The Sight (bxb)

Chapter 123 - Autograph

Evan's voice finally seemed to snap him out of his shock. "Sure." He pulled a chair away from the table and sat down across from his son.

Evan watched him uncertainly for a moment, waiting to see if he would say anything more, but he was quiet. Evan wasn't surprised, as he knew it must have been a complete shock to him, but he still hoped for a positive reaction.

"You really found Riley," his father uttered after a moment, his tone as if he still couldn't believe it.

"Yes," Evan confirmed, though it wasn't necessary. "You're not mad that we're in touch, are you?"

His question replaced the surprise on his father's face with something resembling determination. He no longer sat resignedly leaning against the back of the chair but straightened up. "Of course not."

"I've seen him in person, too," Evan admitted honestly, though he wasn't entirely sure it was a good idea. "I'm the same height as him now."

His father opened his mouth blankly, as if he had no idea how to respond, but then it turned out he really just didn't know what he could ask — or maybe what to ask first. "How... how is he?"

"Good," Evan nodded automatically. "He's going to school. He didn't have the money for it before, so he's still at uni. He still has the dream of being a doctor someday."

His father nodded, and if Evan didn't know better, he would have thought he was holding back tears. "He's always been very smart."

"Smarter than me," Evan added, his gaze dropping to the homework spread out in front of him that wasn't even half done.

"You don't give yourself enough credit," his father promptly responded, frowning.

"Dad, let's face the truth. I'll never be on Riley's level when it comes to school," Evan countered, raising his eyebrows in amusement.

"You don't have to be on Riley's level," his dad assured him immediately, and Evan couldn't help but notice the emotion in his voice when he said Riley's name. "You just need to be at your best."

Evan almost steered the conversation back to Riley to get another reaction from his father, but he decided against it. He didn't want to push him—he wanted him to be honest. So instead, he asked, "What if my best isn't good enough?"

"If it's your best, it's automatically good enough," his father lectured. "You're not going to excel at everything, and that's okay."

"Thanks, Dad." Evan gave him a pleased smile. After all those years of feeling mostly pressure from his parents, hearing those words from his dad was like music to his ears.

Their relationship was truly improving, and Evan never would have thought they'd be sitting at the table together like this—talking about Riley and smiling.

However, as he found out a few days later, the biggest shock for his father was yet to come.

Instead of doing his homework that day, Evan decided to switch up his usual routine and went running with his friends in wolf form right after school. So it wasn't surprising that as soon as he got home, he headed straight for the kitchen in an attempt to satisfy his wolf hunger.

"Oh wow, you're not even going to say hello to your old man?" His father kept up their habit, sitting at the kitchen table while working.

"Hi, Dad." Evan laughed, still rummaging through the fridge. "We decided to run to the old mill. You know which one, right? I can't even remember the last time I was there."

"Neither do I," his father admitted. "How'd you come up with that idea?"

"It was Michael's idea," Evan revealed while grabbing everything he had an appetite for. But before he could move all the food to the counter to make himself a sandwich, his phone started ringing.