Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (21 page)

“I don
’t know where to start with that line of reasoning. Listen, chalk it up to experience and go to bed.”

“Yeah
, alone again. This sucks.” Jess pushed off from the Jag and headed into the house.

Chapter Eleven

Bryan sat in the basement watching TV. As usual, Dev introduced him to a science fiction series, got him hooked, and lost interest himself in favor of hacking some online multiplayer game. He had five brothers and sisters at home, so it was easier to watch TV at Teri’s than fight for control at his house. Occasionally there was additional entertainment, Bryan smiled to himself as Jess came downstairs looking thoroughly dejected.

“She
’s going to the grave a virgin,” Jess moaned, slumping down on the sofa in the corner of the recreation room. He threw his jacket across the room, knocking over Bryan’s cymbals with a crash.

“If you
’re sexually frustrated go beat it in the shower, don’t take it out on the drums,” Bryan snapped at him.

“Sorry. You have no idea how lucky you are Brenda puts out.
”

“Hey!
”

“I mean puts up with you.
”

Bryan
eyed Jess irritably. “Don’t knock those of us smart enough to find a good girl, catch her, and make an effort to keep her. There are occasional perks.”

“Yeah. I
’ll tell you though, I’ve been taking matters into my own hands for too long. I’m not used to it.”

“Shower
, I told you.”

“I
’m doing it in the shower, doesn’t help. I’m raw.”

Bryan
considered Jess’s problem for a moment. Kenny had lube in his bedside drawer, but he’d be pissed if Jess used it all. He thought about the last time he’d been rubbed raw. That was Brenda’s fault, when she was learning hand-jobs.

“Oil.
”

“Come again?
”

“Cooking oil. Snag some from the kitchen. Bren used to use it for hand-jobs.
”

Jess nodded as he thought about that. “Thanks.
” He stood up and turned toward the stairs.

“What?
Now
?”

“So?
”

“That
’s pathetic.”

“Hey
, I’m not getting enough attention.”

“You said you were raw
, Jess. That means you’re giving it too much attention, knock it off.”

Jess sat back down and
Bryan turned his attention back to the show.

“What is this?
”

“Kind of a space-age version of
A Tale of Two Cities
.”

“Something Dev found?
”

“Yeah. Not bad really. Better than the original
, or maybe I just never got the hang of Dickens. Too wordy. This has half-naked aliens.”

“Female
, I hope.”

“Naturally.
”

Jess watched for a moment
, when none of the half-naked alien women appeared, he looked around. “If Dev found this, where is he?”

Bryan
shrugged. “Short attention span. He’s playing some computer game.”

Jess grinned. “Finally found his joystick?
”

Bryan
rolled his eyes before glaring at Jess. “He’s all right, leave him alone.”

“He
’s giving up the promise of half-naked women to play a computer game. That doesn’t concern you? He’s sixteen.”

“Some of the avatars in those games are hot.
”

“Ever caught him whacking off?
”

“No
, and I don’t try.”

Jess looked back over his shoulder at the short hallway leading off to the downstairs bedrooms. “He knows how
, right?”

Bryan
chuckled. “I’m sure he does. And, because you’re so interested, I’m sure he gets plenty of practice. If you’re worried, by all means go offer to teach him how.”

“I
’ll pass. You’re better with the brat so I’ll leave Dev in your capable hands. I didn’t mean that like it sounded,” Jess hastily amended. “I’ve really got to go.” He got up and headed upstairs.

Bryan
sighed and returned his attention to his show, ignoring Jess as he returned a couple of minutes later with a glass of vegetable oil.

• • •

Dev opened the door for Flynn the next morning. Flynn was there for Kenny and the band today, but Dev wore an anxious expression that probably had nothing to do with the band. Dev saw Teri after he dropped her off last night, but he was naïve and prone to over-reacting. No reason to panic, Flynn told himself.

“Take her out
,” Dev said.

“Been playing assassination games?
” Flynn joked as he entered.

“No
, take Mom on an outing. Like you used to before last night. The zoo maybe, it’s a nice day.”

“What are you up to?
” Flynn considered Dev, trying to find a motive. Mildly alarming thoughts came to mind. “Why do you need Teri out of the house? Who did what that you need time to cover up?”

“Why do adults always jump to conclusions?
” Dev scowled.

“Experience. Spill it.
”

Dev sighed and motioned Flynn into the dining room
, away from the entry and staircase leading upstairs where Teri might overhear.

“I saw her last night after you brought her home. She wasn
’t crying, that was a plus.”

“Like I would bring her home in tears.
”

“I know
, but I thought after you left, maybe . . . Cassie said Mom would be torn because she likes you but she liked Paul and he’s not here and you are and she’d have all these feelings of guilt about dating again. I didn’t see any of that.”

“And this is somehow a problem?
” Flynn failed to see where Dev was going with this.

“I thought the beginning would be the rough part
, from what Cassie said. You said girls are smart about some things, this seems like it’d be one of them.”

“So far your reasoning is sound
,” Flynn prompted Dev to continue and leaned against the dining room table to listen.

“Well you took her out a lot before as friends
, and it doesn’t seem like a good idea to break established patterns just because you’re dating. I mean that’s just one more change to deal with. So if you went out during the day, somewhere casual like friends, it might help Mom not feel guilty about Paul being dead and dating again because you’re still friends, not just dating. You know?”

“Let me see if I
’ve got this right: you’re concerned Teri’s going to feel guilt about dating me after Paul hired me then died.”

Dev gave a curt nod.

“So to help gloss over the dating portion of that, you’re proposing that I continue with the previous, friend-themed, outings to blur the line between the friendship we had and the new direction the relationship is taking.”

Dev nodded again.

“And this has nothing to do with needing to get either of us out of the house for any reason, or putting off working on
Yellow Dress
or
Are you happy now?
Both of those songs still need work.”

“I know
, and no. Kenny will probably kill me for this actually because he does want to work on them. I figure we’ve got time, but this thing with Mom might be more time sensitive. Plus, we’re going to have to learn to do it ourselves anyway. It’s not like we’d have to cancel our plans to play today, we’d just give it a shot without you and see where we end up. It might even be good to see what happens when we’re unsupervised.”

“I don
’t like the sound of that last remark. What are you two talking about?” Dev jumped as Teri walked into the dining room.

“Dev wants me to take you to the zoo instead of work with the band today. He
’s presenting some insightful arguments,” Flynn answered.

“Why do you want me out of the house?
” Teri asked, staring down her son. Flynn thought it was an interesting sight because she was shorter than he was.

“That was my first question too
,” Flynn answered before Dev could get too upset about the accusation. “Apparently the concern is unfounded. I’ll tell you about it on the way. Have you had breakfast yet?”

Teri reluctantly pulled her eyes from trying to read her son
’s mind to Flynn. “No, not yet. You?”

“Nope. Let
’s get breakfast first then, and we’ll leave the boys to their job. They have a long day ahead of them.” He stood up and pointed a warning finger at Dev. “Listen to Kenny and Bryan, play nice with Jess.”

“Is this about leaving them in charge?
” Dev bristled.

“No
, it’s about not wanting to find a decimated drum set when we get back. You have our numbers if anything pops up.” Flynn put a hand on Teri’s back and guided her to the entry.

“You can
’t be serious,” Teri asked him as he looked around for her purse.

“I
’ll tell you about it on the way.”

“I
’m calling Nicholas.”

“Hold off a second on that one
,” Flynn urged her, handing her the purse she carried the night before and shouldering her camera bag. “I assume this thing is packed?”

“Of course.
”

“All right
, off we go.” He opened the door and shooed her out in front of him.

Flynn relayed his conversation with Dev on the way to a restaurant for breakfast.

“I still don’t like them unsupervised.”

“On one hand I can see that
, on the other, the youngest in the house is sixteen, Teri. Who exactly is Nicholas babysitting? What do you think is going to happen?”

Flynn
’s question was answered when they returned that afternoon. He kept Teri successfully distracted all day from her initial worry about the kids being left home alone. Actually, Flynn found it so difficult restraining himself to holding her hand and casual touches that he was as distracted almost as much as she was. They picked up pizza on the way back, and returned to some sort of argument in the basement. Flynn wasn’t worried, if they were making changes to their songs, some debate was a given. Their method was just noisier.

Teri dashed downstairs to investigate the raised voices while Flynn took the pizzas to the kitchen. He barely set them down when she screamed.

Taking the stairs to the basement three at a time, Flynn stopped short as he surveyed the scene. Jess had his leg in a cast and was threatening Dev with one of his crutches. Dev had his shirt off, revealing taped ribs and had his right arm in a sling. He was giving Jess a truly venomous glare through Bryan, who was standing between them and clearly making an effort to keep them physically separated. Kenny was behind Dev, doing something to his back.

Flynn stepped up beside Teri
, the boys all looking sheepishly at them now instead of arguing, except Dev who refused to stop glaring at Jess.

“Teri
, I stand corrected. You were right, I was wrong. I should have let you call Nicholas. I apologize.” Flynn shook his head warningly at the boys. Even Dev stopped glaring at Jess and looked at Flynn, almost immediately dropping his eyes again with a guilty expression.

Now that the shock wore off
, Teri hurried to Dev’s side to examine the bandages Kenny was adjusting.

“What hurts
?” she demanded.

Dev stared at the floor
, his frame sagging miserably. “I’m fine.”

“Why is your back bandaged
? And your stomach?”

“I . . . fell on some glass and cracked a couple of ribs. Then I hurt my shoulder.
”

The sound of footsteps on the stairs delayed further questions as Teri looked up. Flynn turned to see Nicholas coming downstairs.

“Oh, you’re back, good.” He turned to Dev. “Can I have my phone back now?”

“It
’s under the pillow on Mom’s bed.”

“Thank you.
” Nicholas retreated upstairs.

“What happened?
” Teri demanded.

“Doesn
’t matter,” Dev responded.

“No comment
,” Jess answered at the same time.

Teri looked at Kenny. He fidgeted.

“Can we revisit the policy of you walking away when I say you don’t want know?”

“Dev has broken ribs
, his arm’s in a sling, and Jess has a broken leg. Kenny, I want to know!”

“Cracked
,” Dev corrected her without looking up from the floor.

Teri looked torn between outrage and tears
, and Flynn stepped forward to take her arm and pull her away from Dev. Facing her away from the boys, he whispered in her ear.

“Teri
, I suspect at least part of this involves something they’d prefer not to discuss with you. If you’d let me, I’d like to give it a shot.”