Kylee rolled her eyes, sarcasm bubbling up without permission.
“Not the first time she’s been all over your ass.”
“Jesus, Kylee,” he snapped. “I thought we moved past that.”
“Yeah, well, turns out betrayal sticks a little longer than a first-class ticket,” she muttered.
Jake exhaled sharply.
“This is so selfish of you. I let you go on this little trip to clear your head and now you're extending it?”
“You ‘let’ me?” Her tone sharpened.
“You don’t get to play the victim here, Jake. You cheated! You're letting me do this to cover your tracks. Don’t act like you did me a favor.”
Silence hung on the line.
Finally, he spoke again, calmer but cold.
“Whatever. Just get home. The kids miss you.”
“Yeah… I miss them too. “She hung up before he could say anything else, feeling the familiar ache settle in her chest.
Rio had been leaning in the doorway, silent until now. “He thinks going down on you is nasty,” he said with a small scoff, shaking his head.
“And now he talks to you like you're his employee. Sounds like a great man.”
Kylee met his eyes, a slow burn behind hers.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He walked in, gently taking the phone from her hand and setting it aside. “Yeah you do,” he said softly.
“You’re finally doing what you want. And that scares the hell out of you.”
She didn’t argue. She just let herself fall into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
Rio pulled back slightly, looking down at her. His jaw clenched just enough to show he was holding something in.“I heard you say on the phone… That’s not the first time she’s been on your ass.” He tilted his head, studying her expression.
“What did you mean by that?”
Kylee let out a slow breath. Her eyes fell to her lap as she sat on the edge of the bed, fingers twisting the hem of her dress. “You really want to know?” she asked quietly.
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t. I know we spoke briefly about it in New Orleans from what Kelly told Mason. I want to hear all of it from you” His voice was calm, but something darker lingered underneath it.
She nodded slowly.
“It was a few months ago. Jake told me he’d be working late. He had a ton of patients to see and I didn’t think anything of it.”
She swallowed, blinking fast. “So I thought I’d surprise him at the clinic. I brought him coffee… and walked in on him fucking his receptionist, Rachel, on his desk.”
Rio didn’t say a word. His whole body stiffened.
Kylee gave a bitter laugh.
“He freaked out. Didn’t know what to say. Barely even chased after me. A couple days later he gave me tickets to your concert. Said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that he wantedto make it up to me.” She looked up at him, eyes filled with a tired kind of hurt. “Turns out, all of it was arranged by the same woman he cheated with. She was the one who got the backstage passes, Rio. What are the odds?”
Rio took a few steps back, processing it, his expression unreadable. Then, after a beat, he looked right at her. “Looks like he's finally getting his karma.” His voice was slow but steady.
