I Think I Love You | Randy

track 24. all out of love - air supply

I know you hurt too but what else can we do? Tormented and torn apart.

***

Living alone was something I must've gotten used to, because I didn't think twice about walking straight into the bathroom in the morning, failing to hear the sound of the shower running. My broken and confused heart was not ready to be presented with the sight of a naked Rye, but I had only myself to blame when that was exactly what I encountered.

"Shit, sorry," I cringed, turning around instantly, hearing Rye chuckle as he shut the water off.

"Nothing you haven't seen before, right?"

I groaned, refusing to look at him as he grabbed a towel, breathing a sigh of relief when I opened them again to see him covered up from the waist down. He smirked at me in the mirror.

"Are you alright?"

"I just didn't think," I said, standing rigidly as I took my toothbrush from its holder. He stood next to me by the sink, taking his as well. Against my will, my eyes travelled down his wet torso in the mirror, his abs practically taunting me. I put my toothbrush back again, deciding the task could wait a few minutes. "I'm gonna come back," I mumbled.

"You see something you like?" he teased.

"No," I warned. "You're not allowed to flirt with me."

He chuckled. "You're the one who walked in on me showering, babe."

"Shut up," I muttered, walking out. This new dynamic was going to take some getting used to.

Admiring Rye's body had always been so harmless before, when there was no chance of it leading to anything. But now when I saw him shower all I wanted was to strip off my clothes and get in there with him- and there was a good chance that he would let me do it- it was a very dangerous idea to even look at all. This sudden crazy sexual tension between us didn't want to listen to my brain's very valid warnings. Until we sorted out whatever was going on with us, our friendship would have to change a bit. There could be no more flirting, no unnecessary touching, nothing that could tempt us into adding to our long list of complications.

"I need to go back to Sonny's today," Rye announced as I was eating breakfast on the kitchen counter.

"What?" My spoon clattered into my bowl as I looked up at him.

"My stuff's still there," he explained. "And I need to let him know."

"What, like break up with him?"

"We're not a couple."

"Right," I mumbled, not entirely confident in the accuracy of that statement.

"You wanna come with?" he asked.

"You sure that's a good idea?"

He shrugged. "You want me to go alone then?"

He had a point. "No."

"Then get dressed."

***

Sonny's small studio apartment somehow simultaneously looked like ten people lived there, while also looking like he hadn't finished moving in completely. Very little furniture filled the space, only a double mattress on the floor and a couple of eclectically placed chairs that seemed to serve multiple functions including clothes horses, desks, and tables. Sonny didn't say much when he let us in, the typical snark I'd come to associate with him replaced with stony silence. He scuffed his shoes in one corner of the room while Rye picked up his things and collected them into a duffel bag. I hovered a few feet away in the doorway, offering Sonny an awkward smile when I caught eyes with him.