His Distraction (Assured Distraction Book 2) (20 page)

“Y’all might want to hold off on that second bit of information until after you talk to her,” Hayden added.

Ryan glared at him. “We’re done! Let’s see what’s going on.” Ryan turned and opened the door, looking at Hayden, who gave him a sheepish shrug of his shoulders.

Ryan didn’t say much on the drive over to the studio. Neither of them had any idea what was causing Hayden’s mysterious comments. If it were bad, surely someone would have called him and given him the heads up, because clearly Hayden didn’t want anything to do with the situation.

The two walked in the front door of 13 Recordings expecting to see Krissy sitting behind the desk, but she wasn’t there. One of the secretaries was in her place, and they realized it was lunch already.

“Hey, Callie, what’s going on?” Peri smiled at the woman.

“Just filling in while Krissy’s at lunch.” She stopped and answered the phone.

Looking at Peri, Ryan commented, “I didn’t realize the time. My clock is so fucked with this jet-lagged brain.”

“Yeah, I could easily go back to sleep myself.”

Callie finished the phone call and looked back at the two. “Why are y’all here? Don’t you deserve a couple of weeks off?”

“Don’t I wish? The slave driver here wants us back in the studio on Monday to work on the new album.” He gave Peri a little nudge on the arm.

“Gotta get the new music out there while AD is hot.” She smiled at the protesting guitarist.

“Did Krissy go out to lunch or is she here somewhere?”

“She’s here in the kitchen in the back. She usually stays in for lunch.” Callie said before she answered the phone again.

“Thank you. See you later.”

They found Krissy sitting at a table eating and thumbing through a Cosmo. From the glare they received, they were the last two people she wanted to deal with at work.

Ryan and Peri were shocked at what they saw; Krissy looked terrible, her body too thin. It was as though she had been starving herself or been sick, and she obviously was worn out.

“My God, Krissy. What the hell’s going on?”

“Hello to you, too, Ryan. Nice to see you.” Peri watched the scene unfold as Krissy barely raised her head away from the magazine to see them.

“Krissy, what have you been doing while we were gone?” Peri sat down at the table. “Have you been sick? Are you okay? ” Peri and Ryan both noticed the dark circles under her eyes and the strange pallor of her skin. Peri knew just from looking she had lost too much weight.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I have been very sick. Thank you for asking, Peri.” She glared at Ryan. “I had to spend a few nights in the hospital.”

“That’s terrible, Krissy. I hope they found out what’s wrong with you.” Peri’s voice was one of genuine concern. “Who took care of you?”

“Hayden did. He’s a good friend and has been so nice to me.” This comment made Peri turn and stare at the sound Ryan made.

“You didn’t say what they found wrong, Krissy.” Ryan pushed again for the information.

“Well, it seems I’m pregnant, Ryan, and I almost miscarried, but I’m fine now and so is the baby,” Krissy said and Peri turned to see the comment brought a look on Ryan that could stop a freight train. She knew this was Krissy’s bomb she had waited to drop when Ryan least expected it.

“Krissy, how could that happen?” She had been on the pill for several years.

“What do you mean, ‘how did this happen’? It is
our
baby, Ryan.” Krissy stood up in a shirt stretched over her slight baby bump. “And from the size of my tummy already, it’s going to be a big one.” She rubbed her palm over the spot.

Peri stared at Ryan knowing he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He could only stare at her barely extended abdomen.

“There is no way that’s my baby, Krissy, and you know it. We hadn't been together since before I left, and that’s been three months.”

“Well, guess what, Ryan? I am thirteen weeks as of yesterday, so forgive me if I can count correctly, but that makes this our baby. Now you are going to have to deal with it and me.” She grabbed her lunch and stomped out of the room.

Ryan slumped down on the nearest sofa. “You have got to be shittin’ me. What in the hell am I going to do with a baby? And worse, what am I going to do with Krissy and a baby? What a huge cluster-fuck.” He was staring into space speaking to no one in particular. Since Peri was the only one in the room, she felt obligated to try to help him come to some terms with the shock of this latest news.

“The first thing you should do is calm down. I know this isn’t what you wanted, but what’s done is done. What matters most now is the health of that little one and the only way it can be healthy is for
her
to be healthy. And she is not healthy.”

“No, she looks bad. She’s probably not eating right or resting enough. What the fuck am I going to do?” Peri understood his need to move as he stood. His mind had to be in overdrive because hers was.

“You need to make sure she’s going to a good obstetrician to see if she is having problems or if it’s going to be a high-risk pregnancy.”

While Peri didn’t like the idea of helping him make decisions for another woman’s baby, this was Ryan’s baby they were talking about. “Maybe you moving in with me isn’t such a good idea right now, Ryan. She needs to know she can count on you if there’s a problem.”

“Oh, fuck NO! That is not going to happen.” Ryan stopped in front of her and pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead.

“Ryan, leaving her there with Hayden is wrong, and you know it.”

“Hell, I know, but I don’t want to be away from you. I realize this is too much to ask of Hayden, too. He’s done enough already dealing with her while we were gone. I wish the kid would have told me when he found out.”

Laying her head on his chest, she said, “It wouldn’t have changed anything. It’s not like you could drop the band and run home.”

“Peri, if that were you, I would have damn sure dropped everything and come home to be with you.”

“But it is your baby, and you should feel the same about it, regardless of who the mother is.” She untangled herself from him, unhappy with his comment.

“Yeah, and what if it’s not my baby?” he whispered. “I’m going to insist on a paternity test as soon as possible. Can they do that before the baby is born?” He grabbed her hand.

“I believe they can, but I think it’s not the safest thing to do. You need to find out before you ask her because she’s going to have a fit when you bring it up. You know that, right? She seemed pretty certain the baby is yours.” Peri glanced at him, with questions in her eyes. “Do you think there’s a chance it’s not?”

“Hell, I wouldn’t put anything past her at this point. I thought I knew her but after the shit she’s pulled, who knows?”

“The timing is right, isn’t it?” Discussing his sex life with his ex was not high on Peri’s list of favorite topics, but this was medical and it all needed discussing.

“I guess it is. We had sex a lot before she got all pissed about me being on the road, but I can’t tell you when the exact last time was.” He tried thinking back before he left for Europe.

Peri thought back, too. So much had happened since then; she couldn’t recall those days leading up to their departure for London and she knew he would have a hard time with it as well.

He stood and ran his hands across the top of his head and down his face. “What the hell am I going to do? I want to do the right thing here, Peri, but I want to be with you. You know that right?”

“Yes, I know that Ryan, but you have others to think about for now instead of yourself, and you can’t afford to put me first in this situation. That child needs to come first.”

He bent forward and put his hands on his knees and blew out a long breath. “I know it. Damn it, I know it.” He paused and then added, “Peri, why don’t you head on home and I’ll be there after a while. I’ve got to make some decisions about this whole ordeal, and I don’t want you to feel like you’re now tied up in my mess.”

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t want me tied up in it’?” She couldn’t believe he said that to her. She was trying to be as supportive as she could be about the entire situation, and now he was going to make decisions without even talking to her about them. “No, Ryan. That’s not going to happen. If I’m going to be part of your life, then we need to make a joint decision.”

He saw that she was serious. “I don’t want you to feel like you are stuck with me and the baggage I’m about to drag into our lives.”

“If I felt stuck Ryan, I would back out now. I’m no quitter and you know it. We do what we have to and we do it together.”

“Are you sure about this?” She nodded her head yes. “Okay, then. We’ll deal with it together. What I don’t want is for this to come between us. I guess I’m moving in today. I might have to pay for her a place of her own until the testing if Hayden doesn’t want to put up with her shit. Let’s get my things while the place is empty.” They left through the front door, forced to pass by Krissy’s desk.

“What? You have nothing to say to me, Ryan?” Peri knew from her comment that Krissy was set on a confrontation with him.

“No, Krissy. I’m moving my things out of the apartment. You and Hayden will have more room that way, and we won’t have to deal with each other.”

“Where are you going? I thought you would want to be with our baby and me when you got home?” The surprised expression she was wearing didn’t faze Ryan.

“I’m moving in with Peri. I came down to tell you. I didn’t expect to get blindsided with your news.”

“Peri?” Krissy stared back-and-forth between the two and had no words.

Peri wouldn’t meet her eyes at first. She hated being in the middle. “He’s going to stay there until you decide what you’re going to do.” It sounded like she was simply offering him a place to stay, instead of proclaiming their new relationship.

“I’m not going to do anything but live with my baby’s daddy and raise our child.” Krissy’s anger was now boiling over, and Peri knew she expected Ryan to man up and be the father to her child.

“No, Krissy, that’s not going to happen. Peri and I are seeing each other, and we are moving in together. Even if we weren’t, I wouldn’t be living with you now or after the baby is born.” Peri eyed Ryan, surprised at the way he confirmed their relationship to Krissy. “I’m not going to lie to you, Krissy. You need to know about us now before this goes any further. Of course, you can stay in the apartment until the baby comes and then we’ll go from there. The first order of business will be to make sure the baby is mine.”

“NO FUCKING WAY! You did not just say that, you son of a bitch!” She rounded the desk coming at him. “How can you even think that? You know this is yours!” Krissy’s loud yells prompted several office doors to open and people to come running from the back.

Peri was shocked when Krissy started swinging at Ryan, and watched as he did all he could to hold her off. “Krissy, STOP! That’s enough. You’re going to hurt yourself and the baby!” He yelled in her face, stunning her and the force of her hits faded. She broke down crying hysterically and fell to the floor with his arms around her.

“You can’t do this to yourself, Krissy, or to the baby. We’ll figure out something before the baby gets here, but for now, you need to calm down. You’ll end up back in the hospital, and that’s not going to help anything.” Peri and Ryan stood her back up and led her to the sofa. The spectators went back to their offices, and Peri was glad not to have an audience present to witness Krissy’s meltdown.

When she calmed down and stopped crying, she stood assuring everyone she was fine. She dramatically took a deep breath. Peri and Ryan watched her carefully.

“I’m fine. Just go. I don’t need
you
, but I do expect you to take care of our baby. If you even think about being a deadbeat dad, you better get yourself a lawyer now.” The phone rang, and she snatched up the receiver immediately changing her tone and effectively dismissed them so she could do her job.

On the way to his truck, Ryan’s mind still hadn’t wrapped around this new turn of events. He didn’t know if he could be a daddy to anyone right now. Peri could tell he was trying to wrap his head around his thoughts of the news.