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“Okay.”
As he started to lead me toward the big booth, everyone piled out of it.
“Ah, River, you made it,” Kane called as we approached.
River lifted his chin at him. “Like I would miss it.”
“And you’re not alone.” Kane’s gaze settled on me. A smirk played at the edge of his mouth, though there was something in his eyes that left me unsettled. “Good to see you again, Charleigh.”
I wasn’t entirely sure he was being genuine.
“It’s good to see you, too,” I managed, hating feeling uncomfortable, but God, I didn’t get what was up with River’s friends. He kept saying they were the best people, but they kept watching me like I might be some trespasser or spy.
Otto and Theo had joined the group, and they gave us both quick hellos.
Then the mammoth who’d been sitting next to Kane stepped forward. “River, great to see you, man.”
He and River gave each other one of those quick hugs with slaps to the back. “Good to see you, brother. It’s been too long,” River said.
River stepped back and gestured between us. “Charleigh, want you to meet one of my oldest friends. Jud Lawson. And this is his wife, Salem.”
Jud grinned. He was covered in nearly as many tattoos as River, handsome in that terrifying, biker way, though his smile was easy and kind. “Nice to meet you, darlin’,” he said.
“You, too.”
“Hey, it’s really good to meet you, Charleigh.” Salem stepped up and gave me a welcoming hug.
“It’s good to meet you,” I told her, overwhelmed by all the attention.
River turned. “And this is Trent and his wife, Eden.”
Satisfaction played on the man’s mouth as he glanced between me and River. “Ah, looks like someone really did need that spot more than I did.”
“Yeah, seems she did.” River let it go in that rough, raw voice, stormy gaze taking me in like I might have the power to calm it.
Nerves fluttered, joy and anxiety at being in the middle of a group this way.
“Thanks go to me then, yeah?” Trent said as he cut an elbow into River’s arm.
River only chuckled.
Eden gave her husband a playful shove as she stepped in my direction.
She was the exact opposite of him. Where he oozed the same danger that River possessed, dark and menacing, dripping intimidation, she appeared wholly innocent. Sweet and caring with her gentle hazel eyes.
“Oh my gosh, I’m really happy to meet you. Trent told me about what happened that night.”
“Called it, didn’t I, Kitten? Thousand bucks said I was gonna see you again.” With that, he jutted his chin at me, grinning wide.
“And I was the idiot who bet against him,” she said in a soft, tinkling voice, fingers bouncing off her forehead like she couldn’t believe her judgement. “Only because Ihavemet River before, and I thought never in a million years, but now that Ihavemet you…I see what’s happened here.”
It was all lighthearted as she pointed between the two of us.
River tightened his hold around my waist and ran his nose up under my hair, along my neck and to my ear, his words only for me. “Yeah, I see what’s happened here, too. Little Runner wrecked me. Wrecked me good.”
Heat erupted across my flesh, and the air tremored from my lungs, and Trent was sending us another winning grin as he slung his arm around Eden’s shoulders. “Looks like we really do have a whole lot to celebrate.”
Everyone turned when another man was suddenly within the boundary, a surprise rippling through the crowd. Then Raven shrieked. “Cash is here!”
