Page 147 of Protecting Love

“What? It’s not a lie. She got even more pissed. Zach’s face flushed. Shouldn’t he know who he’s married to?”

“That’s between them,” he argued. He pulled the fries out of the oven and put the pan on the counter, then put the sliced cheese on the burgers.

“Yeah, well. They were fighting before I even got there. She was acting toward him like she did you for the last few years. I didn’t want to sit through that. Maybe it set me off.”

Fletcher stopped and braced his hands on the counter to look at his son. “Ian. I’m sorry. Sorry that we did that to you.”

“It wasn’t you. It was her. You were trying and she wasn’t.”

“Not trying hard enough if I didn’t see it. If I didn’t prevent it from happening. I don’t want you to live through that again.”

“I’m not,” Ian said. “And maybe watching you with Paris on Sunday. Maybe that just fed more for me to say what I did. I’m sure she told you I brought up Paris.”

This was where the dread filled every pore in his body.

He didn’t want to lose Paris, but he couldn’t lose his son either.

“She did.”

“She had a lot of questions. I probably said more than I should have. I couldn’t help it. She should know you’re happy now. That you’ve moved on too.”

“You’ll have to explain this more.”

He didn’t want to assume anything right now.

“You and Paris on Sunday. I don’t remember you ever being like that with Mom. Even when I was younger. Before everything.”

“Like what?” he asked.

Though he knew.

The laughter. The teasing. The looks. The touches.

It came more freely than he thought it would.

And Paris shared that laughter with his son.

She didn’t just listen to Ian. She didn’t talk at him, she talked with him.

She asked questions and got information out of his son he didn’t even know. Because he didn’t know how to ask.

But his girlfriend, with her younger siblings, she knew things to bring up and how to talk his son’s language better than him.

“It’s just how different you are with her.” Ian shrugged. “I don’t know. You’re happier. You deserve that. Like I said, Mom moved on, you should too.”

He really messed this up.

He should have waited before he jumped the gun.

“I’m glad you like her.”

“I do. But you know, like if she’s not someone you end up with, I get it. That’s your decision, but the fact you’re trying, that’s fire.”

“Fire?” he asked. He was pretty sure that was a good thing.

“Yeah. Stefan already thinks you’re jacked. I told him your girlfriend is hot. I found a picture of her on her website. He wants to come over when she’s here one day.”

He groaned.