Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (5 page)

Kenny nodded and looked at the basement stairs.
“Ideas on what to do about Jess?”

“A few. I w
ant to get to know him better first.”

“What are you thinking?
”

“To begin with
, he might regret the promiscuity later. It’s not uncommon if you make it in the industry. He’s just ahead of the game.”

“To a point. And I wouldn
’t care except he doesn’t exactly use discretion or common sense. Paul pointed out it was a matter of time before he either slept with someone whose father would care, or got someone pregnant. I tried to just give him rules, but he doesn’t take it seriously.”

Flynn nodded
. He wouldn’t expect Jess to accept limitations on his sexual exploits from Kenny. “Looking back, I can honestly say I wish someone would have reined me in, but I only get one chance to make that point with Jess.”

Kenny looked up over Flynn
’s shoulder. "You gave me some good news and advice, I’ll return the favor. Teri’s back. What are you going to say to her?"

"Making it up as I go. Right now I
’ll settle for getting her to smile. The Hail Mary will be to get her out of the house."

"Yeah
, lotsa luck with that." Kenny rolled his eyes.

"You guys bet at all?"

"Until very recently, we were always broke."

"It
’s not about money, it’s about the challenge. Bet you I can get her out of the house in the next twenty four hours."

"For how long? To get the mail? Not biting on that one."
Kenny shook his head.

"For at least a half hour. That
’s progress, right?"

“Against what?
” Kenny eyed him nervously.

“You
have to be open minded about me and Teri.” That wasn’t asking much, right? To Flynn, Kenny already seemed to be willing to give him a chance.

"You
’re on," Kenny said with a smile.

• • •

Teri watched Kenny go before approaching Flynn and taking his place on the sofa.

“Kenny seems happy.
”

“I
believe I mentioned your boys are going to be rock stars.”

“The noise downstairs implies they knocked over their drums again.
”

“T
here was a minor mishap.”

“Care to elaborate?
”

“Do you really want to know?
” Flynn asked, a teasing upturn to his lips and a twinkle in his eyes.

Teri really wanted to take his picture. She fought the impulse
, but Flynn took her hesitation as indecision.

“Jess started picking on Dev while they were playing
. Dev tripped him and he fell backwards into the drums. I guess Kenny’s been fighting this sort of thing for a while. He won’t be anymore.”

“You think you can put an end to
Dev and Jess fighting?”

“No. They
’ll still fight. Kenny just won’t try to stop them anymore.”

“I d
idn’t see that coming. So you heard them play?”

“Yes
, they’re good.”

“
Bryan needs to learn to play the drums.”

“
Bryan knows how to play the drums,” Flynn laughed.

“I have an economy size bottle of Tylenol on my nightstand that says otherwise.
”

Flynn smiled and shook his head. “
Bryan just gets distracted when he can’t hear Dev and Kenny anymore. I’ll call Drew in and we’ll give him some pointers. When’s his Spring Break?”

“Third week in April
,” Teri answered without hesitation.

“Is that a good time or are you planning on taking them somewhere?
”

“It
’s Dev’s birthday, but it should be fine. If it comes down to Bryan learning the drums or a quick trip somewhere tropical, my head and Kenny win: Bryan gets drum lessons.”

Flynn
chuckled and shook his head. Teri knew he was a few years older than her, but he didn’t look it. She was briefly jealous until she realized how much work it must take to maintain that appearance.

“You
’re not thinking about drum lessons,” Flynn accused her. He wasn’t laughing anymore.

Damn. Teri wasn
’t sure what she was thinking. Aside from, once again, wondering what Paul was thinking. Actually, Flynn seemed to know his stuff. Of course he would, he’s been doing it long enough. Maybe that was what Paul was thinking.

“My mind wanders sometimes.
” Teri stood up. “I should see what Nicholas is planning for dinner. He tries, but he’s got a limited number of things he can make. Are you staying?”

“Actually the boys are kind of excited
, I was thinking of just taking you all out.”

Teri hesitated
. “I . . .”

“Haven
’t been getting out much. Nicholas mentioned it. It would be good for you to get out. No doubt Kenny’s enthusiasm will liven things up. Jess and Dev might still be going at it, I wouldn’t know. At the very least Bryan wouldn’t be anywhere near a set of drums.”

Teri laughed quietly.

“If you like, we can sit Nicholas between Jess and Dev, see how that works out for entertainment value.”

“No
,” Nicholas’s disembodied voice cast a vote from the kitchen. Teri laughed harder.

“I
’ll see where the girls are,” Teri agreed, turning to the kitchen.

“Sleeping over at Tiffany
’s,” Nicholas answered.

Flynn stood up with a smile. “All settled then. What are you in the mood for?
”

• • •

Kenny sat at dinner with mixed emotions. He should be celebrating. Flynn gave him confirmation that he was on the right track and they took a giant step forward in dealing with Dev. Flynn also made him realize how much he didn’t know about people.

He already came to grips with Paul being smarter than he originally gave him credit for. Paul recognized Jess
’s philandering and Dev’s shyness were problems that Kenny couldn’t ignore, and gave him some very good advice. Yet, for all the careful planning Paul did, Kenny still doubted his choice of Flynn Peterson to help them out. To the point he almost declined the offer.

Now
, after just one day, Flynn got them further along than Kenny thought possible. He was happy to see Teri out of pajamas, thrilled that she did her hair. When he came upstairs to find Flynn was taking them all to dinner, including Teri, he was stunned. He made a mental note not to bet anything serious with Flynn.

Jess had a date
, but Kenny told him to cancel it. Period. As a consolation, they let Jess choose the restaurant. Italian of course.

He sat back watching Teri sit between Flynn and Nicholas as they talked. Kenny
hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation, but Teri was smiling.

“You could referee just as well as
Bryan, I bet,” Flynn encouraged Nicholas.

Kenny was confused
as he caught the snippet of conversation. Nicholas frequently refereed.

“That doesn
’t mean I’m going to sit between Jess and Dev. Actually, you should be in that position. You need to spend more time with the boys, get to know them.”

“I will. I am. See? I
’m sitting by Jess; that counts.”

“He
’s preoccupied, you haven’t really experienced him yet,” Nicholas countered.

Flynn turned to look. Jess was concentrating on eating his lasagna
— with chopsticks.

Kenny smiled. It was a traditional competition between Jess and Dev
, but he doubted anyone thought to mention it to Flynn. Bryan sat between them as judge, a mostly useless position at this point because both of them were pros with chopsticks now. Flynn looked over at Dev, then Bryan and Kenny.

“It
’s their thing. Bryan and I don’t play,” Kenny told him.

“I see. Do they always eat this way or just at restaurants?
”

“Just Italian.
”

“Pizza?
”

Dev and Jess both sat up and looked at each other appraisingly at Flynn
’s question.

“No
,” Kenny snapped at them.

Flynn started laughing
, as did Teri. Kenny reconsidered his position on the ongoing war between the two.

“Okay
, fine, whatever.” He looked to Flynn, who gave him a slight nod of approval. Teri rewarded Flynn with a horrified look.

“Boys will be boys. No good comes of trying to stop them
,” Flynn told her.

“That
’s right, you have girls,” she said with a nod.

“I was a teenage boy once.
”

“Did you eat pizza with chopsticks?
”

“No
, I used my fingers like normal people. I also didn’t abuse drum sets. We’re breaking new ground here. Roll with it.”

“I usually do
, I’m just usually the only one,” Teri answered.

“You should inflict that attitude on more people. It causes less stress.
”

“Duly noted.
” Teri nodded and turned to Nicholas. “You’re on notice.”

“For what?
”

“Roll with it.
”

“Duly noted.
”

Flynn laughed and Teri joined him. Kenny smiled as he watched
. It was good to see her laugh again. Dev stopped eating to watch, so did Bryan. Even Jess noticed the change in Teri’s mood.

Jess turned to look at Kenny
, tilting his head slightly toward Flynn as an indicator as to what was on his mind.

Kenny nodded and then tilted his head sharply toward Dev in warning. Jess took the hint and returned his attention to eating. He
’d have to give Flynn the head’s up that Jess was onto him. Dev wasn’t from the look of things. He even missed the exchange between Kenny and Jess, for which Kenny was grateful.

“Ow!
” Dev turned in surprise to Bryan and frowned.

“Sorry
, kick Kenny for me. I missed.” Dev nodded and kicked Kenny’s shin.

“Ow! Dev
, he didn’t mean it literally,” Kenny complained.

Dev shrugged. “Take it up with
Bryan.”

“Yeah
, later,” Kenny frowned at Bryan. Dev returned to his chicken cacciatore and Bryan stared at Kenny over Dev’s head. Kenny shook his head slightly and furrowed his brow in question. Bryan kept his head still in his normal, subtle style, but his eyes darted to Flynn and back. Bryan was onto Flynn too. Kenny wasn’t worried, Bryan was reasonable.

“Later.
”

Bryan
returned to his meal and Kenny glanced up to see if Flynn caught that. He did, so did Nicholas. Both chose to ignore it, but Kenny was sure he’d hear about it later.

Overall dinner went well. Flynn went his own way after
, leaving Nicholas and Kenny his number, and everyone else headed home. It was a school night, but Bryan came over anyway and Kenny waited for Dev to be preoccupied with his computer before pulling Bryan and Jess aside for a chat.

• • •

Kenny waited for Flynn to come by the next afternoon. He heard the crunch of tires in the snowy driveway and opened the door before Flynn finished climbing the steps.

“I wanted to talk to you about yesterday.
”

Flynn
shrugged off his coat as he entered. “Okay, talk.”

Kenny led Flynn to the dining room where he had sheet music spread out. He paced for a moment
, running his fingers through his hair. Flynn sat and watched him pace. Misjudging the men in Teri’s life was becoming a pattern of behavior for Kenny and it wasn’t his place.

“I wanted to apologize. I thought Paul was out of his mind sending you here instead of someone else. I was wrong
,” he admitted.

“Thank you. Keep in mind
, it’s going to be a bumpy road.”

“I was talking about Teri.
”

“So was I. I didn
’t expect to be able to get her out of the house that easily, but it’s not going to stay that simple. Painful memories have a way of ambushing you. She’ll have her ups and downs. We had an upswing last night, but don’t fool yourself into thinking it’ll last. She’ll crash again, maybe harder if she feels guilty about enjoying herself. If you see it starting, I’d appreciate a heads up. It’ll get a little easier each time.”

Kenny nodded. “I
’ll warn Dev. Seeing Teri like she has been upsets him. He didn’t get along with Paul so that makes it worse. Then Paul treated Dev and Cassie like they were his own kids in the will and it made him feel guilty.”