Someone cleared their throat behind me, and River’s mouth turned into a smirk as he lifted his eyes to the other people in the room. I’d forgotten they were there.
“Addy, I’d like you to meet some friends of mine,” he said. I turned around, surprised to see a man with a woman beside him. Her long dark hair was in stark contrast to the bluest eyes I’d ever seen. She was holding the man’s arm, and a kind smile was on her face. The bump under the sundress she was wearing made it easy to see that she was pregnant.
“Hello,” I said, with a smile in her direction.
Her face broke into a pleased grin as she held out her free hand to me. “Hello, I’m Reese. It’s so nice to meet you,” she said, then turned her gaze back to the man beside her. “And this is my husband, Mase.”
Husband. Oh, I liked that even better. River had married friends.
Mase was tall, with dark hair just long enough to keep pulled back in a low ponytail. His worn jeans fit him nicely, and the plaid button-down shirt he wore was long-sleeved, but he’d rolled them up to his elbows.
“Glad this one found a woman who can put up with him,” Mase said.
My back stiffened, and my smile vanished. I decided I didn’t like this Mase guy very much. “Excuse me?” I snapped, ready to defend my guy.
Reese laughed and hit Mase’s arm. “Stop it before she takes a swing at you.” She looked at me. “He’s teasing. We’re both very happy that Captain has found someone who cares about him like you obviously do. We want him happy.”
Mase made a sound in his throat that sounded like he might not agree, but he didn’t say more.
“You’ll find I’ve got a colorful group of people in my world I call friends,” River said from behind me.
I reached back and held on to his hand while studying these two so-called friends of his.
“Stop it, you two. She’s going to hate us, and I want her to like us,” Reese said with a worried frown. “These two didn’t always see eye-to-eye on things, but in the end, they became friends. We live in Fort Worth, and the second we heard about his accident from Blaire, we got on a plane.”
“His dad’s private jet,” River said with an amused tone.
Mase rolled his eyes, and Reese just smiled bigger. “OK, fine, it was a private jet, but we were in a hurry.”
These two had a private jet? He looked like he belonged in Texas but not like he should have a private jet.
“Mase here is Kiro Manning’s only son. He hates to admit it, but he is,” River explained.
I knew that name, but who was it? I had heard it before. I just wasn’t sure where.
Reese giggled and looked up at Mase. “See, she doesn’t even know who Kiro is, so you’re safe. No fangirling.”
“Fangirling, my ass. Even when she realizes who he is, she won’t be fangirling your ol’ man,” River said, sounding annoyed now.
I glanced back at River.
He grinned. “I fucking love that you don’t know who Kiro is. You know that, right?”
Dangit, who was Kiro Manning?
“Slacker Demon, baby. His dad is Slacker Demon’s lead singer.”
That was when my jaw dropped. Because I might not remember the band members’ names, but I sure as heck knew who Slacker Demon was. River squeezed my hand and frowned.
“His dad is in Slacker Demon?” I asked in a whisper, even though they could hear me.
“Yes, and he’s not nearly as impressive as you’re thinking,” Mase replied.
“Yes, he is,” Reese piped up.
I was slightly overwhelmed. How did River know these people?
“I own a ranch and raise horses. I’m not some damn rocker’s kid.” Mase sounded annoyed.