Page 69 of The Bossy Billionaire's Fake Date

Seeing her react like that made me feel terrible. I regretted my choice of words immediately.

“I’ll see you later, Dylan,” her voice was hoarse, and she was deflated.

Maybe I had gone a little too far in my attempt at trying to prove to her that I wasn’t jealous. But it was too late to take it back.

“See you,” I said, starting to walk away from her. Her words were killing me inside.

∞∞∞

There was only so much TV one person could watch in a day to keep them from spiraling into unwanted thoughts. And I was at my limit. Sitting on my couch, I flitted through the channels on my TV screen.

As mind-numbing as the entertainment was, it did give me a momentary reprieve from thinking about Kathy. After hours of torture, it was getting closer to evening and I couldn’t help but wonder what she must be up to now.

Was she out having dinner with Kevin by now? I wondered if my sabotage attempts had worked at all, if Kevin was too swamped and had to call off their date. Wishful thinking, of course. My phone rang as soon as I put down the remote after finally turning off the TV screen. Hoping it to be a new form of distraction, I picked it up instantly without even checking the caller ID.

“Dylan,” my mother’s sweet voice greeted me from the other end of the line.

“Mom?” I sat up a little bit straighter on the sofa. “Is everything okay?”

“I am glad you picked up,” she sounded relieved. “Your father really wants to speak to you. Can you please hear him out?”

A frown appeared on my lips. The last thing I wanted right now was an argument with my dad right now. But my mom had asked me so sweetly, and I never found it in me to say no to her.

“Sure,” I sighed. “Give him the phone.”

“Son,” my father’s deep phone filled up the line a few seconds later. “I’m calling to apologize.”

Apology and my father usually weren’t words that went together in the same sentence.

“It was wrong of me to call you the other night,” he sounded genuinely remorseful. “I mean, it was wrong of me to drink in the first place. But then I made it even worse by calling you.”

I was speechless as I tried to process what he had just said to me. My dad was admitting his mistakes for once.

“Dad,” I breathed out. “I’m not sure what to say.”

“Dylan, I am only human, and I mess up sometimes,” he went on, earnestly. “But I really meant it when I made that promise I’d change. I really want to kick my bad habit and fix our relationship. Can you forgive me again?”

When he asked me like that, it was impossible to say no.

“We can get you whatever help you need,” I stressed. “The best kind of support that money can buy.”

“There’s only one person’s support I care for,” he corrected me quickly. “And that’s you.”

“Dad,” I felt overcome with emotion. “We are going to get you through this.”

Even though I would never admit it out loud, there were some tears shed. My dad and I spent the next half an hour talking on the phone, sorting out problems between the two of us.

I promised him that I would be there for him, in whatever way possible.

“And I promise I’ll try to see a professional about my drinking problem,” he said.

“As long as you’re trying, that is what matters to me,” I conceded.

I remembered Kathy’s words of advice. It wasn’t fair of me to be so harsh on my father. He was willing to seek professional help and I was going to find the best care available.

Just as I was about to hang up, my dad asked.

“Oh, and one more thing,” he asked. “When are you going to visit us with Kathy again?”

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