Bad Boy (Invertary 5)

Aunty Heather shook her head. “We want you to grow up.”

Well, that sucked.

Flynn worked at controlling his anger. This situation needed to be defused, and fast. It was time to charm his way out of trouble. He gave them the smile that showed his dimples and used the same self-deprecating head tilt that worked with aggravating reporters during interviews.

“You’re making a big deal out of nothing,” he said. “I’m just having some fun. A little downtime while the leg heals. So I’ve had a few friends over. And yeah, things might have gotten a little out of hand, but seriously, you lot need to lighten up.” He congratulated himself on his tact.

His mother straightened her shoulders and pursed her lips before she spoke. “You have three half-naked women living with you in your motorhome. Rumours are rife. Your women do their best to keep those rumours going. We’ve had a magazine reporter asking if the town as a whole was alternative when it came to relationships. The woman hinted we were free and easy with our...” She trailed off, suddenly finding the tablecloth really interesting.

“With our sex lives,” his dad finished for her, practically barking the words.

“It’s embarrassing seeing you live with three women,” his mother said.

Flynn thought it probably wasn’t the time to explain there was nothing going on with the Babes. They’d needed somewhere to have fun; he’d needed the distraction and asked them to stay. There were no multiple girlfriends. No group sex. In fact, no sex at all. Being in pain all the time didn’t exactly put him in the mood. Not to mention he’d been in and out of hospital for months. He knew he had a reputation with the ladies, but seriously asking him to perform after orthopaedic surgery was pushing it a bit far. He opened his mouth to confess about the women, saw the glares coming at him and decided no one was really in a listening mood. They were leaning more towards a ranting mood. So he kept the information to himself.

Jena glared at him. “Then there are your visits to the pub. Dougal is losing business because no one wants to eat around your entourage. You’re noisy, rude and disruptive.”

“Not to mention the town is overrun by bimbos,” Magenta said. “Every week brings a new wave of bleach-blonde stick insects with inflatable boobs. We’re tripping over them. They’re all here to vie for the honour of getting into your pants, probably for the money in your pocket, because it sure as hell couldn’t be for anything else.”

Flynn scowled at her as his brother high-fived his fiancée. It was painful to think he was stuck with her in his family for the rest of his life. She’d been a pain in his backside when she was a kid. She’d only gotten worse with age.

“It isn’t just the women,” Aunty Heather said. “You leave a trail of destruction wherever you go. There’s rubbish from parties. Women’s clothing hanging on bushes by the stream. One of your friends got drunk and drove through three fields taking out the fences. Fences people had to fix. It’s costly, time consuming and downright annoying to clean up after you.”

“I want to talk about the noise,” Jena told him. “We live on the other side of the field and we can still hear the racket you make. People shouting at all hours. Loud music. Car horns. It isn’t only Abby you affect with your wild behaviour, it’s all of us. And you don’t listen when people complain. Abby has spoken to you time and again. Matt has been over to your place several times and yet you haven’t changed one thing.”

Matt’s lips thinned. “I’ve been cutting you some slack seeing as you’re family. But from now on I’m going to arrest your hairy backside for disturbing the peace, littering, being naked in public—whatever I can come up with. You can have your film crew sit with you in your jail cell. I’m sure it will make great TV.”

“Okay.” Flynn barely managed to keep a lid on his temper. “I think I’ve had enough of this intervention. Thanks for making my morning memorable, but I’m done here.”

“We’re not done.” Matt put a hand on Flynn’s shoulder.

“Nowhere near done,” Jena added.

“We need to talk about the state you’re in,” Harry said. “You look like crap.”

That was pretty offensive coming from a guy who thought an Einstein T-shirt was high fashion. He sneered at his brother. Harry ignored him.

“You drink too much.”

“I haven’t been drunk in ages.”

“Not since your last DUI.” His father frowned. “At least you don’t have your licence back yet. One less thing to worry about.”

Flynn just stared at him. Talk about an overreaction. One DUI and everybody freaks out.

“You don’t shower,” Harry carried on. “And you’ve stopped buttoning your shirts. What’s with that? We don’t live in the Mediterranean. We’re in Scotland. Sure, it’s summer, but it’s still bloody freezing. It’s like you think you’re Matthew McConaughey. Or maybe the Hef thing is spot on. Are you going to start wearing pyjamas next?”

“And cover this?” Flynn looked down at his bare chest. “Abs like these shouldn’t be hidden.”

He’d thought it was funny. He’d even hoped the mood would lighten. It didn’t. There were groans of frustration.

Jena threw up her hands in disgust. “You aren’t listening to a word we’re saying. You really don’t care how you’re affecting your family and friends, do you?”

It was plain no one was willing to listen to anything he said. Flynn pushed to his feet.

“Thanks for the chat,” he told them as he headed for the door. “It was a blast. Let’s not do it again sometime.”

“That’s it? That’s your reaction? You’re just going to run away?” his dad barked.