Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series)

by Tori Brooks

  “What?” Dev asked when he saw her.

  “Under control, be elsewhere please.” Flynn motioned them away and Teri heard the pound of footsteps as the kids went downstairs.

  “You’re safe.”

  “They shouldn’t see me like this,” she sniffled.

  “It’s just a reminder that you’re still working things out. It’s not a bad thing and, for the most part, you’re getting better.”

  Teri looked at him. “For the most part?” Then she noticed he was holding the picture Paul took of her.

  “Was this taken in Miami?”

  Teri nodded.

  “It’s a good picture of you. Paul took it?”

  Teri nodded again and pulled away. Paul told her how, when she was angry with him, that picture tormented him. He loved it because she was holding a camera and smiling, but hated knowing she was smiling because she’d just taken a good shot of Flynn. Considering Flynn’s unknowing involvement in the picture, and Paul’s worry about him as competition, finding comfort in his arms now seemed like a betrayal.

  Thankfully Flynn didn’t push the issue. He set the photo down and made Teri look at him again.

  “I think it’s time for a field trip.”

  Teri didn’t know what to say.

  “This weekend we’re going to . . . well, I’m divided between dragging you to the zoo, the waterfront, and the airport.”

  “It’s the second of March,” Teri said in disbelief.

  “So?”

  “It’s cold outside.”

  “So the airport? Okay,” he shrugged.

  “And do what?”

  “Surely you know what an airport is.”

  “Yes, and we’re not getting on a plane and going anywhere, so what’s the point?”

  “Killjoy,” Flynn grinned. “Actually I was thinking of Airport Bingo.”

  “Airport Bingo?”

  “It’s not conventional bingo. You make the bingo card at one airport, nothing obvious like ‘gift shop’, that might as well just be a free space. Things like ‘girl in hot pink mini’ or ‘turquoise necklace’ or ‘drunk pilot’ and then switch cards at the next airport. There are two airports, but we’ll do it all at one in the interest of time.”

  “You play this?”

  “All the time when I’m flying with the band. We had blank cards printed. Descriptions had to fit in the box so you couldn’t get too technical and make it impossible. Zane bought a magnifying glass so he could write smaller. Drew almost strangled him for that. It was in Tokyo, I think. Then Charlie started getting really specific, like ‘Scrimshaw necklace: $250 Canadian’ when we were flying out of Canada. Zane got that card. Everything was in Canadian Dollars so he just conceded on the spot. He retaliated with advertisements for specific local events or attractions and made sure Charlie got his card next time.”

  “And you want the boys to play this?”

  “I assume Cassie and Tiffany will come too. And Bryan’s girlfriend. I haven’t met her yet. What’s her name again?”

  “Brenda. Who’s breaking up the resulting fight between Jess and Dev?”

  “Cassie,” Flynn said cheerfully and Teri laughed.

  “Is it safe to come up yet?” Dev called from the stairs.

  “Sure, baby, come on in,” Teri called.

  “Mom, don’t call me ‘baby.’ I keep telling you.”

  “Just keep reminding me, sweetheart, I’m bound to remember eventually.”

  Dev edged into the room, giving first Teri, then Flynn, nervous looks.

  “You’re safe. I’m done,” Teri assured him. She felt bad for making him worry.

  “You were laughing.”

  “Flynn wants to take us to the airport this weekend.”

  “Or the zoo,” Flynn added.

  “It’s March. It’s too cold for the zoo,” Dev frowned.

  “What is it with this family and the cold?” Flynn asked in mock exasperation.

  “I’m asthmatic. Cold air makes it worse,” Dev answered.

  “Okay fine, the airport.”

  Teri giggled at the blank look on her son’s face.

  “I’m going to teach you a very important travel survival skill: Airport Bingo. I’ll have to print off the rules, there’s something like eleven pages of them now.”

  “You’re serious? For Bingo?” Teri asked.

  “We’re very competitive. There’s no point having them duplicating old arguments, it’s like a bad remake. They have to invent new mischief. I’m sure they’re up to the task.”

  “I’m sure,” Teri agreed.

  “Bingo? Sounds lame,” Dev said, leaning against the wall and frowning.

  “Like so many things in life, Dev,” Flynn said with a grin. “It all depends on how you interpret the rules."

  • • •

  “So, how did the field trip to the airport go?” Nicholas asked Flynn a few days later, then realized it was a pointless question considering the kids’ laughter that filled the entry.

  “I think we’ll do that again,” Flynn answered.

  “I’m glad you can have fun at an airport. Did you get many murderous glares from passengers stuck with a layover?”

  “More than a few. They did pretty good. ‘Woman with layover between Denver and Anchorage’ was one of Dev’s. Very clever of him, he added it just before the plane to Anchorage boarded.”

  “We need to add a new rule about time sensitive additions,” Jess complained.

  “Oh, like your ‘For a good time call Carrie’ box was such a hot idea. Tiffany got your card. How was she supposed to check the men’s rooms?” Cassie demanded.

  “I said I was sorry. I thought one of the guys would get it and have to check all the men’s rooms stalls. It would have taken forever.” Jess held up his hands in surrender.

  “Okay so new rule about nothing in the bathrooms?” Tiffany asked.

  “Wait a sec, what if that only applies if we’re a mixed group? I mean, it wasn’t a bad idea,” Jess argued.

  “Except now you’ve given everyone the idea, Jess. Dev is going to find a way to one-up you on that, you know it,” Brenda pointed out. Jess looked around at Dev. He just smiled back.

  “Fine, bathrooms are out of bounds.”

  “Chicken,” Dev muttered.

  “All right, I take it back. Bring it on, boy genius.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Tell me again how this was a good idea.” Nicholas pulled Flynn into the kitchen where Teri was already inspecting the options for dinner.

  “Teri, how many pictures did you get?” Flynn asked her.

  “A ton. I can’t believe I caught the one where Bryan and Brenda were kissing and Dev dumped his soda on them. Missed Tiff’s reaction to Jess’s card, unfortunately. I heard she slapped him.”

  “There’s always the monorail.”

  “What is there to do on the monorail? Never mind, I’m in.”

  “Atta girl.” Flynn nodded in approval and turned to Nicholas. “How did the magazine emergency that conveniently came up so you couldn’t join us go?”

  “False alarm as it turns out. It was really too bad,” Nicholas answered.

  “I can see you’re heartbroken. Count you in for the monorail next weekend?” Flynn asked.

  “Deadlines, unfortunately.”

  “You have the worst luck.”

  “Yeah, care to join me in my office?” Nicholas motioned for Flynn to follow.

  “You don’t have an office,” Teri reminded him.

  “Which is why I’m borrowing yours.”

  “I might start using that again.”

  “I can only dream. Have the girls make dinner. I picked up shrimp and a pineapple on the way home. They’ll know what to do with them.” Nicholas headed off and Flynn followed along.

  Teri’s office was on the first floor, right off the entry. Originally a large closet, Allen moved a wall and incorporated the wasted space under the stairs to enlarge it. It still wasn’t much bigger than the
storage area it was intended to be, but Teri made efficient use of the space.

  Nicholas closed the door and indicated Flynn should take a seat at Teri’s small computer desk. Flynn sat and looked around. Other than the small desk and chair, the space was set up like a dark room.

  “Teri’s almost entirely digital now, she rarely uses this as a dark room anymore,” Nicholas answered Flynn’s unasked question. “She’s got her computer, scanner, printer, and some filing here. Everything else is at the studio. I didn’t sequester you for the tour. I gather you talked her into letting you take Dev.”

  “You had doubts?”

  “He’s her baby, you’re new.”

  “I’m really good with women. Plus I had some valid arguments.”

  “Fair enough. Now, about Teri.”

  “I’ve been a perfect gentleman.”

  “I know. When does it end?”

  “When it’s time. It’s not. There’s no real time frame here.”

  “You got her out of the house and laughing.”

  “It’s a stretch to go from field trips to dates.”

  “All right, just checking.”

  “I would say I’d warn you, but I’m not sure how much warning I’ll have. If the time seems right, I’ll take it. It’s not yet.”

  “I’d appreciate it if you could keep me in the loop on that.”

  “I will,” Flynn promised.

  • • •

  The chance for a private outing with Teri came sooner than Flynn expected. The next evening brought a storm that took out the power for portions of Seattle, including Teri’s house. Nicholas and Flynn went outside to get wood to build a fire and Flynn noticed a dazzling lightning show in the distance. He pointed it out to Nicholas.

  “Think you can handle the kids for a while?”

  “Kidnapping Teri?”

  “Just for a bit. Casual but sans kids. A nice, slow start.”

  “Like a predator stalking prey,” Nicholas nodded, juggling firewood while gracelessly opening the door. “Tell me again why we’re doing this instead of the boys?”

  “I have no idea. Point out the error of their ways.” Flynn unloaded an armful of firewood by the fireplace at the end of the living room and started adding newspaper and kindling to build a fire.

  “Teri,” he called as the fire started to catch. She came in holding a candle.

  “I was just lighting the scented candles in the bathrooms. They’re in jars so we can leave them burning for a while.” She started to pass by but Flynn stopped her.

  “Let the girls do it. Grab your camera, there’s a lightning show you should see.”

  “But the power’s out.”

  “So you won’t miss anything here. Camera. I want to see how you can apply your unique talents to a bolt of lightning.”

  Flynn stood up and looked at her. She was tempted, but still reluctant.

  “Nicholas can hold down the fort. Grab your camera or I’ll have Bryan start practicing drum solos.”

  Teri held up her hands in surrender, and ran off to fetch her camera bag.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Kenny asked from behind him. Flynn jumped.

  “Keeping it casual but, yes, adult time without you sneaking about is a good idea. She took G-rated pictures yesterday at the airport, let’s see if I can get her to twist the lightning a bit.”

  “Not exactly accidental porn if you photo-shop it.”

  “One step at a time. Help Nicholas hold down the fort, will you? I’d hate to show her a great time and bring her home to find the house burning down.”

  “We’ll save the guitars.”

  “Screw the guitars, save your notebooks. Maybe work on your lyrics. Write a love song for a change.”

  “Um, not into that.” Kenny paused for a moment. “Dev used to write poems for Jess, until he found out he was using them to get laid.”

  “Draft him to write lyrics then. Use your resources. Love song. Go.”

  Kenny smiled and walked off as Teri returned.

  “Well, are you coming?” she demanded, pulling on a jacket.

  Per Teri’s direction, Flynn drove to a park overlooking the storm and Lake Washington.

  “This should work. Come hold the umbrella,” Teri ordered, stepping out into the rain.

  Flynn dutifully stepped out and grabbed the large umbrella Teri packed. He held it over her as she set up a tripod, using Flynn’s SUV as a windbreak. Flynn struggled to keep the umbrella from being blown out of his hands or turned inside-out, and decided finally to hold the edges instead of the handle. He was getting soaked in the process, but Teri and the camera were relatively dry.

  “I’m not really set up for shooting storms. There are all sorts of little rain shields and everything you can get that I never bothered with,” she explained as she focused the camera on a sailboat lashed to a private dock.

  “First thing on your to do list when the power comes back up,” Flynn suggested.

  “Actually, first thing will be to dry off and warm up.”

  “I thought artists sacrificed for their art,” he teased.

  “Already sold my firstborn to The Devil. I’ve been meaning to mention it to her.”

  “Cassie will take it well, she rolls with it.”

  “Like you putting Jess back on her trail?”

  Flynn winced. “You noticed that? Don’t worry, I talked to Cassie about it first.”

  “Were you going to mention it to me?”

  “No. I’m The Devil in this scenario. I’m dangling Cassie in front of Jess to teach him to behave. Kenny’s a good example of working for what you want. He wants to be a rock star and nothing on this planet is going to stop him. Jess is just floating. Remember that brain you suspected he might have? Hopefully we’ll start seeing it.”

  “And when he doesn’t get the girl?”

  “I told him it was a long shot. She’s onto him, he has to work twice as hard for even a chance.”

  “She leaves for college in the fall.”

  “He knows. What’s more, one of the steps is to obtain and keep a steady girlfriend, show her he can make a commitment. Cassie wouldn’t be interested otherwise.”

  “So you hope experimenting with longer term relationships will ease the blow of not getting Cassie?”

  Flynn caught the dangerous direction the conversation was headed. It was a no-win topic from the beginning, but Teri wasn’t as easily sold on an abstract idea as Jess. Worse, protective maternal instincts were starting to creep in.

  Flynn sighed, trying to sound as if he didn’t like the idea either. “It’s a complex and delicate situation with Jess. To be honest, Kenny’s out of ideas and it seemed like the best option available. Short of chemical castration, which was your son’s idea by the way, can you think of something better?”

  “Chemical castration? Dev?”

  “Don’t tell him I told you, it was before I got here. Apparently he wanted to covertly medicate Jess and make him impotent. Kenny and Bryan came down on him pretty hard for the idea.”

  “Devin suggested that?” Teri turned and looked at him, horrified.

  “Don’t over react.”

  “Over react? You’re kidding, right?”

  “Teri, we’re looking at it from a different level of experience than Dev. He doesn’t view sex the same way. To him it’s not important. More to the point, it’s a problem. Wow, that might come back to bite him sometime,” Flynn mused.

  “What do you mean?” Teri clicked the shutter release as a series of lightning bolts streaked the sky.

  “Never mind. He’s not interested enough in girls yet to have intimacy issues. Just a passing thought.”

  “So back to experience levels,” Teri hedged. “No offense, but you and Jess strike me as a lot alike.”

  “I can’t dispute that,” Flynn admitted. He didn’t like this turn in the conversation either. Still, it was better to get any reservations about his widely publicized sexuality addressed early. With any luck, an
y lingering concerns would be forgotten by the time he started pursuing an actual relationship.

  “Did you consider just talking to him as the voice of experience? That’s what you’re here for.”

  “It was my first thought. Jess doesn’t have the life experience we do. I can explain how it was when I was young, being able to pick any girl from a crowd and wake up with her in my bed the next morning. It’s hard to explain how it destroyed serious relationships later to someone who’s never had a relationship they cared about. Teri, how can I explain I regret that I was what he is?”

  “I can’t answer that. I understand loss, but I wasn’t promiscuous.”

  “Even if it breaks his heart to try for Cassie and fail, it’ll be worth it. When he’s hurting, he’ll have a foundation of understanding when I tell him about my experience later. The next time someone special comes along he’ll be better prepared.”

  “You’re taking this personally.”

  “The situation with Jess I am,” Flynn realized. “In a way it’s good for me. I’ve struggled with the same problem most my life. It’s rough for Jess to change, but it’s harder for me. He’s trying to be good. I can’t very well go date every hot model and actress in Seattle and expect him to listen to my advice.”

  “Can I ask you something personal?” Teri turned and looked at Flynn again.

  He nodded. “Sure.”

  “How long?”

  “Oh, love, you’re going to want to clarify that. ‘Long’ is a term that can apply to different units of measurement,” Flynn smiled in spite of himself. He couldn’t see Teri blush in the dim light, but her posture implied it.

  “In terms of time. How long has it been since you’ve been with a woman?”

  “Ah, I was pretty sure you weren’t asking for the first few things that came to mind. Not since before Tim called to tell me about Paul. That’s a record.”

  Teri turned back to her camera and repositioned it.

  “Are you okay?” Flynn asked when she was silent too long.

  “I think so. Are you?”

  “Are you asking if I’m going to survive the drought?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m worried about Jess. I’ll make it.”

  Teri considered him with surprise. “Is that why you’re at the house a lot? Avoiding temptation?”