His Distraction (Assured Distraction Book 2)

by Thia Finn

  Ryan bought everything Krissy asked for or ordered. He went to every appointment. He gave her a credit card for groceries and whatever she needed to buy. Basically, he was supporting her, but regardless of his patience and generosity at every weekly visit Krissy came up with something to argue over. The only thing that would make her happy was Ryan moving in with her, and he assured her time and time again that would never happen.

  “Peri, it won’t be too much longer now, since she’s three months ahead of you. So she’s about twenty-eight weeks, right?”

  “Yes, according to what she says. The doctor isn’t completely positive since she can’t remember exactly when her last period was, which is a little weird since she told him she was on the pill the whole time. He’s basing it off of measurements and the ultrasound, which they didn’t do until the second trimester, and apparently the earlier they do one, the more accurate it is. But she refused to believe she was pregnant in the beginning, even though she knew she wasn’t taking her pills. Supposedly she stopped in the middle of the pack because she conveniently forgot to take several. He gets a different story from her each time he comments on it, so he doesn’t know what to believe anymore.”

  “That’s a huge mess. She might have all kinds of surprises for Ryan. I can see why he’s not a hundred percent convinced that it’s his baby.” Chandler eyed Peri for her reaction.

  “Yes, he still says it’s not, but we’ll see in about twelve more weeks, or so.” Peri shrugged, inwardly dreading the end of Krissy’s pregnancy. If the woman’s demands were high-handed now, she could only imagine how outrageous they would be after the baby was born. “You know, by the end, she’ll probably demand Ryan move in full-time, so he can be there when she goes into labor.”

  “What about her other friends here in Austin? Can she count of any of them?” Chandler asked while sliding frilly dresses around a rack.

  Peri thought about the conversation she and Ryan had about Krissy when he first found out about her baby. “According to Ryan, Krissy had some friends in the area, but she didn’t have family close by.”

  “That’s not good. Wonder why she didn’t try to make more friends since she moved here.”

  “I’m not sure. She told him her mother couldn’t come when the baby was born. She lives in Arizona with her new family, and apparently Krissy never felt welcome in their home. She and Janae came to Austin together after Janae finished with school. Krissy hoped to find a job where she could support herself. Their lives were so intertwined when Jacoby was in the band, but after he had quit, Krissy didn’t see as much of them. Now here she is with only a few friends, no family around, and a new baby about to be born.”

  “If she tried to get along with all of us, maybe we could have been friends.” Chandler watched Peri and shrugged her shoulders. “Do you think she’ll demand he move in with her when it gets here?” Chandler could not believe Krissy would ask such a thing of him.

  “Who knows? Every week it’s something new with her, but he shuts her down when it comes to anything involving him and her.” Peri wanted to believe that, too.

  Peri’s stomach made a growling noise loud enough for Chandler to hear it. “I’m starving, too. Let’s go feed junior something yummy, shall we?” She slipped her arm through Peri’s and led her out the boutique door.

  “I agree. Princess is calling for food. Can’t you hear her?” Peri laughed at her correction, indicating her hope for a girl.

  “Princess, huh?” Putting her head down next to Peri’s stomach, Chandler started talking to the small bump.

  “This is your Auntie Chan, and you want me to tell your Mommy what? Oh, really? I’ll let her know then.” She patted the little bump. “Junior says, he is not a girl and to stop calling him that. Oh, and he’s starving for something greasy now that you’re feeling better, so please feed him.”

  The two girls laughed out loud as they made their way to the sandwich shop on the corner. Peri was glad to get off her feet for a while. These days, with a friend to talk to, she was feeling so much better about her pregnancy.

  Cash walked into the meeting with Peri and the band seated around the conference table. He had called the meeting to discuss the upcoming tour with the group and last minute plans for the release party taking place the next night. He was confident that sales were going to be outstanding, and it would probably be platinum before they ever hit the road. They released a few of the singles on iTunes already, each reaching number one on the Billboard Charts in their first week. The album release would be icing on the cake since they expected three or more songs on it to go to number one as singles, too.

  “Now, I want to start by saying: the numbers are out, and it seems Taken Over has moved into number one just like we thought it would.” Ear-shattering cheers erupted in the room. Even with the label saying it would be a hit, AD had held out hope for that level of success until they had solid proof.

  “Okay, okay. Settle down and let’s talk tour.” Peering around the room, Cash saw eager faces and how they had changed from the first time he spoke to them about going on their first tour with Frission. This time, AD will be the headlining, and while they wouldn’t play arenas like they had with Frission and Steel, they would be playing sold-out crowds in large venues. He was proud of the progress they had made in a relatively short time. He loved to see it.

  “You’ll leave in three weeks. The party tomorrow night will mark the release and then the four-month tour begins with possible dates added once the tour begins. Most of the tour the band will be on your own tour bus, and wait until you see this bad boy when it gets here in a couple of weeks. The label is having it outfitted for Assured Distraction. Some stops, you will be flying between venues if radio shows and promotions events get in the way of time.”

  Everyone in the room was thrilled with all of the news. Everyone except Peri. The tour would end close to her due date. She had to tell Cash now so he could make arrangements. She hadn’t spoken to her doctor yet, but Peri felt like she was not going to want her moving around the country that late in her term.

  And then there was Krissy. What were they going to do about her due date? Hayden was going on tour with AD, and all of this would happen at the time Krissy was due. Ryan was going to have to talk to her seriously about all of this soon.

  At the end of the meeting, AD was still feeling the euphoria of the news about their Billboard rankings as they made their way out the door. Cash was the last out and called to Peri, “I need you to come to my office so we can go over the dates and make a list of things you will need to deal with on the road.”

  Peri looked back when he started talking. Ryan was standing between the two, talking to Carter, and heard what Cash asked. Ryan stopped mid-sentence and studied Peri, for the first time, he realized what the tour and the timing would mean for her and the baby. He chastised himself for being so self-centered. How had he not consider how the tour was going to affect them, and how hard it would be on Peri and her health? She seemed to be tired almost all of the time now. The doctor monitored all kinds of levels in her to make sure she wasn’t having problems. The vitamins made Peri sick almost every day, but she was determined to take them for the baby.

  Peri followed Cash into his office and sat down across the desk from him. She purposely put off telling anyone, but now she was going to have to own up to it. Ryan didn’t follow them into the office, and she hoped he would be there for the moral support if nothing else.

  With his tablet in hand, he opened it to the schedule he had sent to Peri so they could be on the same page. She opened the document and stared down at all the dates. She knew what this meant, there was a lot of work involved in setting these dates up for the group: meals, hotels, cars, security, and the list went on and on. She felt overwhelmed even before starting on it.

  The door quietly opened, and Ryan stepped in and knelt down next to her. Without taking his eyes off her, he said, “Cash, do you think Peri and I could have a minute, please?”

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nbsp; Cash looked up and saw the two of them staring at him. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you come in. Yeah, I need to find something in the other office anyway. I’ll be right back.”

  “Peri, I’m sorry, Babe. I’m such an irresponsible asshole. I should have thought about you and the baby first instead of letting my excitement about the tour and the music cause me to be distracted from what’s truly important. Please forgive me.”

  “It’s fine, Ryan. I know the band is thrilled. All the news is fantastic, and you have every right to be excited about it. I think I have to tell Cash today. He may pull me from the job if I can’t fulfill the tour dates. I mean, I can do a lot of the scheduling from here, but you need a manager there with the band to see to any immediate needs.”

  “I think we should have told them all when you found out, but I didn’t want to go against your wishes. I’m not worried about what those dickheads think about it, and you shouldn’t be either. It’s our baby, Peri. Be happy, please Sunshine, because I am.”

  “I am happy, Ryan. I love our baby but I worked hard to get this job, and now I’ll have to give it up until the next tour if everything is the same.”

  “What do you mean ‘…if everything is the same’?” Ryan didn’t like the sound of her statement.

  “You’ll be gone a long time, Ryan. We’ll be here, moving on with day-to-day life. I know what life is like on the road. All the booze and girls and temptations.” Peri could only imagine what it would be like without her there to help keep the guys moving along to the next venue. Whoever took her place would not know how impulsive the guys could be.

  “Damn it, Peri. Do you honestly think I could want another woman when I have you? That is never going to happen. I found you and I’m keeping you.” He kissed her bright red lips and pulled her into his embrace. “Please, believe me when I say you’re all I’ll ever want, Babe.”

  Peri trusted Ryan; he’d been good to her, but she also knew groupies all too well. She’d seen enough of what went on behind the scenes to know that the fangirls were persistent in what they wanted, and if he drank, or did God knows what else, who knew what one of those girls might do. She knew his distractions on the road could cause problems, but right now she had to consider the baby and herself. She needed to save these thoughts for another time because right now she had to deal with Cash. She hugged Ryan back, and they sat to wait for Cash’s return.

  “We need to get started,” Cash said as he walked through the doorway. Ryan sat in the chair next to Peri, holding her hand. “I don’t think she needs you to hold her hand for this, Ryan. It’s just a schedule.” He laughed to himself.

  “No, she doesn’t, but I want to. We need to tell you something that is going to affect the tour. I guess we should have told you earlier.” Peri had not said a word and had yet to look at Cash.

  “Great. Are you getting married before you leave or something?”

  Ryan smiled and watched Peri. “We could, but that’s not what this is about.”

  “I’m pregnant, Cash. I think my doctor is going to advise against my going on the tour. The hours are ridiculously long, and I’ll be exhausted all the time.” Peri blurted it all out at once while Ryan seemed to be skirting the issue.

  “Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic, Peri. I finally get someone I can trust, get you trained the way we like to see things done, and this is the direction you take?” Cash’s words were harsh, and Peri was shocked at the way he delivered them.

  Ryan jumped up, leaned over the desk and got in Cash’s face. “Hey! Stop right there. You will never address Peri that way again. She’s done a hell of a job for the band, and for you, and she deserves a hell of a lot more respect than that. And frankly, Cash, I’m fucking shocked to hear that shit out of your mouth. She’s pregnant with our child, Cash. It’s not like she embezzled money from the company. And she’s my girlfriend, and I won’t stand here and let her take that shit from anyone.”

  “Yeah, well, what about the other mother of your child sitting outside this office? Can I talk to her any way I please? You are bringing a shitload of problems into this studio, Ryan, and fucking up business for the rest of us because you can’t keep it in your pants. I would have expected this sort of fuck up from Carter or Gunner, but you. Didn’t you learn from your situation with Krissy before you went and knocked up another one?” Cash stood to full height as he spoke, a play for power in the discussion, and both men were now leaning across the desk, nearly nose-to-nose.

  Unable to stop himself, Ryan threw a right hook square into the smug set of Cash’s jaw. The punch sent Cash reeling backward, down into his chair. He bounded out of it and came across the desk at Ryan. While the two men went at it, Peri ran out the door, frantically in search of help, alarmed by the sudden turn the meeting took. Carter and Gunner were talking to Hayden in the hallway when the scuffle grew louder through the opened door and went running into Cash’s office. They pulled the two men apart before either could inflict more bodily damage. Cash may have been a little older than Ryan, but he was just as fit and gave as good as he got.

  “What the fuck, Ryan?” Carter asked, holding him back against the wall.

  “He said some shit about Peri that was uncalled for. He deserved everything he got, the fucker!” Ryan settled down after he realized Peri was gone. “Where is she?”

  When he rounded the threshold of the door into the hall, she was nowhere to be seen. Krissy sat behind her desk watching and listening to all of the commotions. “What’s the matter, Ryan? She finally realized what an asshat you are and dump you on your ass?”

  “Fuck off, Krissy. Where did she go?”

  “She left in a run. You will probably never catch up to her now. It’s all good, though. She needs to see what you’re really made of.” Krissy smiled at him when she said it. “If she’s smart, she’ll keep running and never look back.”

  “This is none of your damn business, Krissy!”

  Ryan ran out the front door. Peri’s car was gone from the parking lot already, so he knew he would never find her now. “How could I be so stupid?” He stood, bent over, ass against the brick wall, one hand on his knee, staring at the blazing concrete. He shook his right hand up and down, knowing he would have bruised knuckles from the punch. Fuck, it’s a good thing I don’t have to play for a couple more weeks.

  Peri flew out of the parking lot as fast as she could without killing herself and her baby. The sting from Cash’s words hurt badly. She was just as shocked by his insensitive remarks as she was by the sense of betrayal she felt from someone she’d known and respected for so long. Why would he say those things to her? The conversation didn’t go the way she planned. She knew Cash would be unhappy about the interruption to the tour plans, but she never dreamed he could be completely cruel.

  Peri drove to Zilker Park and stopped in the empty parking lot. She didn’t want to go home, knowing it was the first place Ryan would try, and she was not ready to talk to him. She needed time to think. She might lose her job altogether or maybe made an assistant again. After all her hard work to get the tour manager job, she didn’t want to go back to an entry level position. She would not go back to it; she would quit first before she let them demote her. She had experience now, and she could get another industry job. She still could move home to her parent’s house for a while, though she hated that idea the most. Even though they hadn’t said the words, she knew she loved Ryan and didn’t want to be across the country from him, but maybe they needed a break. And it’s not like he would be home for the next three months. Maybe she would go home while he was on tour.

  She dialed her mom’s number after dodging Ryan’s calls and texts. She tried to keep her parents updated on the baby but hadn’t called in a few weeks now.

  “Hi, mom.”

  “Peri, honey! It’s great to hear from you. How are things going and how’s that new baby doing?”

  “Oh, you know. We’ve been busy getting the release of AD’s album off the ground. We’re having the
party tomorrow night and then they are leaving on tour in a few weeks.” Peri was avoiding why she called.

  “That sounds so exciting, Peri. I know you are proud of that band. I hear them on the radio all of the time.”

  “I won’t be going on tour with them when they leave this time, Mom. I’ll be too close to my due date before the tour is over and I know my doctor won’t want me traveling. Besides, the work is never-ending, and I don’t think I can keep up with the hours required.”

  “Oh, honey. I know you’re disappointed, but you have to do what’s best for you and that sweet little one. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. You can rest and get ready for the baby while they’re gone.”

  “I know you’re right, Mom, but I can’t help be disappointed. I worked so hard for the tour manager’s position.”

  “Everything happens for a reason, honey. You stop worrying about the tour and that young man. I’m sure they will find someone qualified to fill-in for you, and Ryan can make it on his own.” Her mother tried hard to be reassuring, but it did little to appease Peri’s deepest worries.

  “Now that I have four months left, we need to make plans for what happens when baby gets here, too. I’m excited about it, but I don’t want to get pushed back into an assistant position. I’ve worked too hard to get downgraded. I’ll quit before I have to go back to that job.”

  “Oh, Peri, surely they wouldn’t do that to you. Can they even do that? Isn’t that illegal or something?”

  “If I can’t do the job of a tour manager, then they will find something else, but I don’t want something else. Honestly, Mom, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve even thought about coming home and getting a job close to you and dad so maybe I can get help if I need it.”

  “That would be fine, too, sweetie. We would be glad to have you close. You can even move back home to your old room. There’s plenty of room for a nursery, and you know you both are always welcome. But Peri, have you talked to Ryan about all this? He’s the father and might not like the idea of you moving across the country with his child.”