Rio knelt in front of her, eyes steady. “I don’t care how long it takes, I’ll earn it. You, them, all of it. I want a life with you, Kylee. Not just nights in bed.”
Kylee bit her lip, feeling her heart thunder. The fear. The desire. The freedom. The terrifying possibility that this might actually be what real love feels like. His words were so raw, so certain they hit her like a tidal wave. A man like Rio Riot, standing in front of her, asking for her chaos, her kids, her complications.
“Rio…” she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. Her voice trembled as she spoke, “I need time.”
He straightened, the hopeful smile flickering on his face. “I’m not saying no,” she continued quickly, “I.. Just… This is a lot. My life is a mess, Rio. I’ve got three kids. A cheating husband. A life I’ve spent years building just to survive. And now you’re asking me to walk away from all of that and start over? Just like that? You’re this… this wildfire,” she said, her hand gesturing to all of him, “and I’ve been living in smokeand ashes for so long. Being around you makes me feel alive again. Desired. But I can’t make a decision this big without thinking it through. I owe that to my kids. And I owe that to myself.”
Rio nodded, stepping closer, placing a hand gently on her waist. “I get it. I’m not trying to rush you. I just needed you to know where I stand. I’m not playing around with you, Kylee.”
She looked up into his eyes wild, warm, wanting. “I know.”
He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “Take the time you need. Just promise me you’ll come back.”
Kylee didn’t answer right away. Her hand slid up to rest on his chest. “I promise… I’ll think about it.”
Later that night, they laid in bed together, bodies bare beneath the sheets, not from lust this time but from trust. The room was quiet except for the soft hum of the Hollywood night and the occasional shift of the wind through the trees outside his open balcony doors.
Kylee laid on her side, facing Rio. Her hand rested gently on his chest, rising and falling with every slow, steady breath.
“Tell me something real,” she whispered.
He turned to her, eyes softer than she’d ever seen them. “Something real, huh?” he repeated, thinking for a moment. “I grew up in a two-bedroom apartment in Detroit. My mom worked three jobs. My dad left before I could even say his name. I used to fall asleep listening to her cry behind her bedroom door. That’s how I learned to sing trying to drown it out.”
Kylee blinked, tears pooling in her eyes. “I didn’t know that.”
“Not many do,” he said with a shrug. “They just see the stage version of me. Rio Riot. But I'm still just some kid who got lucky and turned his pain into noise.”
“You’re more than that,” she whispered.
He looked at her. “What about you? What made you Kylee?”
She hesitated, then exhaled. "Born and raised in New Orleans. Married Jake right out of high school. Had Jake Jr. at 16. Moved to Idaho at 20 away from my family for Jake to open his clinic. Two more babies followed, and somewhere along the way I disappeared. I stopped being me and started being everyone else’s everything. And the crazy part? I didn’t even notice until I caught my husband screwing some young hot slut.”
Rio reached for her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “You're not invisible anymore, Idaho,” he said gently. “Not here. Not with me.”
They stayed like that, talking in whispers until their voices faded into sleep, tangled in each other's warmth.
The next morning, sunlight poured into the room, golden and soft. Kylee was already dressed when Rio stirred beside her, bare-chested and rumpled. He looked at her, eyes a little sad. “You really are leaving me?” he murmured, rubbing the sleep from his face.
She nodded with a small, forced smile. "I have to."
He drove her to the airport himself. No security. No assistant. Just the two of them and the low hum of his car cutting through the morning quiet. They stopped at a little diner tucked off the freeway, nothing fancy, just pancakes and coffee and the comfort of pretending they were normal for a minute.
Over breakfast, he reached across the table, gripping her hand tightly. “Please come back,” he said, voice raw. “Don’t let this be the last time I see you.”
Kylee looked at him, eyes filled with everything she couldn’t say.
“I’ll try.” she whispered.
He nodded, trying not to show how much he hated that answer. They didn’t say goodbye at the airport gate just one last, lingering kiss in the car, her hand pressed to his cheek.
Kylee sat by the window of the private jet, her fingers curled around a steaming mug of herbal tea the flight attendant hadbrought her. The clouds stretched out below her like a cotton highway, but her mind wasn’t on the sky. It was still back in L.A.
She let her head rest against the leather headrest, her eyes fluttering shut for a moment as flashes of the last few days replayed behind her eyelids Rio’s smirk when he first saw her at the mansion, the tension-filled swim in his pool, the way his hands felt on her hips during that long, slow kiss backstage. That song.Idaho Sunshine. Her name was never spoken, but knowing it was all about her.
And then… The sex. The Sex was so magical. She exhaled, her thighs instinctively pressing together at the memory. Not because of what they did, but how it made her feel. Seen. Desired. Worshipped. She opened her eyes, staring blankly out the window. She was excited to see her babies. But Jake? The thought of him made her stomach tighten and not in a good way. He’d probably be annoyed. Passive aggressive.
Say something about how hard it was with her gone. How Rachel had been blowing up his phone about hours and money. Then he’d want to pretend none of it ever happened. He always did.
