Those perfect blue eyes wouldn’t look at him. At least they wouldn’t look until he rested his chin on the edge of the guard rail, face inches from her own.

“Jamie Danielle. My last name really is Lane. My daddy calls me JD, like a boy. He always wanted a son, but he ended up with four daughters instead.”

“Poor guy was overrun.”

“Tell me about it,” River agreed. “I haven’t seen him or my mother in two years. I used to be so busy, I just couldn’t find the time. Now I have the time…”

“And you’re afraid to tell him why,” Easton finished for her.

River sighed. “They always supported me. Never complained, always said they were proud to have a daughter who worked as hard as I did to make something of myself. I didn’t know how to tell them I failed. Kind of like this documentary.”

“You think you failed?”

“I couldn’t film Moose Springs so I made a documentary about why someone shouldn’t climb Mount Veil. I pretty much sucked at this entire project, start to finish.”

Pressing his lips to the inside of her wrist this time, Easton couldn’t help but disagree. “You showed the truth of what being here and being on the Old Man is like. It’s up to whoever watches to decide if they’re willing to take the risk.” When she didn’t look convinced, Easton added quietly, “What happened up there was real, River. You can plan all you want, but when the mountain decides it’s going to win, there’s nothing you can do but fight to survive. You fought for both of us. You saved my life, and I’m grateful for it.”

A slight smile curved her lips. “I owed you.”

“No, but I’m thinking I might owe you when you get out of here. Buy you dinner at the very least.”

“I’ll take you up on that. Did you lose anything?” She held up her hands and wiggled her fingers at him. “All ten fingers and toes accounted for?”

Easton shook his head. “The only thing I lost was my pride. Scoot over.”

“There’s not enough room,” River protested.

“Nah, it’s fine.”

“You’re a beast-sized person. There’s definitely no room.”

Even as she argued playfully with him, River moved over, making a spot for Easton. And yes, there really wasn’t room, but that didn’t matter, not when he turned on his side, drawing her in flush to his body. She snuggled in, pressing her face to his neck.

“So this is what it’s like.” At her askance look, Easton explained, “Holding you without fifteen feet of jackets between us.” The IVs weren’t ideal for cuddling, and his pulled at his hand when he moved wrong, but being able to feel the soft skin of her arm along his was worth it.

River grinned at him. At least he assumed she grinned at him, because he could feel her lips curving against the skin of his throat. But like Easton, she seemed far too happy to be close to actually look up at him.

She felt good. Far better than a guy like him deserved.

“So, Jamie, huh?” He tried her name to see how it fit.

River sighed dramatically. “No, please don’t. I’m legally changed to River now, for better or for worse. I’ve married myself into this personality.”

Easton didn’t care what he called her, as long as she was tucked in his arms like this.

“What’s a girl got to do to get a ‘we survived, yay’ kiss?”

Easton nuzzled her neck, pressing a soft kiss to her pulse point. “Like that?”

“Not quite.”

“There?” Another kiss to her earlobe, then behind her ear.

“Hmm, that’s better. But not yet.”

Settling in, Easton tangled his hand in her hair, gazing into her eyes. She was so beautiful, even more so when she pulled him to her. Drawing her deep into his arms, Easton rolled so the weight of his body didn’t press down upon her. Lost in her, Easton didn’t realize they had company until a delicate female cough at the doorway was followed by a deeper, masculine snort.

“I take it this isn’t a good time?” Graham asked cheekily.

Graham and Zoey stood inside the doorway, twin expressions of curiosity on their faces.

When Easton groaned, his best friend chuckled. “We’re getting you back for all those times you interrupted us, buddy. Hey, Zoey, East has a girlfriend.”

“I know,” Zoey played along. “And she’s really pretty. Maybe too pretty for him. Do we know what he looks like under the beard?”

Graham flopped down in Easton’s wheelchair, making himself comfortable. “The real questions is, does she know what he looks like under the beard?”

“Would you two get out?” Easton glared at them. “We’re fine—”

“Clearly,” Graham spoke up, grinning broadly.

“—so please leave us alone. River needs rest.”

“Do I?” River arched an eyebrow.

“Is that what they’re calling it these days?” Zoey’s eyes sparkled behind her glasses.

“There’s three of them now.” Easton grunted, dropping his head back onto the stiff hospital pillow. “It was bad enough when it was only him.”

River needed rest, but as she smiled at the playful banter, it occurred to Easton that there was something she needed more than rest. Sometimes family was the one you were born into. Sometimes family was the people you kept close, the people who mattered. Keeping her tucked to his chest, he turned to the family he had chosen.

“Want to hear about our first date?” he asked them. “A marmot fell in love with me.”

For a man who needed the people he cared about to be safe and happy, River’s soft laugh against his neck was everything.

• • •

River really didn’t want to lose her pinky toe. So far, the process of saving it hadn’t been pleasant.

The first step had been rewarming her partially frozen toe, during which River had been blissfully asleep. The next part was a series of wraps, topical creams, and cleaning off dying skin that River refused to watch. It was enough knowing what was happening. She didn’t need to see it. The physician in charge of her case promised the increasing pain of the process was a good sign. The more nerve endings and blood flow restored to her toes, the better.

Easton had offered to stay with her, but some things a person didn’t want witnesses to.

River’s nurse was cleaning her foot when a voice spoke up from the door. “That’s disgusting.”