Page 12 of Cusp: A Renzo + Lucia Companion

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Diego

Diego wasn’t sure what he expected Luv to drive but the fire-engine red Ferrari certainly wasn’t it. Not because he thought she couldn’t drive a car like that. It just wasn’t the first thing to come to his mind when they headed to the parking of the airport because she said she was driving. She didn’t look old enough to have a license let alone that type of vehicle.

He still didn’t even have his license because it was just easier to jump on the bus, take the subway or call an Uber when he navigated New York City. And that was a city he knew well and felt comfortable in. He’d never spent a lot of time touring and learning Las Vegas let alone anywhere else in Nevada.

In the corner of his eye, the young blonde handling the Ferrari’s wheel with a sure grip looked entirely comfortable in the driver’s seat. He wasn’t quite sure what to say, so he just let the first thing that came to mind run right out of his mouth without stopping it.

“I feel like I should ask if I can drive this car,” he admitted.

A grin stretched Luv’s full lips wider as she glanced to the side. “Do you have a license?”

“No, but I can drive.” And just because he could and felt like it, Diego added, “And what do you mean—do I have a license?”

Her big blue eyes rolled upward. “Come on, you’re a bit of a babyface. Don’t blame me for thinking you’re too young to even turn the key over. I bet you’re going to get ID’d until you’re forty.”

That had his eyebrows lifting high as he laughed. “I’m almost eighteen. You can’t be much older, if that.”

Luv shrugged, only replying, “But I can, actually. In my world, I can be anything.”

What did that mean?

She didn’t give him the chance to ask before she beamed his way and said, “This car isn’t even mine—borrowed for the day. Mine is black … or it will be when they drop it off with a new paint job. The new look wasn’t by choice and all. Gotta do what I gotta do when the boss says to do it. Makes life easier that way. You know what I mean?”

Diego blinked.

“Not really,” he said.

For the first time since the mysterious chick had approached him in the airport with her sly smile, he saw her first show of nerves. Or maybe that wasn’t the right word. Her fingers tapped a quick beat to the leather-wrapped steering wheel of the Ferrari. Her gaze quickly jumped between him and the cars ahead of them on the road. And she even chewed the side of her cheek like she didn’t know what to say.

“Sorry,” she muttered, “sometimes I forget.”

“Forget what?”

“That not everybody’s like me.”

He still didn’t get it.

“Like you?”

Luv sighed. “Or like your brother. Like us. You don’t know things we know. I don’t spend much time with people … outside the business.”

Oh.

Just like that, all at once, it made sense.

“Don’t be offended,” Diego said as he stared out at the passing, very dry-looking scenery, “but I’ve learned with my brother that it’s better if I don’t ask questions about that kind of stuff. About what you do and your life. I never really feel comfortable with the answers.”

In the driver’s seat, she made a little noise.

Soft, he thought.

Curious.

Maybe like him.

“But does a part of you still want to know it—about … all of it?” she asked quietly. Then, she was quick to add, “I only ask because sometimes I wonder what it’s like to be … well, you. Normal.”