Mountain Pine (Mountain Men Thirst Trap #2)

Chapter 1

Taylor

Senior Year of High School

“I’m going to do it with him.”

My cousin Carly looks up from painting her toes. “Do what with whom?”

“I’m going to kiss Conner.”

She quickly twists the cap back onto the polish bottle as she gawks at me. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. No.” My stomach hurts. “I mean… I don’t know.”

Crap. Maybe I shouldn’t. It’s dumb. I’m dumb. This whole idea is dumb.

But what if?

That’s all I keep thinking. What if? That question is the white rabbit I’m afraid I’ll always chase. It’s time to just capture it and find out.

What if he kisses me back?

What if he laughs in my face?

What if he pushes me away?

What if he never talks to me again?

What if he loves me too and is scared to admit it?

What if he hates me for crossing the friendship line?

What if…

“I have an idea,” Carly says, her eyes wild with excitement.

Oh no. Whenever Carly has an idea, it usually ends with someone getting grounded or needing stitches. “What is it?”

“Do the kiss your best friend trend!”

My heart pounds in my throat. “What’s that?”

“Look.” She pulls out her cell and quickly types something. We both stare down at her screen and watch reel after reel of best friends kissing each other with the hashtag, RuinOurFriendship.

Yikes.

“I don’t want to ruin my friendship with Conner.” The thought of that being a possibility has me backpedaling fast.

“The only thing that’ll be ruined are his pants when he creams in them from your kiss.” Carly pushes me playfully. “Seriously, Taylor. He’s crazy for you.”

“No, he’s not.” I’m not that lucky.

“He stares at you all the time.”

“Probably because I have food in my teeth.”

“He got a job working for your dad.”

“What’s that got to do with me? He needs money. Dad needs help.”

Carly rolls her eyes. “You’re clueless, girl.”

I keep watching the videos, and the one that has my heart all bubbly and fizzy is where the guy pauses, looks shocked, and then grabs the back of his best friend’s head and kisses her again. He looks like he’s been dying to kiss her for his whole life, and she’s finally snapped his leash.

My mouth dries up.

What if Conner doesn’t kiss me back like that?

“What if I ruin our friendship?”

“You won’t.” Carly closes the app and tosses her phone onto the bed. “If he rejects you, just laugh it off and say it’s for a trend.”

Laugh off the humiliation. Laugh off my heart breaking. Lie and say it’s a trend, not the biggest moment of my life and all I’ve wanted since middle school.

High school graduation is in two weeks, and I just feel like there’s this weird urgency to do something big. Toss all my hopes up in the sky and see if they stick.

Kiss Conner and see if the next chapter of my life will be as exciting as everyone else’s.

“Okay.” My cheeks are already growing numb. “I can do this.”

“Damn right, you can.”

“I’m going to do this.”

“Hell yeah, you are.”

“He’ll be here soon.”

Carly’s mouth drops. “Wait. You mean tonight? You’re going to do this now?”

I freeze. “Do you think I should wait?”

“N-n-no,” she stutters as if in shock. “I mean, there’s no time like the present, right? I just didn’t realize he was coming over tonight.”

“Just for a minute. My dad needs to talk to him about some project of theirs.”

“Wow. Okay, then.”

I stare at my cousin and I’m pretty sure I’m going to pass out.

“I need some extra power for this.” Rushing to my windowsill, I grab the best crystals for the job.

“Tourmalinated quartz clears barriers and maximizes the potential for success. Jade for sure, since that brings luck in love. And…” I run my hand across the line-up of rocks I’ve collected most of my life. “Aventurine for taking chances.”

“Whatever it takes, girl.”

“Is three enough?” It doesn’t feel like enough. I think I’m going to need a dump truck filled with crystals to power me through this bad idea.

“You’re making too big a deal out of this, Taylor. Just be yourself.”

I’m already being myself as I tuck the little rocks into my bra. “How’s this?”

“Your tits are all lumpy.” Carly shrugs. “He won’t care.”

Nope. He won’t. I’m always shoving rocks in my bra, and no one ever says a word about it. Okay, no one in my friend group says a word about it. Everyone else in town? They can kiss my ass.

I’ve been dubbed a freak and a witch. It’s fine. The judgy looks and stupid rumors only hurt my feelings when I let them.

The distinct hum of Conner’s muffler fills my ears. My eyes widen. “He’s here.”

“Good. Now be chill. Remember, this is no big deal.” Carly hugs me and leaves.

From my bedroom window, I watch Conner pull up. Nick and Bennet are with him, but stay in the truck. Con’s wearing jeans, a navy-blue T-shirt, and a baseball hat that’s fraying around the rim. How does he always look so hot without even trying?

As if sensing being watched, Conner glances up at my bedroom window and smiles at me.

I duck down like a dumbass.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

You know what? This is ridiculous. I have no clue why I’ve suddenly turned into this girl. Conner is my best friend. We’ve literally slept in the same bed before. He’s carried my tampons in his pocket, for crying out loud. A kiss is nothing.

Or it could be everything.

Shit. Maybe I should wait. What am I even thinking? This is a huge mistake. One I need to back off of before I screw up a perfect friendship.

But what if?

Carly dashes outside, I assume, to distract Nick and Bennet. Or maybe she’s just trying to avoid our moms who keep trying to make us play rummy with them.

Conner hops up my porch and opens the front door. My blood swishing in my ears drowns out Dad’s low rumble as he talks to him. For the next however many minutes I stand like a statue in my room freaking out on the inside.

Then there’s the bump, bump, bump of Conner’s boots hitting my steps as he comes up to my room.

He knocks on my door.

I panic, grab my phone, and sit on the corner of my bed. “Yeah?”

Conner pops his head in. His smile makes my heart race. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I say, all nervous. My hands are shaking so I fold them across my chest, which makes my nearly non-existent boobs clack because of the rocks.

“Whatcha got in there tonight?” he asks, pointing at my tits.

My cheeks flare. “Just some good luck.”

“Oh.” He doesn’t look remotely surprised by my answer. “Which rocks are good for luck?”

“Jade’s pretty great.”

“Cool.” He looks around my room and picks up the ocean jasper I keep next to my bed. “We’re going to have a bonfire up at Dean’s tonight. Wanna come?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Grab a jacket.”

“Okay.” I rush over to my closet, grab a hoodie, and accidentally crack my head on the edge of my closet door when I close it. “Ouch.”

“Holy shit.” He’s on me in a flash. “Are you okay?”

No. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“The hell you are. Here, let me see.” He swipes my bangs away and whistles. “You’re going to have a bump from that.”

I go for it.

I panic and go for it.

I kiss him.

Conner

The minute Taylor’s mouth hits mine, I swear my body blows into pieces.

I push her away so fast, it’s more reflex than desire.

I…

I push her away.

I push. Her. Away.

My lungs are robbed of breath. My ears are swishing. I think I’m going to throw up.

“Sorry!” she says quickly, wiping her mouth.

“What the fuck, Taylor?”

Is she trying to get me fired? Or worse, kill our friendship?

At the very least, she’s playing with my heart, which is fragile enough as it is.

I swear, if Dean told her what I shared with him last week, I’m going to kill him.

“It was just a trend.” She quickly says and crosses her arms. One of her rocks falls out of her bra. It clunks to the floor between our feet, and I stare at it because I can’t look at her yet.

If I do, I might give in to my wildest fantasies and kiss her.

Kiss her hard and good and make her wish she could fuse herself to me for life.

Kiss her like I think about doing every time we’re together and all the times we’re not.

But it’s her confession that has me frozen in place. “A trend?”

“Yeah.” She laughs it off like she didn’t just squeeze the shit out of my heart that’s had her name written on it since I was five years old. “A trend. You know, the kiss your best friend trend.”

Her hands shake as she pulls out her cell and brings up a video.

I don’t even bother to look at it. I’m so hurt and confused and humiliated I can’t function right.

A trend.

A fucking trend.

I really hate social media. Hear me now and hear me good, I’ll never get sucked into that shit. Especially not for stupid things like trends.

“Oh.” That’s all that pops out of my mouth at this point.

What else can I say? She’s all flustered and embarrassed, and so am I. This is awkward, and I’m not willing to lose my best friend status with Taylor over a stupid trend that has my heart aching.

Besides, the video playing on repeat shows the guy doing the exact thing I just did. He’s pushing his bestie away, and they laugh it off.

So, I laugh too. “Come on,” I say, swallowing my dignity and tapping her shoulder. “Dean’s waiting for us.”

“I uh. I just need a… a minute.”

“Meet you downstairs.” Keeping my head down, I storm out of her room and freeze at the top of the staircase.

I should just do it. Go back in there and kiss the hell out of her. Tell her to screw the trend, because I want something real and she’s the only girl I’ve ever loved.

I take a step back.

I’m going to do it.

It’s now or never.

Busting a U-turn, I head back into Taylor’s bedroom only to find her wiping her cheeks.

Shit. Is she crying? That bump on her head is pretty big already. It’s gotta hurt like a bitch. Damn, what a piece of shit I am. How can I be thinking of kissing her when she’s injured? I’m such an asshole.

Closing the space between us, I go into fix-it mode. “We need to put ice on it.”

“On what?”

“Your head.”

“It’s fine.” She bats my hand away when I try to look at it again.

Why is she mad? I didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone should be pissed here, it’s me. I just got my heart crushed over a fucking social media trend.

But she looks upset, not hurt. Like it’s her feelings, not the golf ball on her head, that’s got her all jumbled up right now. Holy crap, what if that stupid trend somehow just screwed us?

“We’re good, right, Taylor?”

“Yeah. Absolutely. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“I don’t know. You seem… mad.”

“I’m not mad.” She gets all red and flustered. Which means she’s definitely mad. “You’re being weird.”

Okay. Whatever. “Did you hear back about that diner job today?”

“Yeah.” Her voice is all high-pitched and fake-chirpy. “I got it.”

“The rocks worked then, huh?”

“What?”

“The rocks.” I point at her tits. “Your good luck crystals worked.”

“Yup.” She reaches in and scoops them out. They clack together when she tosses them on her bed. Then she grabs my arm and leads me out of her bedroom. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Her grip is crazy tight on me as she yanks me towards the stairs. I want to rip out of her hold because I’d rather she grabs the banister to keep from falling. But I don’t. Instead, I get ahead of her and go down backwards, keeping my other hand close to her waist and guiding her down.

“What are you doing, Conner?”

“Making sure you’re not so concussed that you fall down the steps.”

“I’m fine.”

“Debatable.”

She rolls her eyes, and we hit the bottom and head to the front door instead of the kitchen where her mom and aunt are playing cards.

“See you tomorrow morning bright and early, Conner,” her father—my boss—calls out from the living room.

“Yes, sir!”

“Taylor, be home by midnight.”

“I’m spending the night at Carly’s!” she yells, then slams the door shut before her parents have a chance to say no.

“Are you really?” I ask as we make our way to my truck.

“Hell no. But Aunt Rachel will probably crash here in the spare bedroom because she and Mom are already two bottles deep.”

“So, you’re spending the night with us at Dean’s again?”

“Duh.”

I laugh and open the back door for her to climb into my old beater truck. Then I dig through the packed cooler in my trunk and grab an ice pack. “Here,” I say, gently pressing it to her forehead. “Keep that on there until we get to Dean’s.”

“What happened to you?” Nick asks, looking back at her with concern.

“She cracked her head on her closet door,” I explain while Taylor slides into the backseat.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Carly groans next to her.

I shut the door and make my way over to the driver’s side. By the time we get to Dean’s, it’s like what happened in Taylor’s room was a fever dream. She never brings it up again, and neither do I.

But our friendship-zone becomes a fortress nothing can penetrate from that day forward…

No matter how badly I want to use napalm and blow it up.