside my barn and trembled against me outside the club… The one who fell apart on a phone call he could have ended at any time if he wanted… He’s fragile in a way I never expected of town golden boy Colton Darling.
I wonder ifanybodysees this side of him. Anybody but me.
I can pretend I want to fuck with the man all I want. Hell, even the prospect of it has me smirking to myself. But the truth is there’s something else that keeps me coming back, and it’s not Colton’s vitriol.
“Maybe I like seeing that flush on your cheeks when you’re angry,” I tell him. “Not to mention when you’re turned on. Maybe I like making you fall apart.”
His chest rises and falls in a big, swooping breath. “Why?”
“Because you let me.”
His eyes rove over my face, as if searching for answers. “I don’t…”
