Flynn's In (Lexi Frost Series) (14 page)

“An interesting observation. It
’s not time yet.”

“What are you waiting for?
”

Flynn smiled. “The right time. I
’ll know it when I see it. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know.”

Chapter Eight

The next week was crazy as Teri tried to prepare for Dev’s birthday. Dev preferred celebrating with the boys over a planned party, and it was easier to humor him than fight him on it, but there were still things to be done. Flynn tagged along shopping with her for Dev, she wasn’t sure if it was for approval of what she bought or looking for ideas.

Dev was easy to shop for. The boys got each other things like CDs
, so Teri didn’t even walk into a music store. Instead, she picked out a couple of shirts, which Flynn immediately exchanged. Teri bought a few computer games for him. Flynn picked up a couple of computer hacking books. She was tempted to warn him Dev didn’t need help in that department, but bit her tongue. She didn’t want to create mistrust between them. Besides, Teri knew Dev would love the books, assuming he didn’t already know everything in them.

Dev
’s birthday went well. He consented to a family dinner to make her happy and this year they ate the cake with forks like normal people. Flynn joined them, enthralled at last year’s option of eating cake and ice cream with either fingers or chopstick. Just one, not a pair. Teri reminded them the challenge was not to be repeated. Ever. It surprised her that they listened. Must be Flynn’s influence.

When Teri
’s birthday rolled around the following week, Flynn chartered a boat for the day while Dev, Cassie, Tiffany, and Bryan were in school. They went whale watching. It was peaceful, even with Kenny and Jess along. Teri knew he was just trying to keep her distracted so she wouldn’t think about Paul and the cabin. It was a solid plan, she was pretty sure if he hadn’t intervened she would have spent the day in tears with a box of chocolates.

As soon as the kids got out of school
, Nicholas picked them up and they met Teri’s group at an exclusive seafood restaurant where Flynn had a room reserved. The walls themselves were a collage of aquariums, and the shimmering light playfully reflected off a waterfall along the back wall.

As usual
, her birthday presents were all photography related: magazine subscriptions, filters, and a new bag. Nicholas got her a new lens, which was unusual because it exceeded the previously established price limits. Flynn surprised her though, he arranged for all of them to learn scuba diving.

Even though it was her birthday
, the boys took off after dinner, presumably to a movie, and the girls had study dates. Nicholas left, leaving Flynn and Teri alone for the night.

They visited a small ice cream shop on the waterfront. Flynn pulled a single birthday candle out of his pocket and stuck it on top of her black walnut ice cream cone. He lit it and encouraged the other customers and staff to join him in singing Happy Birthday to her. Embarrassed
, Teri blew out the candle the moment they finished.

“That was too fast
, did you even make a wish? If you didn’t, we’ll have to do it over again,” Flynn teased as he led her to a small table in the corner of the shop.

“Then I did
, thanks.”

“What did you wish for?
”

“Not allowed to share
,” Teri shook her head at him. “You know the rules.”

“A technicality. So did you have a happy birthday?
”

“I did
, thank you. You went to a lot of work to keep me distracted. I appreciate it.”

“You weren
’t really supposed to notice, you know. I’m getting too predictable. I’ll have to shake things up a bit.”

“No!
” Teri’s eyes widened at the thought of Flynn shaking things up.

Flynn smiled and winked.

“Besides, you’re not really that predicable. Scuba diving was a serious break from traditional presents for me,” she continued.

“I noticed a distinctly camera-oriented theme
,” Flynn agreed. “Nicholas mentioned you bought an underwater setup for a shoot awhile ago and haven’t used it since so I figured diving would be a multipurpose diversion.”

“So diving is just so I
’ll take pictures?”

“It
’s your passion. You were letting it slip away, Teri.”

“Flynn
,” she looked at her lap and her eyes misted over. “I only lost Paul in January, it’s April. I’m allowed to grieve.”

“I know. Nicholas is here for you
, I am too. He’ll coddle you and be sympathetic. I’ll let you cry when you need to, but otherwise I want you to live your life again. Photography is a big part of that.”

Flynn stood up
, took Teri’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, let’s walk.”

Teri let Flynn lead her back out into the chilly spring evening. A light rain started to fall
, so they hastily retreated to the restaurant and Flynn’s car.

“That wasn
’t much of a walk,” Flynn apologized as he slid into the driver’s seat beside her.

“Closer to a sprint I
’d say,” she agreed.

“It
’s good practice for you. Dev is sixteen now, you know what that means.”

“Girls?
”

“Normally I
’d say yes, but that’s going to take more time. No, I was hinting at a driver’s license.”

“You teach him.
” Teri responded immediately. She still wanted to forget teaching Cassie.

Flynn gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fine
, but you owe me.” He glanced at her with a smile. “I knew you’d probably run from that one.”

“So it was a set up to get me to owe you? I could ask Nicholas or one of the boys you know.
”

“Nicholas already said he didn
’t want the job and you don’t want your son behind the wheel with any of his friends as coach. I already arranged for a private driving instructor. No point putting him in a regular driver’s education class and have him distracted by girls. I understand that was the reason he didn’t take the driver’s education course in school.”

“You
’re taking this seriously.” Teri stared at him, trying to find the motivation behind Flynn’s actions. This went beyond helping him play the guitar.

“Seeing Dev on a skateboard leads me to believe he might develop a fondness for fast cars
, so teaching him good driving skills beyond the basics from the beginning will be important. I’m being proactive. On that note, he’d like to try surfing this summer.”

“First you tell me he might take up racing so I have to worry about him crashing
—”

“Not for years yet I
’m sure.”

“Then you say he wants to take up surfing and get eaten by sharks?
”

“I
’m sure that’s not his intent. Besides, it’s statistically unlikely. Shark attacks are widely reported because they’re uncommon. You can’t coddle him, Teri.”

“You
’re encouraging this?”

“To an extent.
Of all the mischief he could get into, you have to admit surfing is pretty tame. I know about tracking your phone, and let’s not forget his plot to drug Jess. Cars, if he does go down that road, will be later so don’t worry about it now.

“The part about surfing that surprised me is that it
’s a solitary activity and he almost always wants to be with the boys. You said yourself they’re like brothers. Dev hates being apart from them. School is going to be hard for him after Bryan graduates. They don’t have any classes together, but just having him there is enough for Dev. I’ve seen him when Bryan is out sick and he’s visibly depressed.”

“The boys don
’t skateboard,” Teri argued, then her shoulders sagged. “But they’re always there with him. Even if they’re at the beach they’d be farther away.”

“Doing something on his own will be good for him. Kenny and I
discussed it. He’s talking Jess and Bryan out of joining Dev on the waves to see if he really will go solo.”

“You talked to Kenny before me?
”

“Kenny already knew
, Teri, all of them did. I’ve made enough progress with Dev that he came to me hoping that I could talk you into it.”

“Hence taking over the driving practice so I owe you?
”

“I
’ll save that favor for another time if I can. This is more of a heads up. Nothing has to be decided until school’s out. I wanted to give you time to get used to the idea. He’s a strong swimmer, I checked. I’ve got a few friends who surf and I’ll find someone good to teach him. Also somewhere safe, without letting him know we’re going there because it’s safer of course.”

“Do I really have a choice?
”

“He
’s sixteen and you’re his legal guardian, so yes, you have a choice. Technically.”

“But not really.
”

“I
’d hate to be the one to tell him no. If you’re leaning that way, let me know and I’ll see if I can put your mind at ease or work on talking him into something else.”

Teri sat in silence and
considered what Flynn said. God only knew what else Dev would come up with if she squashed surfing. Skateboarding was bad enough. She was so sure he was going to break every bone in his body. Now she had to deal with the fear he would drown or get attacked by sharks. Flynn sounded confident. And it could be worse, she could choose the beaches and he’d have someone with him. Maybe even a couple of people, with spear guns.

Flynn pulled into the driveway as Teri wondered about shark repellents. The rain was merely a drizzle now and she ignored it as he opened her door and helped her out of the car. He walked her up to the door but hesitated on the porch instead of following her inside. Teri turned to look at him.

He had another of his serious expressions on his face. It was so strange to see it. Sad. Lonely. Teri resolved to fix that.

• • •

That weekend, Flynn spent a painful six hours on a plane with Bryan trying to get to know him better. Unfortunately, Bryan seemed to know Flynn pretty well and wasn’t impressed with him as a person. He didn’t deny Flynn knew the music industry, but his respect ended there.

“All right
,” Flynn said, wishing he hadn’t tried so hard to break Bryan out of his shell. “Can we agree that Jess needs to be dealt with?”

Bryan
shrugged. “He’s coming along. Kenny says you’re mostly to thank for that, but I’m not sure you’re really doing anyone any favors.”

“You
’d rather Jess was sleeping with every bit of skirt that crossed his path?”

“Of course not. But now he
’s dating Holly. He’s not going to get lucky with her, and he’s starting to realize that. Normally he would move on, and he should because they’re not a good match, but he won’t. Jess wants to show Cassie he’s capable of a
real
relationship.” Bryan put ‘real’ in air quotes, making Flynn have to suppress a smile.

“I thought he was dating Beth
, who’s Holly?”

“Beth only wanted a quickie. Holly
’s graduating with Cassie, Tiff, Brenda and me. Jess can’t break up with her because it’ll look like it’s just because she won’t put out. He wants to be
deeper
than that. He doesn’t get it that they don’t have anything in common. Holly’s just using Jess to have a hot boyfriend and he’s so desperate to show Cassie he can make it work, Holly can make him do anything. At least Beth was honest. She used him and let him go.”

Flynn sighed. “I
’ll talk to him.”

“No
, you’ll have Kenny talk to him.”

“I
’m capable of talking to Jess on my own. This one is better coming from me. I started the thing with Cassie.”

“Yeah
, good one. He’s not going to get her you know.”

“He knows it
’s a long shot. I was honest with him. Jess doesn’t have the life experience to understand sex is an addiction and what it’ll cost him later if he doesn’t get his hormones under control. I can tell him but, unlike you, he’s unlikely to see that it had a negative impact on me.”

“And you think you
’re going to score with Teri once she finds out you put Jess on Cassie’s tail?”

“She already knows
, and this thing with Teri is a lot more complicated than you realize. I’m not trying to take advantage of her. She’s fragile right now, I know that. But she’s getting better.”

“Kenny told me about you and Paul.
”

“Did he tell you that Paul put me here
because
of that rivalry? Teri’s starting to think it through, so I’m racing against the clock now. So far I’ve sidestepped most of the implications she’s realized, but it won’t be too much longer before she starts to question if I’m still interested.”

“And when she does?
”

“I
’ll be honest with her.”

“What if she
’s not interested?”

“It doesn
’t change things with the band.” Flynn studied Bryan for a moment.