Creatures Of Habit

Chapter 34

Chris and I were laughing together when we heard a knock on the door. I looked up and saw Phi standing there with a smile on her face but an awkward glint in her eyes. "Hey babe." 

"Hey, what's going on here?" She asked while leaning up against the door frame with her arms crossed. 

"I was just telling him about something my nephew did last week." I said. "You ready to record those vocals?"

"Actually before that happens, Phi, I want to talk to you." Chris said getting up and offering her his hand. 

"Okay." She said with an unsure voice as Phi took his hand. 

"And on that note, that's my cue." I said as I got up. 

"You don't have to leave." 

"Actually I do because I have to go have another inevitable chat with your boyfriend's best friend." I said, stepping past her. "Besides, I have a good feeling of what he wants to talk about and I don't want to witness what will happen afterwards." I said before I threw a wink her way. "Later guys!" 

Leaving my friends to their own devices, I forced my feet forward to the room where Ricky was rehearsing. I could hear practice rhythms from down the hall and once I got there, he had a guitar in his lap and music sheets in front of him. He was in his zone so I crossed my arms and leaned against the door frame. I forgot how much I loved seeing him work, knowing a great guitar riff was being written. 

"I hope the baby has your love for music." I said without realizing it because he turned to look at me surprised because he didn't know I was standing there. "What? Was I talking out loud again?"

"Yeah. What are you doing here Sawyer?" He asked and I fought the urge to roll my eyes at his immediate attitude. 

"I made a deal with Chris and I want to keep it." I said stepping into the room and closing the door.  "I want to talk about this. You may not be my boyfriend anymore but you're still my friend, and this baby's father," I said pointing at my stomach.  "And I want to remain your friend." 

Ricky still didn't say anything but I could see his body language soften. Neither one of us said anything as the tension began to rise as he could totally throw me out of this room and never speak to me again. Finally, Ricky put his guitar down and relaxed that much more. "I want us to remain friends too." 

"Good, then can we sit and talk?" He gestured towards the other couch that was across from him so I took unsure steps over to the couch and sat down. I felt the air around us thicken as we were having trouble getting past the awkwardness. 

"I'm sorry," I said finally. "For sleeping with you just to prove something. For not stopping to make sure that we had protection."

"Yeah why didn't we?" He asked.

"Heat of the moment, we were in a hurry to feel pleasure."

"Well, it wasn't very pleasurable for you was it? Considering you threw up afterwards." 

I could feel my cheeks heating up with a blush and my chest burn with guilt. "Actually, you were quite good, but being with men just isn't how I'm wired. What can I say, women are where it's at." 

He didn't say anything as he looked down at his lap. My legs got up and I sat on the coffee table across from him. "Hey," I put my hand on his knee. "You are a good man. An excellent friend, and in the right circumstance, I'm sure you will be an excellent lover. I am sorry that I didn't speak up and say what I was feeling. That was wrong of me." 

"Apology accepted. You're a great friend and I'd hate to see a friendship go to waste over something small." I smiled as relief flooded my body.

"I'm happy we finally got that resolved but there's still something we need to talk about."