I let his comment sink in. What was he getting at? It wasn’t like he had gotten these tickets for the sole purpose of getting me here. He didn’t even know who Major was going to invite. Or did he?
I had started to ask him when I spotted Mase’s hat, followed by his long, muscular body clad in blue jeans, walking toward me. He was mine—this man who made women’s heads turn regularly. It was hard to believe it, but he was.
“Sorry it took me so long. The line was bad,” he said, sinking down beside me and handing me the soda I had requested. He hadn’t noticed Captain yet.
But Major had. He held up a hand and grinned. “Hey, River, Kinsley. Great seats, man. Thanks!”
Mase tensed beside me, then turned his head to see Captain and his date before looking back at me. I leaned into him and smiled to assure him that everything was fine. He put his arm around my shoulders, and I leaned closer to him, which seemed to ease his tension.
“River gave me the tickets. Kinsley’s the head waitress at the restaurant. They hooked up recently,” I heard Major tell Mase.
Mase just nodded. I knew he wasn’t a fan of the idea of being at a concert paid for by Captain. He ran his fingertips over my arm, tracing patterns while he held me close. His eyes remained on the empty stage, and I knew he was thinking hard.
Captain got up and headed down the stairs—for drinks, I figured. I smiled at Mase. “I’m looking forward to this.”
He pressed a kiss to my nose. “Me, too. One of his songs reminds me of you. Having you here while he sings it will be pretty damn perfect.”
I liked knowing he thought of me when he heard a song. I took a sip of my soda and relaxed. We were going to enjoy ourselves. No need to let Captain ruin it. Besides, Mase didn’t care for him because Captain had said a few rude comments. He didn’t know everything. He’d get over Captain being there soon enough.
When the lights went down and the stage lit up, everyone stood up from their seats, hooting and hollering. Whistles and shouts of “Hell, yeah!” filled the place. Mase stood up, reached for my hand, and pulled me in front of him, wrapping his arms around me. I leaned back against his chest. Nothing else mattered.
I was wrapped up in Mase, and the music was great. Major sang along beside us, and I was surprised by how good he sounded. Like, really good. I never once looked over at Captain and Kinsley. They weren’t even here as far as I was concerned.
Pat Green stood onstage and starting talking about a song, and everyone around me seemed to know what he was talking about, because the cheering began again. “This is it,” Mase whispered in my ear. “My song to you.”
That got my immediate attention. I stood taller and waited for the music to start again. Mase caressed my arms as he held me and pressed his mouth near my ear as he sang the words. Having him sing to me made me light-headed.
All I’m looking for is you.
The words made my heart flutter in my chest and I turned to look up at him.
You came upon me wave on wave.
He sang with such intensity in his eyes I clung to him tighter and prayed this moment would never end. Just us here, together, with Mase singing to me. It was a perfect night.
Mase
After dropping Reese off at work on Monday morning, I pulled up to the stables and saw a face I didn’t expect. You could look at me and never guess my father was a rock legend, but you couldn’t say the same for Rush Finlay. He had the look. Even though he had a three-year-old son now, he didn’t look like a dad. I doubted he ever would.
But why the hell was he at my ranch? Getting out of the truck, I closed the door and headed toward him. He pushed his sunglasses up and smiled at me. “You always get to work this late?” he asked with a smirk.
“Had to take Reese to work. Didn’t expect to get back and see you standing here.”
He gave a small shrug. “Brought Blaire and Nate to visit with her brother. Figured I’d give them some family bonding time and come see how things were going here.”
I’d almost forgotten that Captain was Blaire’s brother. Remembering him sitting beside Reese at the concert this weekend still pissed me off.
“You look like you know Blaire’s brother and would like to smash his face in,” Rush said with an amused laugh.
“He works with someone I do business with. He’s made a few comments I wasn’t crazy about concerning Reese.”
“Sounds like Captain,” Rush said. “He’s just a smart-mouth. First time I met him, he pointed out that I’d gotten Blaire pregnant before marrying her and that it was the backward way to do it. Pissed me the hell off. He’s grown on me, though.”
Maybe I was being too hard on him. It wasn’t like he was sniffing around Reese. I was just being touchy and possessive; the vibe I was getting from him when he was around Reese could possibly just be me overthinking things. “I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied. “So you come to help me mend some fences?” I knew good and well that Rush Finlay wasn’t here to do any hard labor.
“I’ll pass on that offer. I was checking to see if Harlow has talked to you about Kiro lately.”
Huh? I shook my head.
Rush sighed and nodded like he’d expected that. “Harlow’s mom isn’t doing so well, and he’s not dealing with it. He’s falling apart. Dad said they wouldn’t let him near her for three days because the medicine she was on lowered her immune system. Kiro got so hammered that Dad had to throw him into a shower to get the vomit off him before putting him to bed. He wakes up and starts drinking right away. He yells at everyone. The only person he’s talking to is Harlow. She’s worried about him. Thought you might want to know about it.”
Shit. Motherfucking shit! Harlow didn’t need this. And why hadn’t she called me? I threw the feed I’d carried over from my truck against the wall and swore loudly.
“Dad said we don’t get it. We don’t know how Kiro was back when he had Emily. He told me it would be like me losing Blaire. And man, I can’t imagine that. If Kiro loves Emily like I love Blaire, then, dude, he’s in fucking pain and has been for twenty-three years.”
I understood that Kiro loved Emily. It was obvious. But dammit, he had a daughter with a heart problem. One year ago, Harlow had been given a miracle when she gave birth to Lila Kate and lived through the process. She didn’t need this shit on her now. He never thought of anyone else, only how much he was hurting.
“Harlow can’t deal with this,” I said angrily. My brain was already spinning. I had to do something. I couldn’t leave her to deal alone. I also needed to see Kiro. This shit had to stop. One day, Emily would pass away. She’d been given much longer than any doctor expected. Kiro had to come to grips with that.