Page 57 of Jump Start

I started to lift myself faster, feeling him harden even more inside me. His breath was getting shallower with each lift. He was so close.

“Ohh, I’m gonna—” My mouth on his put an end to his words.

We matched each other’s pace, grinding faster until I felt himfill me. My world fell apart around him, and I yelled his name.

We stayed connected, him lying back in his seat as I draped against him. His kisses travelled over my cheek and neck.

“I should take you to my parents more often.” His voice was back to its typical sarcasm.

As he helped me get back to my seat, I searched for my underwear before realising he had them in his hands.

“Can I have my underwear back, please?”

“No. I deserve a trophy to commemorate the first time my ute has been christened.”

“Sicko.”

Twenty-eight

Thomas

On my Monday morning drive to Echidna HQ, I found myself thinking back to the weekend. Not only was I the luckiest guy in the world, but I was also feeling happier than I had in a long time. Racing was still my passion, it filled my mind and body with excitement, but now I had something more. I had Harper.

In a way, our weekend trip to see my family cemented something in my mind for me: she was the one. I hoped that she felt the same way, although her mid-drive attack on me, which blew my mind, also left me with no doubts about her feelings. Today was also her first official day at Echidna Racing and she was adamant that she wanted to drive in on her own. I understood. She didn’t want to be seen as relying on me, even though I tried to explain to her that it was more economical to drive in together, and when it was race week, I would be away anyway.

Stubborn as always.

I had to respect her feelings. I drove in on my own, resisting the urge to call and speak to her the whole way in. I knew Chris had organised some flowers for her and the team had written on a card to welcome her. Harper had fit in like wallpaper from the moment she stepped inside the large glass doors of EchidnaRacing. I was excited for her first day; however, I had some major prep work to do myself.

This week would be the last race of the year at Mount Panorama, one of the most gruelling, calculating tracks in the history of Australian motorsport. Trying to thrash a GT car around it in the potentially wet weather was going to be challenging, to say the least.

“There has been rain forecast for the last race of the year at Bathurst, so we need to consider tyre strategies and focus on braking into the apexes,” Chris explained.

Tony, my engineer, added to Chris’s comments, “Jacko, for you, that means you need to be careful along the chicanes up on the ascend, as your tendency to oversteer there will cost us.”

“Yep, I know. I’ll work on that in the sim,” I said calmly. There was no avoiding it, I did have trouble on a certain part of the mountain called ‘The Esses’. These were turns six to ten, which were a series of corners in tight succession. Many drivers in the past had calculated wrong and ended up crashing by the time the straight came along.

Bathurst was always somewhere I had dreamed of racing, ever since I used to watch the great race with Xavier. The loud sounds, and amazing colours of the cars added to the pure excitement I felt from watching it all unfold. I knew it was something I had to be a part of, then and there.

***

I pulled up to the office and gathered my bags and race suit; it was wash day. I couldn’t be trusted to wash them myself,something Harper always gave me shit for. As I walked up the staircase, I heard the familiar sound of Harper’s laugh, and I couldn’t help but smile. I reached the upper floor to catch her in my eyesight, her long blonde hair caught the morning sunlight, and she was holding the bunch of flowers Chris had organised for her.

She looked so beautiful.

“Hey!” She smiled in my direction as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

“Morning, Harps, Chris.” I reached out a hand, shaking Chris’s as I held on to her.

I untangled myself and continued through to my office, not wanting to get in her way.

Harper’s resignation from theSydney Dailywas rather underwhelming. I wasn’t sure if she was glad of this or not. She had been there for years, and they let her go without much drama. She was better off without them, especially since she had found her home at Echidna.

My day started with an engineers meeting, during which we were all in the same building, but attended online with headphones. It never made any sense to me.

“Jacko, your feedback needs to be spot on during this race. It’s an enduro, so everything is going to have pressure on it. Fuel consumption will be up, shocks will get a proper workout, and if you even feel a hint of brake issues, you’ll have to pit.” I nodded, these were all things I’d had problems with in the past and I didn’t want to let the team down again.

The pressure to consistently perform at the highest level during the last race of the year was insurmountable. Years before, I felt completely overwhelmed and would make carelessmistakes. But now, I was older, more experienced, and had several wins throughout the year under my belt. I was ready and keen to get fucking started.

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