“It doesn’t make it any less difficult.”
“Maybe I’m just in shock. Maybe there’s a part of me that still feels like this isn’t real, you know? Like we’ll magically go back to seventeen and forget all this ever happened.”
He contemplates, eyes trained out the windshield. “Maybe ...”
“I killed the mood, didn’t I?”
“No! Not at all.”
I give him a look.
“I mean, okay. You totally did. Your dad dying is kind of ...” He waves his hand, summoning the words.
“Tragic? Rock-bottom depressing?” I offer.
“To say the least.”
“Can we just ... not talk about it tonight?” I ask, turning away from the pity in his eyes. The last thing I need is him treating me like I’m breakable.
“Sure thing. We could even ... have fun ... if you want to?” he offers, earnestly.
“I want to,” I say eagerly, clamping my eyes shut when the words come out. Should I really be out having fun after finding out my dad died? Probably not. But my brain still isn’t ready to process it.
“All right.” He purses his lips as he makes an effortless, one-handed turn toward Ollie’s neighborhood. He’s taken his suit jacket off, revealing a dress shirt pushed up to the elbows. His ropy forearms flex with the slightest turn of the wheel. “Brace yourself.”
“For what?”
“For the funnest night of your life,” he tells me confidently, reminding me he’s still seventeen years old inside, despite the fact that he now looks like a Greek god chiseled from stone.
“And what do you consider fun?”
“Dunno. Car hide-and-seek?”
“Car hide-and-seek,” I repeat. The last time we played, Renner and I got in a huge argument. Kassie and I were in her car, and Renner and Pete were in his van, racing to find Ollie and Andie’s hiding spot. Renner claims he won because he was first to reach the car, even though Kassie and I entered the parking lot first.
“What? Beats heading home to drink Sleepytime tea,” he teases.
I give him a funny look. “Hey, don’t knock Sleepytime tea. That’s the good stuff. And do you really think thirty-year-olds will want to play car hide-and-seek at eleven at night?”
Thirty-year-olds do, indeed, want to play car hide-and-seek. Then again, I’m fairly certain most people would follow Renner into a multilevel marketing scheme if they could.
Renner is fired up, drumming the steering wheel and tapping his knee impatiently as we wait for Ollie and Nori to text their first clue. He decides to stop at the Wendy’s drive-thru in the meantime.
“Want anything?” he asks as we pull up to the illuminated menu.
“Just fries, please.”
“What can I get you?” barks a scratchy, deep voice over the intercom. Whoever it is sounds like they could use a bubble bath, a meditation tape, and a good night’s rest.
Renner shoots me a funny smile. “Hey, how you doing tonight?”
“Um ... okay,” the voice responds, taken aback.
“Good. Nice night, huh? I’m sure you’re looking forward to the end of your shift.”
“Yeah, actually. I get off in an hour.” The voice is smoother now.
“Cool. Well, I hope you have a great night. Before your shift ends, I’d like to order a medium chocolate Frosty and a large fry, please.”
