Page 23 of Love.V2 (Occupational Hazards #2)

Dylan

“Thanks for being flexible.”

My dad stood from his seat to give me a brief, back-smacking hug. The sports bar a few miles from the airport wasn’t the most convenient place to meet for dinner, but Dad had insisted on seeing me before his flight back home from his quick business meeting today.

“Would have been better if we’d stuck with dinner last night,” he grumbled. I held in a sigh.

“I told you. Standing date with Tess. Couldn’t reschedule it.

” More like, I didn’t want to reschedule it.

Three weeks into our regular check-ins and Fridays had quickly become my favorite day.

I’d known something was missing in my life.

I’d assumed it was Tess, but I gradually realized it wasn’t just her I’d missed.

It was us. What we could be together. Me when I was with her, at my best.

Seeing her now, thoughtfully leading work meetings, going off to karaoke with Meery, and finding new excuses to meet up with friends from her gym, made me want to be that man.

It reminded me of the Tess that had been so attractive to me in college I hadn’t been able to focus on anything else.

“Yeah,” Dad grunted, sipping his beer. “How’s that going? ”

“Good.” I motioned to the server for a glass of whatever my dad was having, choosing to ignore his flat tone.

“Great, actually. We’re getting to know each other again.

Having fun. Last night we went to an omakase place and tried about seven different types of sushi I didn’t even know existed.

” Tess’s face when the chef had presented her with raw sea urchin, still nestled in its spiky shell, had been the highlight of my evening.

“Sounds pricey. You footing the bill for all this ‘fun’ you two are having?”

Jesus . “Dad, I’m not talking with you about Tess if you’re going to be like this.”

“Be like what? Concerned for my son when some girl makes him move across the country with no commitments? Makes you press pause on your dream job? What are you even doing over here? Consulting? ” He said consulting like other people might say “drug lord.” It had been easier to tell him I was trying out a temporary travel gig for Worther, instead of the truth: that I was leaving altogether.

Just like with the Jinx employees, it would take time to ease him into that decision.

He’d been pushing me to become Worther’s CEO since the day I was hired.

“She’s not just some girl.” I couldn’t stop myself from snapping.

He had liked Tess at first, but his approval waned when we started getting more serious.

He was worried she’d distract me from my post-grad plans, and after I’d graduated, his snide comments had only gotten more frequent.

Tess leaving had just given him more ammo.

“It’s Tess, Dad. She’s important. It’s a miracle she’s even giving me another chance. ”

He scoffed as the server slid a glass in front of me.

“It’s a miracle you are giving her another chance.

” He held his hand up when I opened my mouth to argue.

“I remember what it was like, son. Watching you work so hard, and her not caring. All those eighty-hour weeks you put in? For her? For your future? And what was she doing? Some shit like a yoga class or painting? What kind of partner does that make her?”

A spike of anger heated my skin. An oily, nauseous feeling followed.

The familiar sensation of the resentment I’d cultivated over years of working my ass off, and Tess not seeming to notice or care at all.

I pushed it down. I’d gotten over that. I was the one who had screwed everything up and needed to make it right. I was over that .

“You don’t know what Tess and I have been through,” I started. His shaking head silenced me again.

“Same as me and your mom.”

“Do not bring Mom into this.”

He kept rolling as if I’d never spoken. “Pregnant with you so young, and the only job I could get was mopping the fucking floors at that manufacturing plant. But I did it for her, so she could stay in school and get her high school degree. How does she repay me? Doesn’t give college a second look.

Just starts fucking around with acrylic. ”

“Dad—”

“I scratched and clawed for every raise, every promotion, so you could have shoes. So your mom could stay home with you and work on her art. Janitor to CEO, Dylan. All for her. For my family. And how did she repay me? Fucking left the minute it didn’t suit her anymore.”

“Tess isn’t Mom.” I knew enough about both of my parents’ failings to at least know I was right about that .

“Isn’t she?”

His words woke a small, wounded piece of myself. In the first few days after Tess left, those same thoughts haunted me as I lay alone and angry in the bed that used to be ours.

“When you got that big house of yours? Million-dollar condo near downtown? Didn’t you tell me she had nothing to do with buying that place?

Barely looked at it? You did that for her, Dylan.

That girl who grew up sleeping in a trailer park, if she was lucky.

You gave her that home, and what did she do to repay you? ”

I didn’t respond. We both knew the answer. She’d left. She’d left without saying a word. Like none of it had ever mattered.

Like I hadn’t mattered.

I stumbled to my feet, jostling the table. “I have to go.”

“I’m just trying to look out for you, son. Learn from my mistakes, alright?”

“What do you think I’m trying to do?” I snapped.

The server glanced over from where she was bussing another table.

My eyes shut, head shaking, as I reached into my back pocket for my wallet.

“All my life, you’ve told me the best thing to happen to you was when they made you CEO at the plant. The best thing.”

I fished a twenty out of my wallet and threw it on the table.

“What about me, Dad? What about Grant and Gracie? What do you think it does to your kids to know we don’t even come close to first place with you?

” His eyebrows crumpled, but now it was my turn to barrel on.

“Tess and I have both made mistakes, but I will not repeat yours. There is more to life than work. More than your all-holy, C-suite position that, by the way, they’d fill tomorrow if your plane fell out of the sky.

Learn from your mistakes ? All of this, all of it , is to prevent me from making the biggest mistake you ever made. ”

“Dylan—”

“Have a good flight. And lay the hell off the twins. They’re kids, Dad. Let them be.”

I turned and left before he could speak again.

***

“I thought you were the UberEats person!”

I’d driven like a bat out of hell, squeezing the steering wheel so tightly, my fingers were still numb. The image in front of me almost made it worth it. “You answer the door like this?” I bit my lip to hold in a laugh.

If Tess’s face could have creased into a frown, it would have, but a layer of thick green goop froze it in place. A thorough sweep down her body got even more interesting. The fabric of her shirt was just shy of sheer, and she had on the world’s smallest pair of sleep shorts.

If I recalled correctly, the silky outfit came as part of a matching set with a soft knit sweater she liked to wear around the house. I didn’t know where the sweater was now, but when she stepped closer, I could almost see straight down her shirt. If I ever saw the sweater again, I’d burn it.

“Usually not, but you were beating the door down. I thought there was a delivery emergency or something.”

Ah. I had been sort of pounding on her door, hadn’t I? “Sorry about that. I, uh, just left dinner with my dad. Abruptly.”

Her eyebrows drew down as much as they could. She stepped even closer, her front brushing against mine. I could definitely see down there now, but I kept my gaze on her face. She was mine, but she wasn’t mine right now.

“Are you okay? Did he say something…?” She was too polite to ask outright if he’d been a dickhead, even though he had been, and she probably knew it. My dad wasn’t her favorite person, so she’d avoided him as much as possible over the last few years.

I grimaced. I should have told him off sooner. Protected her from him more. Another failing.

Maybe you wanted her to hear that from someone. Someone who wasn’t you.

I had to get a hold of that spiteful voice in my brain. I’d spent the entire ride over here trying to calm down, reminding myself that I wasn’t in Chicago to point fingers, just fix my relationship. My life.

After forty-five minutes of traffic, I still wasn’t very calm. I was angry at my dad, and myself, guilty for even thinking he might be right about what he’d said. The thought of going back to my hotel room alone had made me stir crazy.

“He was…Dad. I know I just saw you last night, but I wanted to see you again. If that’s okay. I don’t want to interrupt…whatever is going on here.” Miraculously, when I waved a hand at her face, I cracked a smile. This was already better.

She swatted me away. “I’m checking the ‘do something for yourself’ item off our list tonight. Self-care and all that. Meery wanted to go out, but I needed to do laundry. Do you…want to come in? ”

She cracked her door open the tiniest bit, but that was all I needed. The TV was paused, and a bowl of popcorn sat on her coffee table. Little nail polish bottles lined up like soldiers.

“Am I going to interrupt spa night or something?”

“Not at all. Though I will make you come with me to the creepy basement when I have to move my laundry along.” She stepped aside to let me in and, I admit it, I snuck a glance down her shirt. I missed her tits so bad.

“These not up to snuff?” I tapped the stacked washer and dryer unit wedged into the area that seemed to serve as pantry, hall closet, and laundry room.