Page 88 of Animal Beats

RÍO

Hayden lives in my soul. I don’t know when it happened—it’s simply a fact. Her troubles are now mine to solve. She’s no longer on her own, with a special needs sister to maintain.

If only I can make her understand this.

“Let me help you.” I take her suitcase from her tiny but capable hands, and we ride the elevator up to my suite. At least I didn’t have to convince her to give up her single room.

Opening the door, all I want to do is get us naked again. Our bodies have accepted we belong together. Now to bring her mind online.

However, my stomach rumbles. Nodding toward the room service menu, I ask, “Want something to eat?”

“I seem to have burned off the cheeseburger.” The twinkle in her eye tells me we’re still in synch. She picks up the menu.

I place an order and steer us into the living room. Although my bedroom is more appealing.

Once we’re seated, I begin. “Hayden, we have to figure this out. I can’t lose you.” I nip at her finger. “You’ve seen me at my worst. You’ve learned my deep secrets. Nevertheless, you treat me like a worthy human being.” My eyes drop.

She runs her fingers through my hair. “Río, you are more than worthy. You are the world-famous, award-winning, uber-talented drummer for Untamed Coaster. As a band, you write songs everyone on earth knows.” She kisses me. “You are an amazing man.”

Her words settle into my heart. “No one has ever said those things to me.” I kiss her.

She leans back into the sofa. “I’m sorry. I never should have said what I did last night.”

My eyes close. “I deserved it.”

Hayden’s head shakes. “No. You didn’t.” She tries again. “You didn’t deserve them from me, and you certainly didn’t deserve how your family treated you growing up. You did nothing wrong. Nothing. Your parents couldn’t keep their marriage together and used you as a bargaining chip between them. That was beyond awful.”

“When I was little,” I glance into her clear, blue eyes. “All I wanted was for them to recognize me as their son. To play with me like the other families did. To go to the park.” Because I can’t hold her gaze any longer, I look away.

She grabs my face and turns it toward hers. “Oh, Río. You were a normal little boy. Their failings as parents are not on you.”

She rubs the edge of my eye. Then holds her finger up to show me moisture.

Am I crying?

“The world did get something good out of them, though. We got UC’s fantastic drummer.”

I can barely talk over the bottleneck in my throat. “Come here.”

I crush her to me. We stay locked together until room service arrives. I let her handle that while I disappear into the bathroom and splash cold water over my face.

She joins me. “Food is in the dining room.”

I glance at her in the mirror. Sporting a half-smile, I reply, “I think we both can use the nourishment.”

I offer her my hand. With our fingers entwined, we walk into the dining room and I pour us some sparkling cider. Handing her a flute, I raise mine to her. “Thank you.”

“For telling the truth?”

“No. For being the first person outside of Coop, 007 and Darren, to really see me. They don’t count, since they lived it. You’re an amazing woman.” I bring my flute to hers, and we drink.

Sitting at the table, we dig into the pasta with seafood she ordered. “Lisbon sure knows how to cook seafood.”

“They do.” She takes another bite. “Río, you’ve talked a lot about your father. When I met him in Philadelphia, everything you described rang true. Tell me more about your mother.”

“The Stepwitch⁠—”

Her nose crinkles. “Not her. Your real mother.”