Prologue
“You are literally that heart-eyes emoji right now and it’s too goddamn early for that.” Ren—he avoided his overly flowery name of Lorenzo Domenico as often as he could—Moretti shot his cousin a look that would’ve cut anyone else down a peg, but he barely blinked.
Annoyingly.
Gabriel had a spring in his step and a gooey look in his eyes that meant his mood was impenetrable.
Ren knew, because Ren had tried.
“It’s almost noon,” Gabe said. “That’s not early.”
“Too early for the heart-eyes bullshit,” Ren said, not mincing words, because Gabe already knew how he felt about it, and there was no point in pretending that he wasn’t annoyed.
And not just because instead of working, Gabe was staring sappily out of the front window of the food truck they owned together.
No, he was annoyed because he’d barely seen his best friend over the last few weeks, ever since he’d officially gotten together with his boyfriend, Sean.
It was one of many reasons why Ren thought love was stupid.
It changed you. It irrevocably altered your life.
Ren was not interested in that kind of change.
He was interested in getting naked and sweaty with a cute guy, and then both of them going their separate ways. Nobody had ever made him feel that he needed to do it a second time, or to stay after, and confess all his secrets or share all his dreams.
“And I’ve barely seen you for a week,“ Ren added, not bothering to hide the bitter edge in his voice.
He wasn’t surprised to see the sudden guilt swamping Gabe’s features. He was the King of Feelings, after all.
“You’ve seen me at work,” Gabe said.
“Yeah, but half the time you’re staring off into space, like you’re the main character in some Shakespearean tragedy. Sorry, dude, but you’re no Romeo.”
“Well, Sean isn’t Juliet, so I’m good with that.” Gabe hesitated. “I intend to stay alive for long enough we actually get past the honeymoon phase.”
Shit like that—dying for the person you loved—was why Ren had no intention of ever getting caught up in feelings that he couldn’t help, and couldn’t hope to control.
“Hey, look, there’s that Lennox guy,” Ren said, glancing out the window and changing the subject.
He realized only after Lennox stopped and stared, shock written across his features, that he hadn’t been to their food truck since they’d changed the name a week ago.
He came stomping over, and Ren couldn’t help himself. He smiled.
People’s reaction to their truck being called Buns and Balls was always amusing. Lennox’s was just going to be more amusing than most.
He could be awkward and cold, and well, he’d turned Ren down for a hot night in between the sheets hadn’t he?
“What are you doing?” Lennox demanded.
Ren leaned over, bracing his forearms on the front counter, so he was almost eye level with Lennox, and that was when he realized the enormity of that casual choice.
Because Lennox wasn’t alone.
There was another guy, trailing behind him.
He was tall, even taller than Lennox, who wasn’t exactly short.
He was built similarly, too, filling out his loose navy-blue t-shirt and jeans in a way that made Ren’s fingers itch to take them off, so he could see the body underneath.
His face wasn’t the most handsome Ren had ever seen.
In fact, his nose was crooked, just a hair to the left, and Ren found he couldn’t look away.
His hair and scruff were close-cropped, but the reddish gold glowed under the LA sunshine. And his eyes?
Ren felt the earth shift when they met his.
They were a cool gray green, but they weren’t cold at all. Nothing like Lennox.
He laughed, and the warm amusement in his gaze stole Ren’s breath.
He was never like this.
He flirted. He propositioned. He indulged in plenty of hot hookups. He was the one who always left guys wanting more.
He hadn’t even had this guy yet—but he would, he knew that much—but he was already worried that the one who would want more after would be him.
If he was smarter, he’d leave this one alone.
He didn’t need to get burned.
He definitely did not need to be converted to love and affection and forever, like his cousin.
But he couldn’t help himself.
Self-control had never been his strong suit.
“We’re serving food,” Ren said, answering Lennox—but not taking his eyes off the other guy.
“Food? Or terrible puns?” Lennox demanded to know.
“Why can’t it be both?” Ren thought most things were better that way. Like humor and sex—they naturally went hand in hand. He liked having a good flirt, a fun date full of laughs, and then a hot night after.
“I suppose you think you’re very funny,” Lennox said.
“Funnier than you,” Gabe said, joining Ren at the front counter.
Ren could hear the undercurrent in his cousin’s voice. He felt guilty, still, and he’d come over to defend him—to defend their choices.
“Leave the guys alone,” the guy said, speaking for the first time. “I think it’s pretty damn funny myself.”
He had a deep voice, melodious and slightly tinged with a Southern accent.
Ren could imagine it telling him to come, and his insides tightened.
Lennox shot his friend an annoyed look. “Nobody asked you.”
He couldn’t help it; Ren inserted himself. “I did,” Ren said, leaning over further. He was having a good hair day, and well, a good face life, and he could tell the guy appreciated both. The appraising look in his eyes made that clear enough.
“Well,” he said, “then you might as well put down, Seth thinks it’s hilarious.”
“Seth, huh? I’m Ren. Lorenzo, but nobody calls me that.” He filed away Seth’s name for later.
Later, when he was screaming it.
Because there was no way they weren’t going to have sex.
Ren had woken up this morning and showered and gotten dressed so he could be here right now, to meet this guy, and make sure they had sex.
“It’s nice to meet you, Lorenzo,“ Seth said with a glimmer of a knowing grin that should have pissed Ren off, but it didn’t.
At all. “I work with Lennox here. I’ve been on a long assignment, but I’m back in LA now, and this place was the first one Lennox said we needed to visit.
” He frowned, clearly confused. Or maybe, Ren thought, jealous?
Was he worried that Lennox was interested in him?
Yes, Lennox had turned him down, when he’d offered, but he’d only done it as a matter of routine, and frankly, with this magnificent creature in front of him now, Ren could barely remember the exchange.
“Something about salad?” Seth added.
Gabe laughed, getting it before Ren’s sluggish brain understood.
Right, Lennox was interested in Ash.
Poor Ash.
“We’ll let you discover for yourself why salad’s so attractive,” Gabriel said.
Lennox frowned. “It’s not . . .”
But it was.
Everyone could see it—even if Lennox wasn’t ready to admit it yet.
But Ren, well, Ren was plenty ready to admit his own inclination.
“Like that?” Ren raised an eyebrow. He knew how this particular expression made him look. It had brought better men to their knees.
Seth just continued to look amused—and intrigued.
“I’m sure a big strong man like you thrives on salad,” he added.
“Uh, not exactly,” Seth said with a dry chuckle. Their eyes met again, and it was just as cataclysmic as the first time.
Ren wanted to know exactly what, in explicit detail, a man like Seth thrived on.
Of course, Sean chose that moment to show up and to break Seth’s focus from what was really important: him.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Ren had zero compunction about groaning loudly, and saying, “You again?”
“Me again,” Sean said, not looking even the tiniest bit upset.
“What’s going on?” Gabe asked, his gaze softening so much that Ren wanted to apologize for his completely lovestruck cousin.
“I needed some more glaze, Ren said he’d run some over, but he must’ve forgotten.”
Gotten distracted more like.
“Sorry,” Ren said, not feeling sorry at all. “We were busy. Well, scratch that. I was busy, doing work for both of us, and your boyfriend was just staring sappily out the window.”
“That was not me,” Gabriel defended himself staunchly, but Sean laughed, grabbing the container of Thai meatball glaze from the fridge underneath the counter. Probably because he knew just what Gabe was capable of.
“Yes, it probably was,” Sean said.
It would’ve been so much harder to like Sean if he didn’t just love Gabriel, he saw him.
“Yeah, it probably was,” Gabe admitted.
“I’m not bummed about it,” Sean said.
Ren glanced away from the annoying pair, back at Seth, who was still examining every word on their menu.
“You gonna order?” Ren asked. Hoping that he understood exactly what he meant. And he wasn’t talking about sandwiches.
“Oh yeah, I definitely am,” Seth said, and Ren’s stomach fluttered.
There was something so decisive and grown up about this guy.
Like he’d throw Ren over his shoulder and cart him back to his bedroom.
“What can I get you?” Ren asked.
Me. I can get you me. And you’d enjoy every second of it. Trust me. I’m delicious.
“That’s a real good question,” Seth said.
“I’m going to get lunch,” Lennox announced, and nobody was surprised to see him head off towards Ash’s food truck.
“Well, if you want a recommendation,” Gabe said, and Ren wished that his cousin would go do anything else right now, “you can’t go wrong with the Thai meatball crunch wrap.”
“Does everything have balls or buns?” Seth wanted to know.
Oh, Ren wanted to show him.
So badly that he deployed the smile that he usually saved for closing the deal. But then, he was closing the deal right now, wasn’t he? He could feel it in his bones.
Specifically one bone in particular.
“Yes,” Ren said.
“Straightforward,” Seth said, taking a step nearer, and now Ren could really get a good look at him. He was even sexier in higher definition and he’d made Ren’s mouth water even without the close-up look. “I like it.”
“See anything else you like?” Ren decided there was no point in delaying. They were both clearly interested. “Lucky for you, I just happen to be free tonight.”