Page 10 of Jump Start

“It’s my problem, not yours. I’m sorry, okay? I’ll cut it out, I promise.” He placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed a couple of times before placing both hands on the steering wheel and starting the car.

As we slowly merged back onto the highway, I noticed his knuckles were white. He was gripping the steering wheel with full force.

The rest of the drive back to headquarters was fairly silent. I felt exhausted from the day and the weight of the thoughts in my mind. I couldn’t wait to get out of the car and go home. As soon as we arrived back at headquarters, I jumped out of his truck, muttering a quick “Thanks” in Thomas’s direction.

I longed for the safety of my own car. As I drove home in silence, I cursed myself for showing emotion in front of Thomas. I wasn’t in the habit of outwardly showing emotion in such an uncontrolled way, but he had a knack for bringing it out of me.

Five

Harper

At home, I force-fed myself a quick dinner rather than falling face first on my bed and calling it a day. Soon, it would be my last day at Echidna Racing, and I was more than glad to be finished. I wished things could have gone differently with Thomas. To me, it felt like there was more to him than he was letting on. Iknewthere was. I could see it on his face as I left his ute earlier—he felt bad.

I guess it wasn’t really up to me. I could be as nice as pie to him, and he would still not give me the time of day.

“You can’t win ‘em all, darling.” That’s what my dad would always say to me. I missed my family so much. I was looking forward to going up to visit them soon.

***

My eyes bounced open well before my alarm went off due to my early bedtime. I made a coffee and decided to put the finishing touches on my Henry-Jackson story, ready for Chris to evaluate before sending it off for editing. Overall, the members of Echidna Racing were incredibly friendly, welcoming, and informative. I was certain my piece was going to be greatdespite the tension with its lead subject. I was, after all, still a professional, even if he wasn’t willing to be.

Pulling my car into the lot, I noticed Thomas’s large dual-cab was already there. He didn’t usually waltz in until another hour or so.Great. He’d be in the office.

I breezed through the front door confidently, greeting people as I headed up the stairs and into his office. He wasn’t there, so I quickly set my gear up on his desk. I was on the phone to Harry while absentmindedly moving my mouse around my laptop when the door flung open, and Thomas walked in carrying a huge basket of sponsored goods. I watched him struggle as car washing products fell from the basket but didn’t offer to help, pretending to be very into my phone call.

Once Harry hung up, I even considered pretending to talk, just to avoid helping Thomas. But in the end, I decided that was childish. I started to help and picked up the trail of products he’d left in his path.

“Morning, what’s all this then?” I asked as I placed the chamois on the brown leather couch.

“Morning, sponsorship gift, although I have all this at home. I’ll have to start selling it on the black market.”

I scrunched my nose up at him. “Was that a joke that just came out of your mouth?” I asked with a quizzical expression. He’d never made a joke that wasn’t at my expense.

He nodded and smiled wryly. “If you have to ask, then maybe not.”

Pausing for a moment, he pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me.

“Harper, I’m sorry for upsetting you this week. I’ve been a huge asshole to you and I am really sorry for that.”

He handed me a block of chocolate, his hand lightly grazing mine as I collected it. Looking up at him, I smiled.

“Well, thank you, I appreciate that. Maybe we can be friends after all this?”

He smirked again, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. “Friends. Sure thing.”

I placed the chocolate on the table and moved in closer to him, invading his space. I half expected him to move a step backward but instead, he leant in.

“It’s going to take a lot more than chocolate to make up for how much of a prick you were. However, I am willing to be the recipient of many different forms of grovelling from you,” I said in a mock-serious tone, ending my sentence with a wink and a swift step back.

Thomas’s breath caught for a split second. He smiled widely and his freckles seemed to dance around his face as he did.

“Challenge accepted, Allenwright.” And then he turned and silently went back to tidying up the mess of products on the couch. I wasn’t quite sure, but I could have sworn he was blushing.

I was looking forward to seeing how he might try to make this up to me. He was ever so slightly beginning to soften towards me, and I liked the way it felt to see him smile in my direction without a hint of irony.

Thomas

Today was press day, whether I liked it or not. All of the year’s promotional shoots for the television broadcasts had been done, and today was just some extra promo for whatever Echidna might need during the season. I grinned and bared it as best I could. I just wasn’t a photo guy, even my friends and family would have trouble getting me to smile in a group photo. My teammate, Will, thrived in this side of the role—smiling and joking, happy to do whatever Holly asked him.

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