Brim Over Boot (The Darling Brothers, #2)

by Emmy Sanders

At thirty-eight, very

Noah 38 Colton 37

I don’t mind ASL over voice one bit, and Remi prefers the former.

🩵

I barely even register Noah signing, ‘Sorry,’ to my brother.

Sweet man learned some ASL for someone in his small town

Taller than me by an inch or so but bulkier by a good bit. The edgy cut to his dark brown hair—shaved at the sides but long on top—furthers the tough guy persona. As do the tattoos snaking out from under the collar of his shirt.

The hair cut! 😝

A horse’s hoof grows the same way as human fingernails. The horseshoe prevents it from wearing down naturally as it would in the wild. That’s where the farrier comes in, among a good many other duties. We trim down the excess hoof, both the sole and the outer walls, and reaffix the metal shoe that strengthens and protects the workhorse’s hooves. They’d wear far too quickly without it, causing more harm than good for the horse. It’s a painless process, assuming the horse has no hoof injuries that need tending to. The horseshoe can help with that, too.

Just fun facts

I probably shouldn’t have shoved him, but I can’t find it in me to regret it.

I was there and he was being an ass

Colton Darling, friend to everyone in town but me, with his pretty boy looks and windswept hair, the dark stubble, and those piercing blue eyes women like Sierra seem to love. I hate blue.

He is such an ass to you but come on don’t be lying

“Why would I know that?” “I dunno,” Remi mumbles, almost too quietly for me to hear. “Maybe because you’re obsessed with the guy?”

Let em know Remi

But Remington is watching for my response, too, and I don’t want to be rude to the guy just because his brother is a superb pain in my ass.

That’s nice :) there is never a reason to be mean to Remi

“When I win,” I say, hardly able to believe the words coming out of my mouth, “I want something else. Something more than bragging rights.” Colton waves his hand in the air as if to say go on. My grin is a slow thing. “I want my name tattooed on your ass.”

Fun!

Colton makes to shove my shoulder again, so I spin him into the truck at our sides. One second, there’s Colton’s shocked expression mixed with a small wince of pain, and then my mouth is shutting the man up. I feel triumphant. Giddy even, to have found a way to render Colton absolutely speechless. There’s no talking with my lips pressed so firmly against his, the force of my attack bruising.

Whaaaaat?! Honestly didn’t see that coming

I have never, not once, been interested in a man. Never kissed one or even wanted to. And of all the men in the world I could have chosen to kiss, hate-fueled or otherwise, it just had to be Colton goddamn Darling.

Double awakening?

I growl, slapping the papers down and shutting the box. See? I clearly hate the guy. That hasn’t changed. Won’t ever change.

Riiight right right. You keep all his adds and achievements in a box because you hate 😉 him

“Nah, nah, none of that,” he says. The horse is probably nibbling on him, as they like to do. “There you go. Yep. That’s a good boy.” My head whips up so fast I nail it on the metal hay feeder attached to the wall.

lol 😆

Jackson scowls, and Ash laughs, reaching up to pull my brother down into a quick kiss. It’s so cute I want to fling myself into the fire.

They make me feel violent as well they are so great

“Um,” Remi starts, “why would you be kneel—”

Yess remi. Ask the hard questions!

But it was Noah. And that’s the one piece of the equation I did not like. The asshole made me beg.

YEAH he did!

“Because,” he says, stopping long enough to nip the shell of my ear, “I like having your reins in my hand, little Colt. Tell me. If I tug, will you come to heel?”

👀 What happened? I left my body for a moment

“Let me rephrase that,” I say at a rumble, bringing my lips close to his ear. “Come out back with me. Because I’m dying to make you keen, little Colt, and I won’t do it with an audience.”

Ah! Im scampering around this is sickening 🗣️😭🤢

“All right,” I mutter, grabbing Colton’s arm and bending down. I maneuver him over my shoulder, much to his verbal shock. “The fuck,” he croaks. “Noah. What the ever-loving fuck?” “I warned you,” I answer, weaving through the dense crowd at the edge of the room, folks stepping aside easily with amused eyes as I haul Colton toward the back hall.

Un.well.

“Such a quick learner,”

passed out

“Hate your hair,” he mumbles,

Everyone here knows his hair is hot as hell so dont even

baby.”

Bingo

He’s talking to Louise Harper at the front counter of her sandwich shop, a smile on his face. The same smile he wears anytime he’s talking to anyone and everyone who’s not me.

Dont fret it bb

Colt: I did like it. Just not you. Well, don’t I feel the love. Me: Keep talking like that, little Colt, and I’ll put you on your back the next time I see you.

🤒hello?!

Colt: And you can’t say shit like that. Colt: Jesus. A smile curls my lips. Me: Would you rather I put you on your front instead? I can practically hear Colton’s outrage, and I chuckle to myself. Am I an asshole for provoking him? Probably. But he still hasn’t told me to stop. Colt: You’re such a dick. Me: If you want my dick, Colt, baby, all you have to do is ask.

All 👏🏼u 👏🏼have 👏🏼to 👏🏼do 👏🏼is 👏🏼ask 👏🏼

At least it doesn’t mean anything. He has to know that.

I did a poll around the room and no one is believing that

The only problem with that is I’m not nearly done with the man. I want the pleasure of seeing Colton down on his knees.

🙋🏻‍♀️ I also want that And I asked Jordan 🙋🏻‍♀️ she said she also wants that

take off my boots while on the porch, carrying them to the mudroom to deal with later. And then I practically sprint past the carrot-free kitchen—I checked—and race up the stairs.

🥕 👀

leaving on my shirt and socks so I don’t get cold.

No that’s weird

🫢

He whistles lowly. “It’s stunning.”

Stunnin

“This is Clementine,” I tell him, opening the small kit. “My horse. Clem, this is that asshole Noah King I was telling you about.”

Ohhhh so you talk about him

“Wait… You expect me to ride with you on that horse?” he asks.

Pleeease!

Well noah you’re adjusting to this situation well

“No,” I say, a surge of perverse courage making me add, “Just wondering when you’re finally going to make use of it.” Noah goes still apart from the flexing of his fingers. “Is that so?” Oh, fuck. That voice. Part of me wonders what the fuck I’m doing, but it doesn’t stop my words from spilling free. “You keep threatening to put me on my knees,” I point out, my pulse thrumming wildly as I lead Clementine around a bend in the trail. “But so far, that’s all it is. A threat.”

Clem right now: 👀

Yesss!!! Give in!!!

A few people stare as Colton and I rush past. Colton waves to a couple of the workers, but he doesn’t stop.

Did yall tell jackson and ash that you found the rest of the clues?

I look over in time to see Jackson and Ashley sprinting toward the chest from our right. It seems impossible that they’d have the clues necessary to collect the prize, but there’s no mistaking their goal.

Oh so are not working together!

as he removes his pants and underwear, his socks, the bandage around his hand, and lastly, his shirt.

The shirt being last is a bold choice

He shuts and locks the door behind us, flicking on a floor lamp before walking back my way.

Not using the overhead lighting?!? That is hot.

The WHOLE time?!? The whole time....

Yeah. Yes. Yep. Uh huh. Yeah

I let out a whooshing breath. Fuck. Just say it. “Turns out… Uh. I’m bi. Bisexual.” There’s a beat of silence in which Remi squeezes my arm again, and then Jackson grunts, nodding as if he expected as much. What now? “Colton dear,” my mom says, her hand going to her chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. I thought you might be dying.” “No, uh, just bi,” I answer, a little dumbfounded.

Love this family

But I couldn’t have asked for a better family by my side.

“Pure accident,” I say, finally plucking my queen off the board and moving her three spaces over. “I kissed him on accident.” My uncle barks a laugh. “Must’ve been one hell of an accidental kiss.” I let out a laugh. That it was.

I was there and he was shocked

could always drag you there myself,” he says, eyes glimmering with a hopeful edge. “Do you like reminding me you’re bigger than me?” I ask, even though I’ve come to realize that’s not it at all. “No,” he says simply. “What I like is when you let me prove just how much I want you. And how far I’ll go to have you.”

Damn.

“Do you like carrots?” he asks. “What?” I nearly squeak. He can’t possibly know about the…carrot incident, right?

He doesn’t but I’ll never forget

“Has Remi always been Deaf?” I ask Colton, the two of us out behind my house, sun beating down our backs as we work on the garden. I hand him another clump of bellflowers,

What about last night? Did we just skip last night? We had big plans!

“But it was pretty obvious, even early on, that Remi wasn’t the biggest fan of his implant. It’s why we all learned ASL. As our mom said, the least we could do was learn Remi’s language, the same as he was learning ours. That always stuck with me.”