Page 52 of Dead Serious with Benefits
“Like you’re going to laugh your ass off any second.”
“You’re the one acting bashful. Weren’t you the one talking about potentially making things me and you?”
“That is...a subject for another night,” he said evasively as we descended the stairs. “Now let’s see where...oh for the love of…William!”
I looked over and found the man near a row of hedges, talking with one of the valets. They were passing a cigarette and standing entirely too close for a casual conversation. Will jumped at the sound of his name, looking nervous until he spotted who was shouting.
“Quit trying to get your dick wet and go get the damn car,” Ward barked, gesturing angrily.
“Like you aren’t doing the same thing,” Will shouted back, giving him the finger and waving us on. “Come on already, it’s just over here. I’m not pulling it around, so princess doesn’t have to walk.”
“I’m guessing he means you,” I said.
“He does. Prick.”
“You’re like brothers.”
“I’ve slept with him!”
“Hmm, remind me to tell you the story of my brothers Milo and Eli one of these days.”
“W-what?”
“Come on,” I said, taking his arm again and leading him after Will, who had taken his phone back from the valet and walked off. The car was a little down the path, and I breathed the fresh air. “So, why would you want to come to my place?”
“I hope that’s not self-consciousness,” he said, putting his other hand over my arm.
I laughed softly. “I’m not worried that you’ll see my tiny house and suddenly decide you don’t want anything to do with me because I’m not obscenely rich.”
“The only thing obscene about me is the thoughts I’ve been having for the past couple of hours, but that would be in poor taste.”
“Maybe, but not exactly unwelcome,” I assured him. “I’m merely curious as to why.”
“Because I’m curious about you,” he said as we reached the car. “Because I’ve been interested in you from the moment I saw you, and I haven’t stopped since. I don’t care if you have a little house, secondhand furniture, and dust on the bookshelf. I don’t care if you have a scratchy blanket or a flat pillow because you can’t bring yourself to buy new things. I want to see more of you, and what else can show who or what a man is than their home?”
“I suppose. I never really gave it much thought,” I admitted as Will drove off, making for the driveway on the hill leading toward the main road.
“You didn’t judge me based on my home?”
“It’s clear that you care about your things, at least some things, like your props, some of your art, and you’ve put thought into it.”
“Maybe I just think a lot about the nature of homes and their owners because I remember my own home growing up. It was filled with expensive art, top-of-the-line technology, and beautiful,” he said as we coasted down the hill. “My mother owned this...box, I guess—large, monstrous thing, covered in beautiful artwork, almost like stained glass. I was entranced by it, and my mother always warned me off, but I was convinced there was treasure in it. I’d seen Indiana Jones and the Ark of the Covenant, and I was convinced there was something insideit. One day, a cousin of mine and I were playing, and we knocked it over, well, he did, but I took the blame, and guess what?”
“It was empty,” I said as we reached the bottom of the long drive.
“Completely. That stuck with me. That was how my childhood home felt when I got older, and I could see it for what it was.”
“Are you afraid your own home is the same?”
He stared at me, his mouth opening, and then he frowned when he heard Will curse from the front. “Hey, Will, slow down.”
“I can’t!” Will snapped, and I could hear the thumping as his foot stomped the pedal, which wasn’t working since the car continued to pick up speed. “Fuck, brace yourself!”
“Hell,” I hissed as I yanked him back, snapping his seat belt into place. Will gave the steering wheel a yank, away from the road where cars were flying by and toward the shoulder. The limo lurched, bouncing and making me crash to the floor and roll toward the front when a crunch made the whole thing suddenly stop.
I was forced into a corner, groaning as my shoulder ached and a throb came from my ankle. Nothing seemed broken, and the interior wasn’t spinning, so I took that as a good sign. “Ward?”
He was there in a flash. After some thumps and curses, I figured he was battling the seat belt. “Don’t move.”
