Looking For Love

Twenty-year-old Nick Macguire could barely keep the smile off his face as his truck climbed the narrow road into Mountain Springs.

The forest reserve stretched around them in every direction, huge and green and old enough to make the towns behind them feel farther away than they really were. The paved road had thinned out miles ago, trading traffic lights and storefronts for leaning pines, sharp bends, and wooden signs half-hidden by branches. Sunlight broke through the canopy in uneven flashes, scattering across the windshield and the hood of Nick’s car as if the trees were trying to warn them they were leaving normal life behind.

He did not mind that feeling. Actually, he loved it.

With his window rolled halfway down, the warm spring air rushed in and tugged at his short, light brown hair. It smelled like pine needles, lake water, and the dusty heat of a road that had spent all morning baking under the sun. Somewhere beyond the trees, he knew Ironwood Lake was waiting, wide and bright and cold enough to make the first dive hurt. The thought of it only made him press his foot a little more firmly against the gas.

Two weeks away from school. Two weeks without homework, teachers, alarms, or parents hovering nearby. Two weeks at Cass Parsons’s family cabin with almost everyone he cared about packed into three cars behind and ahead of him.

For a town like Mountain Springs, spring break already felt like a small miracle. Most schools only gave students a week. Mountain Springs was one of the rare places that stretched it to two, and Nick had always thought that was the kind of thing adults probably did by accident, and students were smart enough not to question. This year, his friends had decided to take full advantage of it.

There had been some resistance, of course. No parent heard the words secluded cabin in the woods and immediately said yes. Lilly, Noah, and Leah’s parents had been especially unsure about the idea of letting a dozen teenagers run loose at a cabin without supervision. It only became possible after Nick and Jayden promised that their older sisters would be there too. Sam and Haley were twenty-two, responsible enough on paper, and that had apparently been enough to calm Jayden’s parents down.

Nick glanced at the passenger seat.

Sam Macguire was not exactly giving off responsible adult energy at the moment.

His older sister was asleep with her head tilted toward the window, one arm folded against her stomach and the other resting limply in her lap. Every now and then, the wind pushed a loose strand of her long, wavy dark brown hair across her face, but she did not stir. She had their family’s blue eyes, though hers were hidden now, and enough resemblance to Nick that people rarely had to ask whether they were related. At twenty-two, she was only two years older than him, but college had a way of making her seem much older whenever she came home exhausted.

Nick was happy to let her sleep. She had gotten back from college late the night before, looking half-dead and complaining about exams, labs, and professors who apparently believed students did not need rest to survive. She was studying to become a lawyer someday, which sounded impressive to Nick until he saw what it did to her. Haley, Jayden’s older sister and Sam’s best friend, had driven back with her, and now both of them had somehow been pulled into another trip almost immediately.

A week at the cabin would probably be good for them. Even Sam, who claimed she only needed sleep and coffee to recover, had sounded excited when Nick first told her about it.

He checked the rearview mirror.

In the backseat, Lilly Samuals sat behind Sam with her cheek almost pressed to the glass. The sunlight caught in her long red hair and turned it a brighter shade than usual, almost copper where it spilled over her shoulder. Freckles of light dotted her pale skin, and her green eyes kept drifting over the passing trees as if she wanted to enjoy the view but could not quite let herself relax.

Nick had known Lilly since they were ten years old. At this point, she was less a friend and more a permanent fixture in his life, like a sister his parents had somehow forgotten to adopt. She was on the softball team, stubborn as hell when she wanted to be, and one of the kindest people he knew.

Nick hated that for her. He hated that she saw something wrong when everyone else saw Lilly.

Beside her, Noah Bedford was wedged into the middle seat with his head bent over his phone. His thumbs moved quickly, his brown eyes locked onto whatever game had claimed his attention this time. He was skinny, light brown-haired, and the exact kind of person who could disappear into a screen for hours if no one stopped him. Nick and Lilly had befriended him when they were twelve, and Noah had grown into the geek of their group with very little resistance. He was smart, funny when he got comfortable, and painfully awkward around girls he did not already know. Internet dating had been his one saving grace, though they never lasted very long for him.

On Noah’s other side sat Ivey Summers, Nick’s ex-girlfriend, who was exactly as complicated as it sounded.

She had the window cracked open just enough for the wind to move through her long black hair. It was slightly wavy today, falling over her olive-skinned shoulders in a way that made Nick glance once and then **** himself to look away. Her dark brown eyes were turned toward the forest, unreadable in the reflection of the glass. Ivey had agreed to come because Lilly and Mackenzie had insisted, and while things between her and Nick were mostly friendly again, mostly was not the same as completely.

Five months ago, their breakup had been ugly.

Ivey had accused him of staring too much at Leah Parker. Nick had denied it at first, badly, because the truth was she had been right. He had liked Ivey. He had really liked her. There were still moments where he wondered how things might have gone if his mind had not kept drifting toward someone else. But it had, and Ivey had deserved better than a boyfriend who was physically present and emotionally looking across the room.

He caught himself glancing at her again in the mirror, noticed the shape of her legs in her jean shorts, and immediately looked back at the road with a faint tightening in his chest.

Great, he thought. Very mature.

Outside, the forest opened briefly to their right. For a few seconds, Nick saw a slope running down through the trees and a flicker of blue between the trunks. Ironwood Lake. It vanished again almost immediately as the road curved, swallowed by another wall of pine and maple.

“Are we close, Noah?” Nick asked.

He was not actually worried. Jayden’s sister’s jeep was still ahead of them, and as long as Nick followed it, they would get there. But Noah had been buried in his phone for too long, and Nick wanted to drag him back into the trip before they reached the cabin.

Noah paused his game, which seemed like progress, then opened the GPS app instead.

Nick sighed through his nose.

“According to the coordinates Jay gave me,” Noah said, squinting at the screen, “we should be there in about ten minutes. Just keep going straight and take the next left. Or, you know, keep following Cass.”

“Helpful as always,” Nick said.

“You asked.”

“I was trying to get you to look at the actual forest.”

“I saw trees. Lots of them. Very scenic.”

Lilly smiled faintly at the window, and even Ivey’s mouth twitched like she was trying not to laugh.

Nick took the victory where he could get it.

The road grew rougher after that, the asphalt giving way in places to cracked patches and shallow dips that made the sedan bounce. Mountain Springs might have been a state-owned forest reserve, but the deeper roads clearly did not get the same attention as the visitor center and public trails. Wooden mile markers appeared every so often on the shoulder. Some were faded almost blank. Others were wrapped in vines. A brown sign with white letters pointed toward Ironwood Lake Park, while another warned drivers to watch for deer.

Nick could believe it. The woods felt alive around them. Birds moved somewhere high in the branches. Dry leaves skittered across the road. Once, something small darted through the underbrush too quickly for him to identify.

Sam shifted beside him, still asleep.

Since Parsons Cabin could not be too far now, Nick reached over and gently poked her arm.

She frowned before opening her eyes, blinking hard against the light. “What?”

“Morning, sunshine.”

Sam squinted at him, then looked out the window as if trying to remember where she was. “Sorry I slept the whole way.”

“You looked dead when you got home last night,” Nick said. “I figured it was better than making conversation with your corpse.”

She yawned and stretched as much as the seatbelt would allow. “You and your concern for my well-being are touching.”

“I do what I can.”

Sam pushed her hair back from her face and took in the trees, the winding road, and the sunlight flashing through the leaves. Some of the exhaustion softened from her expression. “God, this place is gorgeous.”

“You wanted to come when I told you about it.”

“I did,” she said. “And I still do. It’ll be nice to relax after college tried to kill me.” Her gaze drifted toward the breaks in the trees where the lake sometimes showed through. “I can’t wait to swim. It’s too hot to just sit around.”

From the backseat, Lilly’s voice came quietly. “Does everyone have to go into the lake? Today, I mean? I just want to sleep…or hurl, I’m so carsick”

Nick looked at her in the mirror. Lilly was still facing the window, but her shoulders had drawn inward.

“No one’s going to make you do anything,” Ivey said before Nick could answer. Her voice was casual, but not dismissive. “And no one’s going to make fun of you if you don’t want to. We’re all friends here. Up until you yak on me.” Lilly let out a small laugh with her.

Ahead of them, Cass’s silver jeep slowed and flicked on its turn signal.

“There,” Noah said, pointing even though Nick had already seen it. “Left.”

Nick followed the jeep onto a narrower road that dipped beneath heavier shade. This path was gravel instead of pavement, and the sedan crunched over it while dust lifted behind them. The trees grew closer here. Branches reached over the road from both sides, almost touching overhead, and the air seemed cooler under the canopy. A weathered wooden sign stood near the turn, the carved letters darkened with age.

PARSONS CABIN.

Below the name, someone had added a smaller painted board with an arrow pointing forward. The paint was peeling at the edges.

“Subtle,” Ivey remarked.

“Feels like the start of a horror movie,” Noah said.

“Don’t say that,” Lilly muttered.

Nick chuckled. “It’s Jayden’s family cabin. The scariest thing here is probably Cass deciding we’re not unpacking fast enough.”

The gravel road curved once more, and the cabin came into view.

It sat in a wide clearing ringed by trees, bigger than Nick had expected and nicer too. Calling it a cabin almost felt unfair. The main structure was built from gray stone and dark wood, two stories tall, with a wide front porch running across most of the front. The roof sloped steeply, dark shingles catching the sunlight, and a stone chimney rose on one side. A few rocking chairs sat on the porch near a stack of chopped firewood, and flower boxes beneath the windows had been left mostly wild, spilling over with green stems and small white blooms.

Beyond the cabin, Nick could see a stretch of open backyard and the beginning of a wooden deck. Past that, through a gap in the trees, Ironwood Lake flashed blue and silver under the sun. The water was farther down a gentle slope, but close enough that the scent of it drifted through the open window.

For the first time, Nick understood why Jayden had been so smug about the place.

“Nice,” Ivey said, leaning forward slightly to see more. “It’s bigger than the cabin Dad usually rents when we come here.”

“Good,” Noah said. “Because I was starting to wonder where twelve people were supposed to sleep.”

Nick pulled into the clearing and parked beside the jeep. The ground was a mix of gravel, packed dirt, and stubborn grass that had been flattened by other tires over the years. As soon as he turned off the engine, the sudden quiet felt strange. No hum of the road. No rush of wind. Just birds, insects, and the faint creak of branches.

“Alright,” he said, unbuckling his seatbelt. “Time to stretch our legs.”

Everyone began climbing out at once.

The heat hit differently outside the car. It was not the stale heat of town streets and parking lots, but something cleaner and heavier, warmed by sunlight and softened by shade. Nick stretched his arms above his head, felt his back crack, and took a long breath. The forest seemed bigger now that he was standing inside it. The trees rose around the clearing like walls, and the cabin sat in the middle of it all as if it had been waiting for them.

A third vehicle rolled in before Nick made it to the trunk. Alex’s blue SUV pulled up on the other side of his sedan, tires crunching over gravel. Music thumped faintly from inside before the engine shut off.

Nick glanced left first.

Cass Parsons was already at the back of the silver jeep, dragging a suitcase toward the ground with more **** than necessary. She was nineteen, captain of the cheerleading squad, and the kind of girl half the school seemed to have an opinion about. Long dark brown hair fell around her shoulders, and even in a simple trip outfit, she carried herself like she knew exactly how many people were looking. Pale skin, blue eyes, easy smile when she wanted one. Cass could tease a person into stumbling over their own words and then laugh like she had done them a favor.

Nick liked her. More than he had expected to, honestly. They had become friends over the last two years, mostly through the larger group, though they were rarely alone together except when they happened to be the first ones at the cafeteria during lunch. Those moments were always fun. Cass was sharper than people gave her credit for, and there was more to her than the reputation that followed her around school.

That reputation said she dated a lot of boys and slept with most of them. Nick had never known how much of it was true and how much was the usual garbage people threw at girls who were attractive and confident enough to scare them.

Being a year younger than the rest of them, Cass had essentially bullied her way into the trip, and with just the right words, Jayden wasn’t going to get access to the cabin without his younger sister being there too. Nick figured it was a small price to pay, but Jayden’s consistent headache since had told another story.

Beside her stood her brother Jayden, who looked far less interested in unloading the jeep than in hearing himself talk.

Nick has known Jayden for nearly four years now. He wasn’t a bad guy by any means, friendly with most everyone, they became dorm mates in college and spent most nights hanging out either together or at a shared party. Though while Nick was just looking for a good time, Jayden was leaving with a different girl every night. At the moment, however, it was clear that the ride with his little sister had him in a mood. Even from several yards away, Nick could see Cass’s jaw tighten while Jayden said something to her. She yanked another bag from the jeep and dropped it at his feet.

He turned back as Alex Collins stepped out of the SUV and immediately held up a hand for a high-five.

Nick met it. “You actually made it.”

“Of course I made it,” Alex said. “I’m a fantastic driver.”

From the passenger side, Journey Mitchell gave him a look over the roof of the SUV. “You missed the turn once.”

“That was scenic exploration.”

“That was you arguing with the GPS.”

Alex ignored that and grinned at Nick.

He was one of Nick’s closest friends, though they had only known each other for about two years, entirely through college. Before Alex, Nick’s world had mostly been Lilly or Noah. Alex had brought in his own circle, and somehow the two groups had merged into the big, messy collection now invading Cass’s family cabin. He was twenty, funny, loud when he wanted to be, and a football player with short blonde hair and matching bright blue eyes. He had been dating Journey for nearly a year, and their relationship had become the kind of thing everyone else pointed to when they wanted proof that college could lead to true love, too.

Journey came around the front of the SUV and nudged Alex with her shoulder as if to punish him for the GPS comment. She was blonde, blue-eyed, and smaller than most people expected from someone with that much presence. Volleyball had made her fit and sure of herself, and she moved with the easy balance of someone who trusted her own body completely.

The SUV’s back doors opened next.

Mackenzie Collins climbed out first, pushing her straight orange hair over one shoulder and immediately glaring at the sunlight like it had personally offended her. She was Alex’s half-sister, though their personalities only matched in flashes. Mackenzie could be funny, loyal, and surprisingly sweet with the people she trusted. With everyone else, she tended to be snappish enough to make them keep their distance. Between that and Alex’s habit of watching any guy who looked at her too long, she had earned a reputation as one of the most unattainable girls on campus.

Haley Parsons stepped out from her convertible next, moving with the kind of effortless grace that had made Nick’s younger self suffer terribly.

Jayden’s older sister was twenty-two, raven-haired, blue-eyed, and still carried the polish of her old cheerleading days. She and Sam had gone to college together, dormed together, and even studied law together, being near inseparable. Nick had once had a massive crush on her, the kind that started when he was fourteen, but faded off when he realised exactly how unrealistic that was. By sixteen, he had buried that crush, though like anyone else, he wasn’t blind.

Unfortunately, and dimly, another girl took her place briefly.

Leah Parker was the last to step out of Alex’s SUV.

Nick tried not to stare. He really did. It was just that Leah had a way of making his brain hesitate. Long blonde hair spilled down her back in loose waves, catching the sunlight as she turned to grab her bag. Her eyes were a vivid green even from where he stood, and she wore the thoughtful, slightly distracted expression she often had when she was taking in a new place. His crush on her had done real damage. Ivey was proof of that.

He looked away and shook his head, letting the mixture of anxious emotion run off his back. Burying that crush was much easier after the atomic-level explosion that came from it…

Around the clearing, everyone began gathering bags, stretching, talking over each other, and reacting to the cabin at once. The quiet that had settled after Nick shut off his engine vanished beneath slamming doors and overlapping voices. Jayden finally abandoned Cass long enough to march up onto the porch, keys in hand, his mood visibly brightening as he reached the front door.

The porch boards creaked under her sneakers. She turned back toward the group with a grin that was part welcome and part command.

“Okay, folks,” Jayden called, unlocking the door. “Let’s get inside before you all start melting in my driveway.”

He pushed the door open, and the cool shadowed interior of Parsons Cabin waited beyond it.