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Covering his hand with mine, I beam at him. “You deserve it, baby. Happy birthday.”
He kisses me again and then releases me. It’s only then that I realize that we were being watched by River’s entire family.
Oh. Right. That’s the whole point of any of this… isn’t it?
River grabs me by the hand and starts heading into the closest tent. He hugs his mom. Then we are introduced to the baseball players, all of whom are pretty chill and nice.
A short man with a full head of silver hair, and a black suit with a black shirt pops his head into the tent. “Am I at the right place?”
“Ray!” Rex says, surprised. “Guys, this is Ray Kendrick. He’s the owner of the Atlanta Kings.”
“Rex!” Ray says, shaking Rex’s hand. “How’s everyone getting along here?”
I lean over to River, who seems to be gazing at Ray with some kind of awe.
“Is he a big deal?” I whisper.
River nods. “The biggest. I’ve wanted to be this guy since I was fifteen.” He narrows his gaze. “Wait, if you didn’t ask him to be here… who did?”
“I have no idea.”
Rex claps River on the back. “Ray, this is my brother, River.”
“Ah!” Ray turns to River, shaking his hand. “You must be the reason I’m here. Your dad Sam asked me to swing by. Rex said that you have quite a bit of property on your hands. He said that you have an idea to develop it as a resort to cater to the new training camp.”
River blanches. “Uh, I do. But I don’t really want to talk business today, if it’s all the same to you, sir. I’ve… been… drinking?”
I whip my head around and give River a questioning look. But he ignores me.
The older man smiles. “Well, I know how that can be. And y’all can call me Ray.” Ray smiles as if he has had this exact experience thousands of times. Hell, maybe he has. “Where the hell is Sam?”
Suppressing a grin, I think how awkward River is being right now. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word sir out of his mouth before and it shows.
Sam trundles into the tent. “Ray! You made it.”
Ray puts a hand on River’s shoulder. “Just meeting your son, here. He’s got your height, that’s for sure.”
Sam smiles at Ray and River. “You’re dead right, Ray. He’s a chip off the old block.”
River grimaces. Ray looks at River, then nods to Sam. “I’m going to steal your dad for a minute. We have a group fishing trip coming up and I want to nail down the details. I’ll catch up with you before I leave, though.”
“Of course.” River bows his head. When Ray is out of earshot, he mutters, “That’s my damn stepdad, not my dad.”
I have to bite my inner cheek to keep from chuckling. “You did well, even though he got your relationship to Sam wrong several times. Well done,” I say. “But what was with the drinking thing? You’re not drunk.”
“I’ll explain it later,” River whispers. “Just remind me.”
I hug his arm and bat my eyes at him. “Fair enough.”
Once Ray is gone, Sarah declares that the food is ready to be served. We grab plates and pile them high with steaks, ribs, potatoes with butter, cheese, and bacon pieces, corn, salad, and blueberry pie.
We sit at the long table and eat, talking with River’s family.
Honestly? I’m a little sad that soon enough, these family dinners will be off-limits for me. Being a part of River’s family, even in such a temporary way, has been really eye opening. The way his family values having fun is something I will miss.
My family wants to have fun. But only after absolutely everything else has been finished and some resources have been put toward the future for good measure. The differences between a billionaire’s family and your regular old blue-collar family are more evident when seen in this light.
When we’re finished eating, River tugs on my hand and leads me away from the tents. I cuddle up to him, shivering as the day turns from mild weather to overcast.
