“Yeah. He’s a good guy. We don’t see each other much since he’s always on the road, but we try to get together a few times a year. He would approve of this car.”
Ren laughed. “But would he approve of me?”
She cocked an eyebrow. “That is to be determined. My guess is with this car, he would suspect you’re that guy.”
He gave her the side eye. “That guy? I’m thinking this is an accusation.”
She leaned back against the buttery leather of the seat. “Yes. The guy who knows he’s gorgeous and has money and can get a girl—or boy—in bed with a spin in his hot car and a smile.”
Ren laughed. “Is that what you think of me, Benning?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think you’d need the car.”
He peered over and his mouth kicked up at the corner. “Maybe I’m just overcompensating with the car. This could be smoke and mirrors.”
She rolled her eyes. “Right. For what?”
“My deviant, kinky, polyamorous ways.”
“Uh-huh,” she said, not hiding the sarcasm. “Such a burden.”
He looked back to the road, some of the humor slipping from his expression. “Believe me, most people aren’t that open-minded or interested. Maybe for a night, an adventure to prove to themselves they’re a little wild. And that’s fine. It’s fun. But really, I’m just a prop in those games. I’m not the guy someone wants to date, not when they realize those things are a part of me, not a sideshow or temporary diversion.”
The quietly spoken words caught her off guard. She’d never thought it about it from that angle. She imagined lovers fell into the laps of men like Ren and Hayes without much effort from the guys. They were handsome and successful, funny. But that wasn’t all they were. Long-term, they came with a lot of fine print, a lot of complications that didn’t fit into the neat package society called relationships or roman
ce or marriage.
Then another thought hit her and she frowned. “You think that’s what I’m doing, isn’t it? Making you two my wild adventure to prove something to myself?”
God, was she? That didn’t feel like the truth, but if not that, then what was this?
Ren glanced over at her, his expression softening. “I wasn’t saying that. And if that’s the case, it’s absolutely okay. This is supposed to be light and fun. And I know you don’t see us as props.”
“Of course I don’t,” she said, appalled by the idea.
He smiled. “Sorry, I don’t even know why I got all serious on you. I guess I’m just realizing that I haven’t been on an actual date in a long time. This is foreign territory for me.”
She let out a breath. “That makes two of us. I’m not the most dateable person either.”
He sniffed derisively and focused on the road again. “Benning, don’t fool yourself. You’re supremely dateable.”
She blinked, the words lingering between them, and then cleared her throat, searching for something to get them into safer territory. “So why’d you pick this car?”
Ren shrugged. “After discovering the Batmobile when I was a kid, I’ve always had a hard-on for fast cars. I had four speeding tickets and one fender bender under my belt within the first six months of getting my permit.”
“Your parents must’ve loved that.”
“They took away my permit and threatened to send me to military school.”
The engine roared as Ren picked up speed on the interstate. The streetlights flashed over the dark red hood in a steady, hypnotic pattern. “I’m guessing they didn’t make good on that threat.”
Ren blew out of breath. “No. I didn’t give them time. I ran away right before I turned sixteen. Didn’t come home for a year.”
She turned to him at that. “Wow. Because of the car thing?”
He lifted a shoulder but the move was tense. “Because of a lot of things. My parents are good people, but I’m from a family of overachievers and was definitely not up to par. I preferred art, got in trouble a lot, had issues focusing in school. Plus I had all these mixed-up feelings about my sexuality and no one to talk to about it. It made me reckless and too brave for my own good. So when I met a guy and he decided to move to Vegas, I took off with him.”
She shook her head at that, trying to imagine how bad things had to be to leave home at fifteen. “Sounds like your high school years were way more adventurous than mine. My big act of rebellion was messing with the school computers and rigging them to play my favorite Broadway songs when they booted up.”