Wicked Hot

Chapter 32

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

"What's the matter, son?" Mr. Suelecha asked Peat when he noticed Peat looking terribly distressed.

"He won't see me, he won't talk to me," Peat replied gloomily.

"Are you talking about Thanawat?" Mr. Suelecha asked his son.

Peat nodded gloomily.

"And why is that?" Mr. Suelecha wanted to get to the bottom of things.

"I forgot to unmute my phone after class and throughout the evening," Peat replied. "And when I got home a few minutes ago I noticed that I had three missed calls and two unread text messages. I went to his house but no one came to open the gate. I knew that he was home because his car was in the driveway."

"That's immature behavior if you ask me," Mr. Suelecha remarked. "Are you sure there wasn't anything else that might have upset him?"

Mr. Suelecha studied his son carefully.

"I don't think so," Peat replied. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Mr. Suelecha prompted his son.

Peat averted his face from his father's intense gaze. He did not want to admit to his dad that after classes he had gone and treated Dome to dinner at the Indonesian restaurant where he and Dome used to go when they were boyfriends.

"Well?" Mr. Suelecha started to get impatient when Peat continued his silence.

"I... I... Dad, do you remember your friend Mr. Ratthanaphast's son, Dome?" Peat asked, feeling a bit nervous for some reason.

"Of course I remember Dome," Mr. Suelecha replied. "What has he got to do with you and Thanawat?"

When Peat stayed silent again, Mr. Suelecha exploded.

"Peat! Don't tell me you are juggling two boyfriends and hoping to get away with it and not leaving casualties along the way???"

"Dad! I haven't seen Dome in years! But today he happened to be the substitute teacher in my World History class and..."

"And you totally forgot about Thanawat and ignored his text messages and calls all through the evening," Mr. Suelecha said grimly. "I can't blame him for not wanting to speak to you or to see you now."

"Dad, please! I really didn't mean to! I just happened to forget to unmute my phone!"

"Yes, you forgot to unmute your phone because you were happily distracted being in Dome's company," Mr. Suelecha said in a reproachful tone. "You better give Thanawat some space for now and let him be. And hope hard that he will eventually want to talk to you again."

Mr. Suelecha was about to place a sympathetic hand on his grieving son's shoulder when suddenly he realized something.

"Can you show me the texts that he sent you earlier this evening?" he asked Peat.

Peat opened his text messages and handed his phone over to his dad.

Hey I'm planning to stop by the mall food court to pick up some dinner. Did you want anything from there?

Hey, Peat, I'm at the mall now. You sure you don't want anything that I could bring home for you?

"Which Indonesian restaurant did you take Dome to, the one at the mall?" Mr. Suelecha asked his son, unable to ignore the sinking feeling in his whole body

"Yes, dad," Peat replied, his eyes widening at the same realization that his dad was having.

"You asshole!" Mr. Suelecha exploded at his son.

"Dad, please! Don't forget I did not get his text messages before I left for the mall! If I had been able to read them I would never have thought about inviting Dome to dinner there!"

"You're in deep shit so much right now, son, that I don't know how to defend you," Mr. Suelecha remarked grimly.

"Please, dad, please," Peat begged his dad. "If he won't listen to me, he just might listen to you!"

Mr. Suelecha studied his son's face for a while.

"Before I help you, give me your solemn promise that you will not have anything to do with Dome ever again," he said to Peat.

"He works at my school as a substitute teacher now, Dad, it's impossible for me not to see him," Peat tried to reason out with his dad.

"Son," Mr. Suelecha did his best not to lose his patience with Peat. "Just because you see him at school doesn't mean that you should ask him out for a dinner date or whatever other activities that could be misinterpreted by Thanawat."

Peat sucked in his breath loudly before saying solemnly. "I promise, Dad."

Mr. Suelecha took his phone out of his pocket.

"Keep your fingers crossed," he said to Peat as he tapped on Thanawat's number and tapped on the speaker as well.

Instead of crossing his fingers, Peat clasped his hands together, and with his eyes tightly closed he prayed hard that Thanawat would take his dad's call.

Several rings later...

H e l l o

Peat collapsed on the floor when he heard Thanawat's voice.

"Hi, Thanawat, how are you?" Mr. Suelecha tried to keep his voice casual.

There was a moment's silence before Thanawat replied.

"I'm sorry but if you're calling on behalf of your cheating son..."

Peat quickly got up from the floor and grabbed his father's phone.

"I wasn't cheating on you, Nawat!" Peat said tearfully.

"Don't take me for a fool, Peat," said Thanawat. "I saw you with my own eyes being lovey dovey with someone older than you. What is it about older men, Peat? Why do you enjoy messing with them? Why don't you find someone your own age, Peat?"

Father and son stared at each other when the phone screen went black.