Page 103 of Protecting Love

When he opened the door, he smelled sauce.

“What are you making?” he asked Ian.

“Sauce and meatballs. Well, I made it earlier and left some out for you. You didn’t say how late you’d be.”

Scallops and salad didn’t exactly fill him up, but he wasn’t turning down spending time with Paris either.

“Thanks.” He pulled out the cooked pasta that was in the fridge, dumped some in a bowl and warmed it up in the microwave. “How is school going? Anything I need to know about?”

“It’s all good,” Ian said. “Not much going on.”

He ladled sauce out of the pot into his bowl over the pasta when it was done, then added a meatball. “I’ve got to say this is nice to come home to.”

“I’m glad,” Ian said.

His son wasn’t acting normal. Nothing outrageous, but not his usual talkative self.

This was more like the kid he was a year ago.

He hated that something could have set him back.

“If school is good, and this dinner is great, then something else must be going on. Did you talk to your mother?”

His son glanced up quickly.

Not so hard to figure that one out.

“She called a few hours ago.”

When he wasn’t home. When he was spending time with his girlfriend.

Was that what people were called now when they were dating at his age?

Fuck. How the hell should he know?

Just like that tongue twisting drink Avery got. He couldn’t say it let alone drink it.

But Avery was in her late twenties and that just felt so... young to him.

Avery would probably have more in common with his son than she did with her old boss.

“What did she want?” he asked around a mouthful.

He probably should have changed and showered like he always did.

He hoped to hell Ian didn’t catch on.

But he’d showered already at Paris’s, so really, just change.

“She wants to see me,” Ian said. “She’s coming here soon with Zach for work.”

“You haven’t seen her in a while,” he said. “Did she tell you when?”

“Not yet. They are still working it out. Do I have to see her?”

Fletcher sighed. Not what he wanted to deal with tonight, but if Paris could stand firm with her sister, he could with his son.

“It’s the right thing to do,” he said. “Unless you’ve got something else going on.”