Page 12 of Love in the Time of Wildfires

“Why would that stop you from being a nice neighbor, bro?” Marcus said.

“Number one, this woman is obsessed with this fox. Don’t let her being pretty fool you, because she’s the weird one here, not me.” As if this were any sort of defense. Also, he didn’t have a number two to follow up with.

“Oh, okay,” Damon said, taking a sip of his drink. “Like that’s the worst thing to be obsessed over. And you admit that you find her pretty.”

Logan opened his mouth to deny it but was, thankfully, interrupted from the stage.

“Hi, how’s everyone doing tonight?” River said, using a handheld microphone—her tank top sparkling under the lights like a sunbeam and her hair glossy. Many people whistled in response as they waited for the music to start and for her performance. It was taking longer than normal, and she shifted uncomfortably from side to side. “I’m new here—”

“Yeah!!! Birthday girl!” Damon shouted at the top of his lungs, practically blowing out Logan’s eardrum. The rest of the table went wild in support of her. The most he could do was clap, which kind of made him mad at himself. Why couldn’t he let go anymore? Had he forgotten how? Either way, in this moment, he was proud at least to have an amazing crew who could step in to support River on her birthday when he struggled to find a celebratory spirit. As much as he’d been annoyed with her, she deserved to have a nice day.

On stage, River adorably covered her face with a hand and giggled. “And it’s my birthday.” The rest of the bar cheered and whistled in response.

Finally, the music started. River bopped her head along while waiting for the words to appear on screen.

“Oh, I love this song!” Grace said from across the table. “This girl and I definitely need to be friends. Sonny, you need to bring her to all our events.” Logan shook his head at his squad attaching this woman to him as though they were a thing. That was never going to happen.

The beat started slow, and River started singing. Her voice was soft but soulful, growing stronger and—holy shit—she had a voice. Logan didn’t pay much attention to music, especially the newer stuff. Unlike Grace, he had no idea what this song was. But it didn’t matter because River was making it her own as she confidently belted out the words.

“Your girl’s got pipes,” Damon said with a grin. Logan couldn’t even correct him on using the word girl again because he was absolutely hypnotized. The stage lights loved her as she sparkled from every angle. Her cheeks were pink from her giving it her all, a hand pressed to the area above her diaphragm as she hit a high note but made it with ease. There was no use denying it. She was winning over the whole bar with ease.

Suddenly, the song switched directions, turning into something with a fast tempo. River didn’t miss a beat, jumping and twirling as she went into the song’s chorus, giving a whole energetic performance. The words that came out, though, were, “Boy, I want you to find my fox, find my fox, find my fox.” Her free arm bopped in the air toward his direction as she jumped to the rhythm. Logan was pretty sure she wasn’t staying true to the original verse as Grace busted out with a laugh before standing and shouting the chorus with her. Soon nearly the whole place was singing, “Boy, I want you to find my fox, find my fox, find my fox.”

“I told you. She’s obsessed,” Logan shouted to the rest, who ignored him as they focused on River. There wasn’t any point because even the voice in his head poked his brain as if to say, See? You can’t help but be charmed by this weird woman. It was true. He was at least curious about what made her tick besides foxes.

When she finished, the whole bar exploded in cheers. He felt sorry for whoever was following, because it was clear Lucky Duck, and maybe the greater Tahoe area in general, had found their new darling.

The rest of the table talked excitedly among themselves, but all he could do was drink his beer and watch her as she made her way off the stage. River got cornered by some tall blond man before she was able to take two steps. He couldn’t see the man’s face, but though River was all sweet smiles, she did appear trapped. She pointed toward their table, her eyes making quick contact with Logan, but the other man grabbed her arm, encouraging her to follow him in a different direction.

Without a word to anyone, Logan stood like a shot, making a beeline toward them, ready to start flipping tables if the guy wasn’t taking no for an answer. Just as he got to them, she said, “I really appreciate that, but I’m actually with a group—”

“But I promise you, you’ll have a lot more fun being with me. Come on, baby.” The man’s words came out slightly slurred.

Logan latched a hand onto the man’s arm, gripping it tightly. “Let. Her. Go. Now.” He was in full growl mode, and he didn’t care when River’s eyes widened.

“What? You’re the group she’s currently with?” The man’s eyes were glassy, but it didn’t stop him from giving Logan a once-over as though assessing if he could take him. The stranger had a few inches on him but, due to his job, Logan had more stamina than most, and he wasn’t drunk. He could break an arm if he needed to and, in this case, would do so happily.

There was a hard stare-off between them as the other man seemed to be considering the same before River interrupted by cooing, “Ah, mi osito. I’m so glad you’re here. You’re just in time.”

This confused both men as their attention swung toward her and she directed the softest smile toward Logan, pushing herself into his side and wrapping an arm around him after being released by the other man. Feeling baffled and having no knowledge of what an osito was, he at least took this as some kind of endearment. He let go of the other man to pull River close, like she was someone to protect and she was his. He tried not to focus on how snugly she fit into his side. It felt too right, and that was probably dangerous for his heart.

“You have no idea what’s in store for us, osito. I just met a new friend, Ronald—”

“Robert,” the man interrupted, his eyes dulling as he took in the pair of them.

River laughed as though this was the funniest thing she heard all night. “No! Didn’t you say your name was Ronald? I could have sworn you said Ronald.” Before Robert-not-Ronald could reply to this, she continued. “Anyway, he’s clearly very nice and generous because he offered to show us something really big. Go on, Ron. Show us. I bet Logan wants to see too. It has to be something really good.”

Logan looked the guy straight in the eyes while replying, “Yeah, Ronald. Show me. I want to see this really big thing. Give us a good show-and-tell.”

“Nothing,” Robert said.

“What was that?” Logan asked.

“It’s nothing.”

“What? Oh my gosh!” River replied, pushing out her bottom lip in a cute display of being let down by this news. “Are you sure? Well, that’s disappointing. Isn’t that disappointing?” She gazed at Logan, her hand going to his chest.

“I’ve never been so disappointed,” he deadpanned while studying her. River’s lips were really shiny due to the lip gloss she wore, and he wanted to know what flavor it was—to taste it with his own mouth.