Page 31 of Mountain Pine
“He’s such an attention whore,” Bennet sighs.
“And you’re not?” I dunk Bennet under the water.
We splash and carry on and I laugh for the first time in forever. We forget our cell cameras are rolling and just be ourselves. No posing. No edits. Just us. The tightness in my chest almost eases. At least my head isn’t pounding anymore.
A good cold-water dunk cures a lot of things.
“I think I’m going to head south,” I say asnonchalantly as possible when we head back to our seats.
“South?” Nick runs a hand through his wet hair. “What’s south?”
“Don’t know.”
They probably think I’m crazy.
“For how long?”
I glance at Nick and shrug. “Not sure.”
“You can’t leave,” he argues.
“You sound like Russel.” I pull on my cargo pants. “He said I couldn’t quit either.”
“He’s right, you can’t.”
Fury rushes through me. “You know, I’m getting sick and tired of taking orders from everyone. It’s time I do what I want.”
“Then going South isn’t the right direction to do what you want,” Bennet chimes. “Going to Taylor’s is.”
My heart stops and my headache returns. So much for having fun.
“Taylor’s is thelastplace I should go to. She probably never wants to see me again.”
“Oh, come on, man.” Nick balls his shirt up and throws it at me. “She’s worried sick.”
My belly clenches with guilt. “She knows I can take care of myself.”
“She also knows you tried to resign. And that you turned your location off for her, andonlyher, really has her crystals in a twist.”
“She’ll get over it.”
When I left my house to disappear, my emotions shut down. I’m not ready to turn them back on yet, so this feeling in my gut needs to go away or I’m going to lose my shit. “I think I need therapy again.”
Neither of them object nor confirm.
Nick pokes the fish cooking over the fire. “You need to be honest with her.”
“And say what?”
“I love you, Taylor. I’m crazy about you, Taylor. You’re the only one for me and that’s why I’m such a Rottweiler.”
“A Rottweiler? The fuck’s that mean?”
“You know. A guard dog.” Nick adds another log to the fire. “All vicious and ferocious and aggressive when it comes to protecting their girl.”
“Is that a thing?” I ask Bennet. “Or did he swallow too much water?”
“It’s a thing.”
