“Thank you. That’s it for now.”
Both the guys slip out of the room, closing the door behind them.
“It’s settled then,” Ricky says. “Check your schedule, let me know what day is good for you. We’ll head over to her place to see if we can’t get some answers.”
I nod, feeling slightly better than I did when I first walked in, but the bigger issue weighing on me can’t be fixed so easily. My mind tracks to Blue, and I lower my eyes to the bar. The ease we once existed in feels like it’s lightyears away, replaced by misunderstandings, misplaced emotion, and frustration.
“What else is on your mind?” Ricky glances toward me as he refills his glass, topping my brothers off right after.
The words nearly slip from my mouth, but I catch them before revealing the many ways Blue and I are struggling right now. As close as I am to these three, I’m only ready to speak on what’s already public knowledge.
Thanks a fucking lot, Pandora.
“This baby thing is starting to take its toll on us,” I admit with a sigh. “It’s not even that it’s too much. It’s just too muchright now.”
I pause for a second, in shock that I actually admitted that. Blue has point-blank asked if that’s how I feel, but I neither confirmed nor denied.
Until now.
“I still want to be a dad,” I say, focusing on the bottle of water in my hands while my thoughts race. “I just want to make sure we fixusfirst, you know?”
“Marriage is a whole other ballgame, ain’t it?”
Ricky’s words have Sterling scoffing to himself. “I’m not even married yet, and I can already feel the truth in that. Feels like the second I put a fucking ring on Tiff’s finger, she turned into a different person.”
To my left, Dane stays silent, because he and Joss are just coasting right now. I don’t resent him for it, but I sure as hell envy it.
“I don’t mean it’s a bad thing,” Ricky adds, “but if you don’t have strength and patience to spare, you might want to make other arrangements.”
I chuckle when he does, and Sterling probably would have, too, if he weren’t currently questioning his life choices.
“But seriously, you and Blue love each other. You’re fucking soulmates,” Ricky adds, and that proud smile returns to his face. “If I’ve ever had faith inanyoneto work shit out, it’s the two of you.”
Because he’s not one to talk just for the sake of talking, I take his words to heart.
“Thanks, man.”
He holds his glass up before taking a quick sip. “No problem.” His eyes land on Sterling next. “What about you and Tiff? Anything we can do?”
After taking a long, slow breath, Sterling shakes his head. “I wish, but… no. When she gets something in her head, there’s no changing her mind. And, unfortunately, her current gripe is that Lexi hangs around.”
We know this all too well, having witnessed the chaos that went down at Dusty’s firsthand.
“I’ve explained until I was blue in the face that Rodriguez is more than just Jackson’s mom, that she’s family to everyoneIcall family, but that shit seems to go in one ear and out the other.”
He finishes, and Dane and I share a look, wondering if he even noticed that he let the term of endearment toward Lexi slip, calling her by her last name.
“What the fuck does it even matter?” Sterling practically growls. “I’m done talking about it. Shit, I’m tempted to just be doneperiod.”
My gaze shifts from Sterling to Ricky, expecting him to press, but he doesn’t. Instead, there’s a half-smile on his face that I barely catch before he sips from his glass. It’s almost like… this is the conclusion he hoped Sterling would come to.
That he’d get sick of Tiff’s shit and be done with it.
That he’d be done withher.
I don’t have any words to fix his situation, considering I can’t find words to fix myownsituation. So, I just place a hand on his shoulder.
“Sounds like you’ve got some decisions to make,” Ricky finally says, to which Sterling responds by downing the last of his drink.
