by Tori Brooks
Kenny rebounded from the surprise, slipping his hands around her waist and pulling her closer. Her lips were soft against his and he was suddenly aware that she smelled like sunshine. He breathed deep, her scent, her warmth, her softness all filtered into the back of his mind as he focused on the sensuality of her lips. Just her lips: the way they softly gave against his, letting their mouths mold together; the way her lips moved, parted, danced across his. Her tongue gently teased his and Kenny was ready to deepen the magic of their first kiss, but it ended.
Alicia stepped away after a minute with a satisfied smile. Kenny wasn’t sure what to expect next and watched her apprehensively. She reached behind her and unzipped her dress, letting it fall to her feet, and slipped out of her sandals. Underneath she had on a strapless bra and matching panties, both the same butter yellow as the dress. Kenny rethought his earlier negative opinion of the color.
Stepping back into his arms, Alicia pulled Kenny’s T-shirt off him and let her fingers skim across his chest as she kissed him again. Again her lips danced across Kenny’s and he was ready to consume her when she ended it. He pulled her back when she started to step away again, and Alicia laughed.
Kenny wished he’d paid more attention to Jess’s moves now. He wasn’t sure if he was reading Alicia’s signals right, and how to proceed if he was. She came from a conservative family; her father was a minister, so this was more than a little unexpected. If she were anyone else, Kenny wouldn’t have doubts. She was right though, they’d been friends for a long time. He knew her better than any other girl, to the point he’d completely overlooked her gender.
Alicia allowed him to kiss her again, and he felt warmth in the pit of his stomach as he slid his tongue along hers. Holding her face so she couldn’t escape again, Kenny gently explored her mouth. He felt Alicia shift and her lips faltered for a moment when she reached behind her and unfastened her bra. When she dropped the bra to the floor, Kenny looked, he couldn’t help himself. Then he immediately remembered Teri saying women hated it when men stared at their breasts. He looked back up at Alicia’s face apologetically. She laughed and took his hands, placing them squarely on her breasts.
With barely a hesitation, Kenny let his left hand slide down to the small of her back and brought her firmly against him. He turned in place and lifted Alicia onto the desk. Her knees fell to the side and she wrapped her legs around him as he kissed her desperately.
“Is that what I think it is?” she laughed, pushing her pubis against the bulge in Kenny’s jeans.
“I don’t know what else you expected. Coming in here and getting half-naked like this,” he answered, pinching a nipple lightly between his fingers.
“It’s exactly what I expected actually. Hoped for. There was a theory tossed out there that you were gay.”
“Not gay.” Kenny slipped a hand into her panties and felt the neatly trimmed patch of hair there. That surprised him. Alicia didn’t do more than brush her hair and pull it into a ponytail. She pushed forward and stood up, pushing her panties down and unbuttoning Kenny’s jeans.
“Prove it,” she challenged.
Kenny caught her face before she pushed his jeans down and made her face him. Her brown eyes were familiar, but there was something new there too.
“We should have hooked up a long time ago, Kenny. We have a lot of time and firsts to make up for before you go off to be a big star and I head off to college.” She kissed him, pressing her breasts against his chest.
Kenny caved.
Later, as Alicia snuggled against him running her fingers across his chest, Kenny questioned their friendship over the last few years. Alicia was never a distraction. She always understood him. Kenny rolled to the side, but kept Alicia in his arms. Why didn’t he see it before? Why didn’t he see her before? He kissed her softly. She was right, they had a lot of time to make up for.
• • •
Teri met Flynn and Dev at the gate when the plane landed. Dev looked around to see if anyone came with her, and his face fell when he didn’t see any familiar faces. She couldn’t reasonably expect her teenage son to simply be happy to see her, but it was always a hope.
“Kenny’s waiting with the car,” Teri smiled and ruffled his hair.
“Mom!” Dev complained, immediately running his fingers through his short hair to smooth it out again.
“Yeah, Teri, what were you thinking?” Flynn laughed. “Tussling hair like this is just so uncool.” Flynn reached over and messed up Dev’s hair again. Dev punched him in the arm before smoothing his hair a second time.
“So you both survived. That’s good to see,” Teri laughed. She turned to Flynn as they started walking through the terminal. “How’s Tim?”
“Fine. We had a chat. It wouldn’t kill him to laugh every now and again.”
“Oh, I heard it once. It was . . . well, it was weird,” Teri thought back to when Dev first got drafted for this modeling job. Paul was with her, and she pushed the memory aside.
“I can imagine,” Flynn said. “Actually, no, I can’t. I just can’t picture it. Maybe once the boys get their stage show refined, I’ll drag Tim out and see if they can make him smile.”
“Why?” Dev asked, looking at Flynn like he’d lost his mind and Teri had to agree with her son’s assessment of the idea.
“It’s easy for you guys to appeal to teens. The girls will want to sleep with you and the guys will want to be you. It’s harder to impress a critic. Make Tim smile and you’ll have that in the bag.”
“So will I get to see this great show too?” Teri asked. Dev ducked to the other side of Flynn, presumably to be out of reach lest she try to mess up his hair again.
“You’ve seen what they’ve done so far, right?” Flynn asked.
“With Jess crashing into the drums or Dev kicking him or hitting him with cables, sheet music or cymbals? Yes, it reminds me of the old black and white slapstick comedy shows.”
Flynn laughed. “That’s fair. Give us some time and then see how much they’ve improved.” He turned to Dev, “Have you been thinking creatively?”
Dev grinned.
“Oh, I don’t like the look of that,” Teri said.
“Nonsense, let boys be boys.” Flynn shrugged it off. Right, she was supposed to roll with it.
They retrieved their bags and headed out to where Kenny waited in the driver’s seat. Tossing the luggage in the back, Dev called shotgun and Teri shrugged, letting him ride up front. When Kenny had Dev absorbed in listening to the news of the past couple of days, Teri turned quietly to Flynn.
“So, you watched, what did you think?”
“Tim’s meeting Oskar this week to pitch developing the campaign a different direction.”
“It was bad?”
“We’re not sure how much it’s hurting, but it certainly isn’t helping. I had no idea what to expect. His stress levels surprised the hell out of me. Don’t worry, we’re handling it.”
Tears welled in Teri’s eyes. She let her son take this job, she should have paid more attention. Protecting him was her responsibility.
“Don’t do it,” Flynn warned her softly.
She bit her bottom lip and tried to pull herself together.
“Tim seemed upset you got rid of the snakes.”
“What?” Teri opened her eyes and looked at him with the sudden change in conversation.
“The pets, Tim didn’t know you’d gotten rid of everything but the cat. Honestly, I still haven’t seen the cat. Are you sure it’s still there?”
“The food gets eaten and Jess is still on litter box duty.”
“Just Jess?”
“In theory it rotates through the kids, but Jess always ends up doing it.”
“I don’t think I’m going to pursue that,” Flynn shook his head.
“You’re just trying to keep me from breaking out in tears.”
“It worked. I’m just glad I didn’t have to resort to Plan C.”
“What was Plan C?”
&n
bsp; Flynn grinned. “If there’s one thing that Drew taught me on tour, it’s if you run out of answers to tough questions, just start taking off your clothes. It ends all discussions.”
Teri laughed loud enough to attract Dev and Kenny’s attention in the front seat.
“What’s so funny?” Dev demanded.
“One of Flynn’s tricks that he’s not going to teach you,” Teri replied firmly, looking at Flynn.
“Flynn?” Dev asked.
“You expect me to fight with her? Hell no, you have to figure some things out for yourself,” Flynn smiled at him. Dev turned around again with a huff.
“You don’t need to worry,” Flynn told Teri quietly. “Not that I would tell him, but that Dev wouldn’t do it. That kid loves his wardrobe. Now Jess, on the other hand . . .”
“Oh I shudder to think of what kind of question would prompt Jess to undress instead of answering.”
“Everything. He’d get a reputation as an exhibitionist.”
• • •
Flynn sat discussing instruments with Kenny at the dining room table a week later. Catalogs, specification sheets, and sketches of the band’s name and proposed logos with color swatches were scattered around. Kenny wanted the guitars to match. Because the neck on Dev’s guitar broke the night before in a scuffle with Jess, he figured now would be as good a time as any to upgrade their instruments and also go wireless. It was probably mostly to keep Dev from tripping Jess anymore, but Flynn approved nonetheless. He listened to Kenny’s argument with amusement when Teri appeared beside him.
“Can I talk to you? Later, when you’re not busy?”
He fervently hoped she didn’t notice surprise, knowing, and smugness cross Kenny’s face in rapid succession.
“We’re done.” Kenny got up, left the spec sheets and sketches on the table, and disappeared downstairs.
“Apparently now is fine,” Flynn smiled.
“He’s probably afraid I’m going to break down again,” Teri sat in Kenny’s empty chair.
“Are you?” Flynn made a show of looking her over. She smiled.
“No. I know better than to start crying in front of you anyway. You always distract me and pull me out of it.”
“Is that bad?”
“No, it’s not. I wanted to thank you actually. You’ve helped me keep it together, and I know that’s not really your job here.”
Flynn briefly considered admitting that it was but dismissed it. “How are you doing?”
“I’m functional, that’s a start.”
“A plus, I agree. Tim asked how you were doing.” He gauged her reaction. She just nodded, but no sign of tears.
“What did you tell him?”
“You were getting out of the house a bit and taking pictures again.”
“When you drag me out.”
“You’re allowing it.”
“You mentioned before he was upset I got rid of the pets. Why?”
Flynn hesitated. He had the pictures and plans for the cabin in Vermont at his place and he told Tim he’d tell Teri about Paul’s planned birthday present. This was as good a lead in as any and it would get the emotional impact out of the way before her birthday. Of course, she might remember it on her birthday and get a delayed reaction in addition to the one he was bound to get now. Still, the knowledge that Paul planned so far ahead might be some comfort.
“Grab a jacket, let’s go for a drive,” Flynn decided, standing up. Teri looked at him, slightly confused, but stood and went to grab her shoes, coat and purse.
“I need a quick word with Kenny,” Flynn told her and went downstairs. Kenny was at his little desk with a guitar, trying to write his own lyrics to a love song. Flynn assumed Alicia finally acted on his carefully worded hints. Good for them.
“I’m taking Teri out for a bit. Tim gave me some information to pass on that’s going to upset her.”
“So why not do it here?”
“Two reasons: I don’t want Dev to see it when he gets home from school and the papers she’s going to want to see are at my place. I could put it off and bring them by later, but she’s walking into it and I might as well get it over with. Just FYI.
“Also, you’ll be alone in the house for a while if Alicia happens by.”
Kenny nodded and blushed slightly. Flynn suppressed a smile and returned upstairs to find Teri waiting. He opened the front door for her and escorted her to his car. Holding open the door on her side, he waited until she was settled before closing it and sliding behind the wheel.
“So, new car?”
“No, I’ve had this one for a while. I waited until the weather was better to have it sent out.”
“A Jag?”
Flynn grinned at her as he started it up. He loved the purr of the engine.
“Boys and their toys,” she sighed dramatically. He laughed.
“This is more than a toy, love. This car makes a statement.”
“It’s a convertible. I think the statement is that it belongs in California.”
“Not the statement I was thinking of.”
“It’s outrageously expensive and says that you have the means to afford a car you can only enjoy part of the year,” Teri tried again.
“Yes, it is a declaration of affluence I suppose, but so are so many other cars that you can’t hold that against it.”
“So, being flashy.”
“No. I can be flashy in almost anything. I could probably pull it off in Kenny’s very unsexy van. I have a Jaguar because, despite the initial and ongoing costs associated with it, it’s a pleasure to drive. It’s too bad we don’t have far to go.”
“Where are we going? It just occurred to me you didn’t have me bring a camera.”
“I doubt you’ll need one. We’re stopping by my place.”
Teri paused. “Why?”
“Tim and I talked about a lot of things. There was a little something that technically you know about, but he needs to bring to your attention regardless. It’s going to upset you, and I told him I’d handle it. There’s something I need to show you.”
“At your condo?”
“Don’t sound so suspicious. I didn’t mention it when I got back because it’s a question of timing. I wasn’t prepared so some papers are at my place. I could have put it off, but now seems better. Plus, if it does upset you, Dev won’t see it if you’re not home.”
“You warned Kenny.”
“Yes.”
Teri was silent for a while. Flynn debated how long to let her think. She seemed apprehensive, but she had a chance to steel her nerves. He hoped giving her advance warning would soften the blow.
Flynn pulled into the condos and into his garage. Hopping out quickly to get the door for Teri, he led her from the garage to the kitchen, took her coat and settled her in the living room.
“So, you’ve got an apartment in New York too?” Teri called as he hung up their coats.
“Yes, want anything? I do keep a couple of Dr. Peppers on hand.”
“For me?”
“Dev drinks them too.”
“I’m fine. I didn’t know the boys came to your place.”
“Occasionally. Mostly Kenny and Jess. I suspect Jess was looking for alcohol. He was disappointed.”
Flynn returned and pulled a manila envelope from a stack of papers on a desk. He returned to sit on the sofa by Teri, making sure he wasn’t too close.
“Not into promoting underage drinking?” Teri asked nervously.
“Not into promoting drinking. It was one of the more interesting addictions to break.”
“I can see where Jess might be a concern.”
“Jess would just drink to party, at least that’s his current mindset. Kenny would be more likely to drink to relax and I’m more concerned about that. It means he’d drink alone. I gave them both the ‘please don’t make the same mistakes I did’ lecture and we’ll hope it holds. As addictions go, it’s common and beatable. It’s just difficult when you’re around everyone else drin
king all the time.”
“So what made it interesting?”
“Not drinking when you’re around everyone else. At first I tried to be subtle, I drank a Coke. Everyone assumed it was mixed with rum. Unfortunately, bartenders frequently made the same assumption so I was constantly handed a rum and Coke. So I tried being obvious. Milk, can’t get more obvious than that, right?” Flynn shook his head as he remembered. “I singlehandedly reignited the fashion to drink White Russians, which was ironic because I don’t care for them. So, water. That got people concerned, they thought I was drinking my vodka straight and kept trying to intervene.”
“So what do you drink now?”
“Coffee. Although I’ve been known to carry a glass of champagne at events as a prop.”
“Ever fall off the wagon?”
“Several times. Now, done avoiding the issue?” Flynn didn’t want to admit she was the reason more than once. He needed to move on to a safer topic.
Teri fidgeted and nodded.
“Fine.” He handed her the envelope. “Paul wishes you an early Happy Birthday.”
• • •
Teri’s hand trembled as she took the envelope from Flynn. She stared at it for a moment.
“It’s pictures of the cabin he left you in the will. Well, Lexi officially.”
“I don’t . . .” Teri stopped. She didn’t what? Want to know? Believe it? Understand? She looked at Flynn for direction. He was watching her. She looked away, feeling like he was taking notes or judging her reaction. She didn’t want to be here, at Flynn’s place. It made her feel uneasy, like he expected something.
“Apparently Paul came across a broken down cabin while he was up in Vermont last summer. He bought it, and had it remodeled as a cozy little vacation place for the two of you.”
Teri just nodded, still unable to open the envelope.
“You don’t have to look if you don’t want to. The project’s finished now. I’ve seen the pictures and descriptions. Do you want me to just tell you about it?”
She set the envelope on the coffee table in front of her and nodded. Listening as Flynn described the cabin, Teri tried to imagine why Tim wanted her to see it now. When Flynn mentioned the old dilapidated shed and barn that Paul specifically ordered be left alone, tears finally filled her eyes. Flynn handed her a tissue and continued. She knew why Paul left the collapsed buildings alone, hearing Flynn mention hunting for snakes and lizards was just too much. He caught her in his arms as she completely broke down.
