To Claim the Mountain Man

Chapter 1

ISLA MAE

6 Years Ago

"Can we please sneak downstairs?"

I hugged my arms tight around my waist and chewed on the inside of my cheek, my resolve withering with every pound of bass from downstairs.

"I don't know," I deliberated, shifting on my feet as someone below shouted something about taking shots.

My parents were out of town for the annual Fire Ecology and Management Congress in California, leaving me in the care of my oldest brother, a few hundred miles away in Laurel Peak, Colorado.

At fifteen, I hardly needed a babysitter. My parents knew this but didn't want to leave me alone at home, so they asked Garrett to drive back early from college for Christmas break.

Before my parents left, my mother kissed my forehead and warned me to behave for Garrett, and we bothburst into laughter.

Although he was six years my senior, I'd have a harder time ensuring that he behaved this weekend. He went to school nearly seven hours away in Fort Collins, and I knew he was anxious to reunite with his friends from Laurel Peak.

I had not, however, anticipated that he'd throw a raging house party on the first night of his homecoming.

Almost as soon as my dad's Ford truck vanished around the curve of the winding mountain road, Garrett turned to me and said he planned on inviting a handful of friends over this evening. He said I could invite Skylar and Eliana over too, so long as we promised to stay in my room once his friends arrived.

So, I texted my best friends.

We grabbed dinner to-go from Lookout Grill, the latest rom-com from a Redbox, and facemasks from the local drug store. We were about half-way through the raunchy movie and cucumber skin-peels when the music started.

Every time the doorbell rang for the next hour, the music intensified. Laughter and shouting. Pounding bass. Another doorbell. A new song.

It didn't take long for Skylar and Eliana to abandon the last twenty minutes of our movie and crack open my bedroom door.

"Oh my God, I love this song," Eliana groaned, tilting her head back in agony. "Puh-lease Isla! Haven't you always wanted to party with your brother's friends?"

I snorted. "No. And Garrett was pretty clear that he doesn't want us around tonight."

Eliana pouted, but Skylar continued to glide a wand of sticky clear lip-gloss on her lips in the mirror.

"Well, he should've thought of that before inviting half of Laurel Peak tonight," Sky drawled, sheathing her lip-gloss and rearranging her tight black curls. "Like, did he really think we'd be able to sleep through this?"

I glanced toward the hallway, where multi-colored lights streamed and cast shadows on the walls from downstairs. "He told me there'd only be a few people."

"Oh, I'm not complaining." Sky grinned, stepping away from the mirror to face us. She looked gorgeous. Her caramel skin glowed despite the harsh lighting in my bedroom, and she'd changed out of her pajama pants and back into a pair of tight black jeans that showed off every inch of her long legs.

Skylar radiated confidence. She always had, even when we were just kids on the playground. Our mothers were best friends and stuck us together on playmates from the time we could open our eyes. Sometimes, I wondered if Skylar and I would've been friends if it weren't for our moms.

"Are you girls ready for our first real party?" she challenged, and my heart lurched into my throat.

"Hang on!" Eliana giggled, pushing into the bathroom to apply some of Skylar's lip-gloss to her own mouth. She combed a brush through her red waves, smoothing out the bumps from her ponytail earlier.