Chapter 16

Three hours. It's been three long hours since I've been woken up by multiple phone calls from my father and I haven't had the nerve to pick up the phone. Instead, I sat in bed, staring at the wall lost in thought.

He and I aren't that close, so our relationship for the last few years has been me sending him money and giving him attention and advice. Basically taking care of him when it's supposed to be the other way around and even though we haven't talked in so long I'm sure that's what he was calling for.

Being around my dad was the hardest thing I had to go through. Not because he's a bad person, but because the fucked up things he did always outweighed the good. He didn't understand how to be a good father, but I don't resent him for it. I love him so much and that's the problem.

That's a problem for later. Today was my day off and I had to figure out what I would do to keep myself busy while Ryan worked. I could always bother Leah and Zane but I've been over there more than my place. I climbed out of bed and stretched out my limbs before going to the bathroom.

Just as I reached for the handle it sprang open and out walked Ryan followed by a gust of steam. His black hair clung to his forehead and a towel hung dangerously low on his waist as trinkets of water dripped down to that lovely v-line.

I watched the little drops glide down his body and disappear behind the towel. I quickly looked back into his eyes and caught the hint of amusement in them and a playful smirk on his lips. He knew the effect he had on me and enjoyed it a little too much.

"Is that drool I see?" He reached out to touch the corner of my mouth and I swatted his hand away and entered the bathroom to get cleaned up. When I was done I got dressed and went to the living room. Ryan leaned against the kitchen island drinking from one of my mugs.

There was a mess of beer bottles and pizza boxes spread out on the coffee table. "Seems like someone had a little party without me."

"If you call one person wallowing in their self-pity a party, then yes." He finished off the contents in the mug and grabbed his bag, heading for the door.

"Wait!" I glanced at the bag in his hand and realized it was his clothes. He never told me he was leaving today.

He turned to me and sighed. "I was gonna tell you once I got to work, but I found somewhere else to stay and it's closer to Night Jewel."

"Why?" I tried to hide the hurt in my voice, but it was no use. One second he was fine with staying with me and the next he was just leaving and I had a feeling it had something to do with me. "Wait, is it because of my date yesterday?"

"Thought he was just a friend?" He chuckled and opened the door. "Either way it has nothing to do with you, just a friend helping a friend. See ya later."

I glared at his back as he left. I was a friend helping a friend.

I locked the door and went to make breakfast when my phone started to ring again. Time to get this over with. I went to my room and grabbed my phone from the nightstand, answering it.

"Nice to hear from you again, Drew."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Call me dad."

I exhaled and walked to the kitchen to pour some coffee. "So what do you want now? Money? A place to stay? Love and-"

"Stop talking to your old man with so much distaste, I don't need anything from you."

I sighed and rested my back against the fridge. "Sorry, what do ya need?"

"Coffee. Me and you in 30 minutes."

"Sure I'll be there, just send the location to me," I responded, taking a sip of my coffee. We said our goodbyes and I finished up my coffee before getting dressed to meet him. I wonder what he wanted to meet up for. The only possible reason was that he wanted more money, but then I thought about where he had been all this time. He didn't have a steady income or even a place to call his own. I would say karma for all that he's done to my mother and me but the truth is I wanted him to grow from it and become a better person.

I stepped into the coffee shop that my dad chose and checked out the specials for today on the chalkboard. The waitress came up and I ordered two coffees and blueberry scones for us while I waited for him to arrive.

"Hey, sweetie."

I looked up from my phone into familiar eyes, but an appearance I wasn't too familiar with. My dad stood in front of me wearing a suit with a clean-shaven beard and a huge smile on his face. He looked a lot different from the disheveled look he wore a year and a half ago.

"Dad." I stood up and pulled him into a hug. He pressed a kiss at my temple and took a seat across from me.

"You look great," I smiled.

"So do you, I love the hair."

The waitress came over and placed our things on the table and walked away. "So what did you call me here for?"

He held his coffee up to his lips and smirked, "Well I'm getting married and was wondering if you could be my best woman." he took a sip and placed the cup back down.

I stared at him confused. This had to be some kind of joke. Was he seriously getting remarried?

"Are you ok?" he furrowed his brows.

"Are you? What makes you think you can just go and get remarried after one failed marriage?"

"Violet," He barked and shot me a glare before looking around at the other customers, most likely making sure no one overheard. He never liked public embarrassment. "You know I was fucked up way back then, but I'm good now. Promise."

I rolled my eyes and played with the scone on the plate. "You know mom found someone else too? It's been so long that I thought she would never find another love, but she finally opened her heart up to another." I looked up into his brown eyes and smiled.

"I guess that's all I want for you guys. To be happy."

"And I am. I really am. You know there's no one out there like your mother, even now with how much I fucked up I still love her, but I'm glad I have another opportunity and I won't screw this up." His eyes softened and I placed my hand over his.

"I'll be there."

He exhaled and chuckled softly, "Fuck I thought you would rip my head off."

"Yeah, well if you screw this one up, there's still time."

He laughed and picked up his coffee taking another sip. We stayed in the coffee shop catching up on what we had been up to and he told me all about his bride-to-be before we called it a day. I took the subway back home and decided to clean up to keep myself busy.

The wedding was next month, so now all I had to do was find a date and I had the perfect person.