CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Several things happened all at once—the phone ringing, Boo's crying, Alex's deer-in-headlights look—and Ian went into action without any further thought.
"I can take him, if you want," he heard himself say, already taking a step closer but pausing to give Alex a choice.
They stared at each other for a second, then another, the noise increasing around them, until Alex nodded.
"Support his head," he muttered on auto-pilot, like millions of parents before him, and even when Boo was already transferred safely into Ian's arms—which Ian wasn't going to think about now, he was not—Alex still stood there for a moment, unmoving.
"I got this," Ian assured him. "I got Boo, we're going to be fine. Do what you need to do."
Then Boo cried louder right into his ear and Ian turned away, shifting the boy in his arms until they were looking at each other. "Hey, there. You've reached a hotline for the disgruntled and adorable, what seems to be a problem?"
There was another watery exhale, but the tears stopped as Boo stared at him, his mouth dropping open.
"Ah, right, you're into novelty, I almost forgot!
" Ian glanced at Alex, who had his phone in his hand but stood there staring at them.
"Go, it's fine. We're fine. Aren't we?" He turned to Boo again.
"What are you after, hm? Is it a new voice?
An unfamiliar face? I don't resemble your father or your grandma, that's for sure.
You, on the other hand, appear to be a proud bearer of the Reed genes.
Those eyes are a dead giveaway, but your hair's as pale as your dad's, too.
I haven't seen him in curls, though. Still, you're rocking them, and you know it, don't you?
A cutie like you usually learns pretty quickly they can use that cuteness to their advantage.
I'm glad you're too young to know it yet, because I bet I would be defenseless against it. "
Ian continued his babbling as he headed towards the living room area, adding a bit of a swaying motion to it. He was known as the baby whisperer among his friends and family, so this felt familiar. Comforting.
He smiled gently at Boo, who was still staring at him but clearly struggled with keeping his eyes open now.
"Oh, that tired you out, huh? It's fine, you can rest. You've probably had a very early morning, haven't you?"
Looking up, he saw Alex had retreated to the kitchen, leaning against the counter and nodding at something the other person was saying as he watched them from afar.
Then Alex's whole body went tense as he straightened, his jaw clenching. "What?" he snapped.
Boo whimpered, which Alex shouldn't be able to hear, and yet he froze, then headed quickly towards the staircase, gesturing at the upper level as he caught Ian's gaze.
Ian nodded before turning around for another stroll through the living room with Boo once again quiet in his arms.
Whoever it was, Alex had been apprehensive about speaking to them in the first place and whatever had been said had only made it worse.
Could it have something to do with whatever had Alex so on edge?
Ian had believed him when he'd said he didn't know of any concrete threats, but that didn't mean there weren't any.
And with a big secret like the one Alex was currently hiding from the world, Ian wouldn't be surprised if someone sold that story to the highest bidder at the first opportunity.
Especially if his suspicions were correct and Boo's mom was none other than Emily Whyle.
While he hadn't followed Alex's career before getting hired as his private detail, Ian had done his research afterwards and learned a lot about the band's history.
He'd also heard some of it from Alex himself, a story here and there over the span of several assignments, but it had always been obvious to Ian that Alex offered him a cleaned-up version of what had happened.
Maybe not as edited and polished as one he'd tell a member of the press, but still pretty generous given the fact that there'd been some wild speculation back when the trio had called it quits seemingly out of the blue nearly five years ago now.
Alex had switched into his solo career, recording two albums since that time and touring a lot until he'd announced he was taking a break last year.
Emily had mostly faded away from the spotlight, moving to producing tracks instead.
It was the last one of the trio, Connor Douglas, whose career had gone down in flames after the band's break-up, with cycles of DUIs, drunken fights, and stints in expensive rehab facilities.
Ian hadn't heard or seen any mention of him in months, which could be good news for the guy or… the opposite.
If Alex had ever mentioned Emily or Connor at all, it was usually in regards to the early years of their career—or even before that, since a tale of three friends stumbling into stardom was always an exciting one.
Whatever it was that ultimately tore them apart was clearly a painful topic, so Ian had never probed that bruise. Never had any reason to.
But maybe he did have a reason, now.
Maybe the past wasn't really the past, if it could resurface in a way that left Alex a single father, hiding from the world.
Or maybe it was all in Ian's head. Maybe he'd heard a mention of a long-time friend and instead of regaining any professionalism he'd fallen straight into jealousy he had no business feeling.
With a sigh, he gathered Boo closer and slowly sat down on the couch.
"Go us," Ian whispered when the boy pressed his face against Ian's neck and slumped into him fully.
Ignoring the warmth that spread through him at the easy trust of a small human being, completely dependent on others at this stage, Ian stared at the art piece hanging above the TV, some abstract thing he could never understand or take seriously, even if given an elaborate explanation.
Then, Ian's phone pinged with a text notification and he swallowed back a groan when he saw it was from Clay.
I leave you alone for a fay and this is what happens???
Ian sighed. Not my fault, so keep your judgy eyebrows to yourself.
Need anything?
Just like that, Ian's shoulders dropped. Clay might have Opinions about Alex and how everything had gone down—what little he knew about it, at least—but at the end of the day, he was Ian's partner and he was always ready to help him out.
He was also more experienced at solo assignments than anyone else Ian knew.
He'd worked alone as personal detail to the former president's son for a decade, and that had been abroad on top of everything else.
He knew all about the responsibility and the blurred lines, even if those two had never blurred them in the way Alex and Ian had.
It's a lean set-up, only me with Kalei on the other end. If you have any pearls of wisdom from your time in Switzerland, I'm all ears.
After sending that, Ian watched as the tell-tale three dots appeared and disappeared, again and again. Clay was clearly struggling to come up with a reply, which was unlike him.
Finally, it came.
It's good that you have Kalei on the other end.
Use him whenever you need another ear. And you WILL need it.
I know I'm about to come off like a total hypocrite, but the clearer boundaries you can maintain, the better.
You're already in too deep, and we both know it, so it's even more important than usual, okay?
An op like that can pull you in way too easily.
Boo's little hand curled around the edge of his shirt's collar and Ian glanced down at him, sleeping peacefully.
Too late, Ian thought as he dropped the phone and closed his eyes. Too fucking late.