Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series)

by Tori Brooks

  Teri laughed. “All right, it’s a date.”

  Flynn smiled at her, that intense look in his eye again. “It’s about time you realized that,” he said softly.

  He pushed open the front door and guided her through the doorway with a hand in the small of her back. Teri turned and looked back at him in wide eyed shock. That look — she’d seen it repeatedly, and now — a date?

  “Good night.” Flynn smiled and closed the door as he left, leaving Teri inside staring after him in surprise.

  • • •

  “Dev, I’d like a word,” Flynn pulled Dev aside as the boys headed into the house. Bryan hesitated, but Flynn waved him on and he reluctantly followed Jess inside. Dev sat on the country swing hanging on the front porch and turned to Flynn, no sign on his face that he knew what was coming. It didn’t surprise Flynn. He sat on the low brick wall that edged the porch and faced the young man in front of him.

  He was thinner than usual, taking on a gangly, stretched-out look from growing too fast. Even with the added height, he had a youthful, little boy look about him. His face had an innocence he’d probably never fully shake. Too much of it was genuine, a surprising amount considering how much time he spent with Jess.

  “Dev, you know I’ve spent a lot of time with Teri when I’m not with you guys.”

  “Yeah. Jess said it’s why she’s not crying anymore.”

  Flynn chuckled softly and shook his head. “I suppose. What else did Jess say?”

  “Not a lot. Kenny hit him with a Frisbee,” Dev shrugged.

  “I hate to destroy your innocence, but did you question why Kenny hit Jess with a Frisbee?”

  “I used to, but then he hits me with a Frisbee,” Dev shrugged again.

  Flynn nodded in acknowledgment. “All right, I can see you’re learning from experience. Although I’m surprised you let Kenny get away with it.” Dev got the expected glimmer of impending trouble in his eye and looked at Flynn critically.

  “Are you suggesting I stop listening to Kenny?”

  “Are you trying to pretend you ever really did?”

  Dev grinned.

  “You’re missing things when Kenny tells you to drop it. I know I’m opening a can of worms by telling you this, but you’re a smart kid and you’re going to start figuring things out for yourself eventually. I’d just like to be around for damage control.”

  “Damage control. So you know why Kenny smacked Jess.”

  “I’m hoping we don’t need intervention for that, but yeah. Dev, I’m taking Teri out tonight.”

  “You take her out almost every night.”

  “Yeah.” Flynn shook his head in disbelief. Still, it was better than Dev figuring it out for himself or listening to Jess. “I’m changing the nature of our relationship. The camera stays at home tonight. It’s just me and Teri, on a regular date.”

  “Seriously?”

  Flynn laughed in relief as much as amusement at Dev’s disbelief. “Yeah. Whether it goes anywhere is largely up to her, but I wanted to give you the heads-up and the opportunity to discuss any misgivings you might have beforehand.”

  Dev just stared at him for a moment. Flynn waited patiently for him to work it out. Everyone else in the house knew this was coming, with the exception of Teri it seemed. Flynn suspected he could swing Teri’s favor even without Dev’s approval, probably even with his blatant disapproval. If Paul did it, he should be able to.

  Teri’s son was a wildcard though, and it’d be so much easier if he didn’t have to worry about cell phones being tapped, his coffee being drugged, or some other mischief he couldn’t even imagine.

  “Have you kissed her?” Dev finally asked.

  “No.”

  “So you haven’t slept with her?”

  Flynn laughed. “No.”

  “Okay, well don’t.”

  The laugh faded as he considered Dev’s determined face. He was protective of his mother, but there were lines sons didn’t cross.

  “Dev, you won’t be party to that decision when it comes up, but it’s not on the immediate agenda.”

  “No, really, you can’t. It’ll kill her.”

  “Can you clarify your reasoning on that, please?”

  “I . . .” Dev faltered and his ears turned a deep scarlet. Flynn motioned for him to continue. “I caught her and Paul together once. Before he moved in.” The color in Dev’s cheeks deepened. Flynn felt for him.

  “I imagine that was embarrassing,” Flynn tried to empathize. Dev fidgeted in the seat across from him and looked away. “Maybe a bit of a shock.”

  “Yeah, everyone knew but me it turned out,” Dev said bitterly.

  Flynn said a silent thank you to God for the insight to approach Dev before he picked up Teri tonight. Granted he was still the last to know it was coming, but he didn’t know that and at least he wasn’t finding out on accident.

  “The girls are perceptive about some things because they’re girls, Dev. You can’t compare what they know to what you know, it’s a losing battle. Otherwise, you’re the youngest in the house, all the other guys have more life experience than you. Brian’s not much older, but he has Brenda to tip him off. I hate to say it mate, but you’ve been sheltered too. Girls freak you out a bit, so you don’t understand relationships and the guys don’t want to upset you. You’re going to need to start getting a handle on this stuff.”

  “But Mom broke her own rules for Paul. She never married him, Flynn. She shouldn’t have been sleeping with him. Jess is the only one to break the rule and look at where it’s gotten him.”

  “What rule, Dev?”

  “Abstinence.”

  Flynn choked and it was Dev’s turn to smile.

  “Forgot to mention that, did she?”

  “It’s fine. Like I said, it’s not on the agenda. We haven’t had the kind of relationship where we talked about things like that.”

  “Yeah, well, Paul had the wife he couldn’t get rid of thing, you don’t.”

  “Dev, are you telling me this to help me or warn me?”

  “I just don’t want to see Mom hurt again.”

  Flynn nodded. “Neither do I. No objections to me taking her out though?”

  Dev shook his head. “Suppose not.”

  • • •

  Nicholas watched Teri get ready with amusement. Flynn called him that morning and put him on notice that he was taking Teri out on a genuine date. Other than leaving her camera at home, it shouldn’t be any different from the outings they’d had for the last two months. Nicholas knew Teri was unlikely to see it that way so he arranged to be there under the guise of discussing the magazine while she was getting ready. A significant portion of her wardrobe was already discarded on her bed when he arrived, confirming relabeling the outing was having a tremendous impact on her. He sent a quick text message to Flynn while Teri slipped into the bathroom to try on a short black dress he hadn’t seen in years.

  “Teri, give up on slinky and go casual,” Nicholas called after he received Flynn’s reply. Apparently he wanted her to be comfortable and at ease. Looking at her flushed appearance when she emerged, he doubted that was possible.

  “He just said dinner. A nice restaurant. That doesn’t necessarily mean casual or formal. I should have clarified.” The words tumbled out in an avalanche and he would have had a hard time keeping up if he wasn’t paying attention.

  “Yeah, but I just texted him. Casual. He’s taking you to the seafood place on the waterfront that we all went to for your birthday. It’s nice, but this is Seattle. You can show up in a trench coat and fishnet stockings and not stand out terribly. Come to think of it, Flynn might like that.”

  “Don’t be silly.”

  “Me? My clothes are all hanging in my closet where they belong,” Nicholas gestured at her bed. “Besides, that black dress is a little short and he’s been alone for at least six months now. Give the man a break, save it for the second date.”

  “Six months? Oh, since Paul . . .” Teri broke off
and sat down on the foot of the bed in shock. Nicholas cursed under his breath, she didn’t need a reminder and Flynn was going to kill him for his timing.

  “Time flies.” He stood and started ruffling through the clothes as if nothing was wrong. “Cassie, Tiffany and Bryan graduate in a week and a half, and Dev will be out of school a few days later. Then you have a house full of teens for the summer. Put these on.” He chose the first shirt and slacks that matched and handed them to her. Teri took them and headed back to the bathroom.

  “I understand Flynn set up studio time for the boys for the end of the month. That’s going to be fun,” Nicholas called loudly as he texted madly on his phone as soon as the door closed, warning Flynn of what he’d done.

  “Yes. Kenny’s excited.” Teri’s voice filtered through the door.

  Nicholas optimistically decided she was keeping it together and he mentioned it to Flynn. “I kind of am too, it seems like the end of a long journey.”

  “Flynn keeps hinting that it’s really just the beginning. I think he’s trying not to scare me.” Teri opened the bathroom door and peeked out, only her face showing through the small opening. “He’s been trying to prepare me for the boys being professional musicians for a while, easing me into the idea. Do you think he’s been easing me into the idea of dating?”

  “Of course, don’t be naïve.”

  “Oh.” Teri withdrew back into the bathroom to finish changing. Nicholas updated Flynn with Teri’s revelation. Teri emerged a minute later. “Are you sure about this?”

  He looked up to confirm she was referring to the blouse and slacks he selected. If he’d taken more time it wouldn’t have been his first choice, but it’d do. “It’ll do. The pink blouse would be better I suppose.”

  “It’s practically sheer, I’d have to wear a jacket and there isn’t one that goes with these slacks.”

  “I meant without the jacket.”

  “You were the one who said to give Flynn a break,” Teri gave an exasperated sigh as she sorted through the pile on the bed for the pink blouse he referred to.

  “But you’ll wear it anyway?” Nicholas raised his eyebrows.

  “You suggested it!” Teri stood up and stamped her foot in frustration. Then she gave Nicholas a critical look and crossed her arms. “How long has he been working up to this and how long have you been in on it?”

  “Well, you’re busy,” Nicholas stood up and headed for the door. “I’ll just pop downstairs and make sure the boys aren’t up to anything.”

  “Now you just wait . . .”

  Nicholas heard Teri protest, but it only prompted him to close the door behind him and move faster. He made it to the living room and was starting for the stairs to the basement when the doorbell rang. Changing direction, Nicholas opened the door for Flynn.

  “My recommendation would be to run.”

  Flynn smiled. “Would be, not is? What’s the variable I somehow managed to swing in my favor?”

  “You wouldn’t listen anyway.”

  Teri appeared at the bottom of the stairs. “How long have you been leading up to asking me out? Is Nicholas in on this?” she demanded.

  “Not my first choice of dinner conversation, nor my second, but at least you don’t appear nervous so we’ll go with it,” Flynn said.

  Nicholas had to give him credit for his ability to handle Teri. Her anger visibly deflated.

  “Shall we?” Flynn offered Teri his arm. She gave him a curt nod and grabbed her purse. She didn’t take his arm though, instead she walked out the door, not acknowledging Nicholas as she passed.

  Flynn raised an eyebrow at Nicholas.

  “Yeah, I’m in hot water.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Flynn nodded and followed Teri, quickly catching up to open the car door for her.

  Nicholas closed the front door and eyed the suspiciously quiet basement stairs before sitting down to watch TV.

  • • •

  Teri sat quietly as Flynn drove them downtown, a mixture of apprehension and something she couldn’t identify churning inside her. She knew Flynn was interested once upon a time, but she’d shrugged it off as a passing fancy since then. They spent so much time together and he never even hinted he saw her as anything but a friend. All right, he flirted, she admitted, but he was always laughing about something that it wasn’t really flirting. Except maybe it was. Had he been subtly trying to pick her up all along? Paul put him here. How could he come here and hit on her when it was Paul that gave him the chance?

  “Did I jump the gun?”

  Teri turned in surprise at Flynn’s question. He glanced over at her briefly, before returning his attention to the freeway.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I didn’t want to push you. We’ve spent enough time together that I thought I had a pretty good read on how you were feeling. I thought you were ready. You look torn though, so maybe I was wrong.”

  “You were leading up to this? The whole time? From the very beginning? Paul didn’t put you here to hit on me!”

  It was a relief to say it, but Teri was terrified there was a simple, reasonable explanation. She was furious with Flynn. She trusted him with the boys. Trusted him as a friend.

  Flynn paused as Teri seethed, paying more attention to the traffic than strictly necessary.

  “Am I wrong?” Teri finally asked, wincing at the biting tone in her own voice.

  “You’re not wrong, but you’re not right either,” Flynn finally answered. “I only partially answered you before. Paul knew I wasn’t chasing you anymore because you were happy. I lost, life goes on. He asked if I was still interested. If I would be if he were gone.”

  “What?” Teri whispered.

  “Paul was worried about you. Not just losing him, it was that you’d lost Allen first. It took you a long time to find a life again with him, and then you were going to lose him too. He felt you’d be devastated, almost to the point of regretting he’d won you in the first place.”

  Teri didn’t realize she was crying until Flynn pulled a linen hanky out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  “I was hoping to avoid this, obviously.”

  “What else?” Teri prompted.

  “Well,” Flynn turned off toward the wharf, still a fair distance from most of the trendy shops and restaurants, and parked in the lot of a closed shipping yard. He turned off the Jaguar and faced Teri. “He was trying to make things easy for you, I already told you that.”

  “Including finding his own replacement? That’s a little extreme.”

  Flynn gave her a sad smile and shook his head. “It wasn’t really like that. Paul knew I was single again, that you would be too, and made a decision. He gave me a reason to be here, in your day to day life, that I wouldn’t have had otherwise; but I would have shown up again. You were happy with Paul, so I left you alone, but that doesn’t mean I lost interest.

  “Given that I was going to eventually be here anyway, Paul took advantage of the situation. He brought me in early to help with the boys.”

  She turned and looked out the window.

  “Don’t shrug it off, it was a real job that needed to be done and I’m qualified to do it. I’m also more motivated than anyone else he could have found.”

  “Because of me,” Teri whispered.

  “Because of you. At first anyway, I genuinely am interested in the boys’ welfare. Whatever happens between us is simply that — between us. I made Paul a promise that I’d get you back on your feet and I’d look out for you, even if things didn’t work out.”

  “So you’ve been waiting to ask me out since the first time you walked through the door?”

  Flynn hesitated. “Yes and no. I’ve always operated on the assumption that someday I would, but I refused to think about it. It was an intangible thing, nothing I could count on. I was more concerned with the immediate goals of getting you up and dressed daily, getting you out of the house, helping you talk through your mixed feelings about Paul planning his own
death, getting you to smile and laugh. Then I noticed you never picked up your camera and recognized what I was missing and that became a goal too.

  “Of course I had things to accomplish with the boys, and even set some small goals with the girls. They can cook now, that’s a small win.”

  “It’s bigger than you think.”

  “I have a knack, it wasn’t so hard. Most of what I’ve done was more about you than the boys though. Taking Dev to New York for example, my reason was valid, but Tim could have done it. The real reason was I didn’t think you should be there yet. Field trips were all about you taking pictures again, getting your life back on track.”

  “That’s why you let me take your picture to show your serious side, it was like pre-dating. You tricked me.” Teri couldn’t believe she didn’t see it before. They laughed and joked and talked like old friends, she never suspected Flynn was leading the conversations. Looking back now, it was obvious.

  “You proposed it and wanted to do it. I wasn’t sure you were ready for me to be anything more than a friend, so I went along with it. For the record, sometimes being as honest with you as I have has been hard. It’s not that I try to keep secrets, it’s a disaster waiting to happen, but letting the conversations go uncomfortable directions instead of changing the subject hasn’t been easy.”

  “You do change the subject.”

  “Only when you were hinting at the arrangement between me and Paul. For the record, I considered it a few times and I decided telling you too soon would do more harm than good in the long run.”

  “Meaning before I agreed to go out with you.”

  “Yes.”

  “Afraid I wouldn’t then?”

  “More afraid that you’d stop letting me be a friend and be nervous instead or suspicious of my motives. I wouldn’t have been able to help you if that happened.”

  Flynn reached out and stroked Teri’s cheek and a jolt ran through her. He’d held her while she cried, but his caress now was something different. It reminded her how much she missed being touched. She watched Flynn’s fingers retreat to his knee.

  “Now that we’ve passed that milestone and I’ve asked you out. I told you the arrangement between Paul and I. If you’d rather I took you home, I understand.”