Page 71 of Jump Start

“I think you look great, long as you don’t tell me you like country music one day,thenwe’re over.”

“Oh, is that all it takes!?” she asked, making us both laugh.

The horn sounded over the speakers to indicate that the start of the race was five minutes away.

“Better go! Good luck, love you!” she leant down to kiss the side of my helmet.

“Love you too!” I yelled over the sound of engines starting up.

Thirty-four

Harper

“Do we have to do this shit?” Thomas winced as he trailed behind me, walking to the newly built media studio at Echidna Racing.

“Yes, you do have to do this shit. This is what makes you popular,” I replied, guiding him into the room.

“I don’t want to be popular; I just want to race.” As he took a seat on a stool, I wedged myself in between his legs.

“If you be good today, you will be rewarded,” I whispered in his ear.

Suddenly he sat up straight with a large smile on his face.Good.

“Alright, what’s first, lovelies?” I heard Holly ask as the photographer set up their equipment.

I made my way over to the group to hear their plan for the day.

“We’ll have Thomas do some close-ups with and without the helmet, and if we can, we’d like to get a smile out of him,” Gregory, the photographer, said with a smirk.

“Good luck,” Thomas’s voice echoed across the studio.

I rolled my eyes and went to find a spot to continue working. I could have gone back to my office, but I thought I should stay in case Thomas needed to be whipped into shape.

A few moments later, Landon casually walked through the door, his helmet resting on his hip while he spoke into his phone.

I caught his eye and waved to him. I respected Landon a lot. He was very young, but mature and down to earth. He was also completely unphased by the whole media and marketing thing and was happy to partake in anything we asked of him. Unlike someone else I knew.

“Hey, Harps!” he greeted me happily as he approached my table. I stood up to hug him.

“Landy!” We had become closer over the last twelve months, and I was happy to call him a friend.

Landon and Thomas were grouped together for a few test shots, beautiful big smiles from Landon and a whole lot of nothing from Thomas. Brown sparkling eyes, sure. Tall and handsome, absolutely. Happy to be there? Definitely not.

As I worked, I heard the photographer speak to his assistant in the background.

“He’s not giving us anything.” I rolled my eyes for the hundredth time and walked over to Thomas.

His face instantly lit up at the sight of me. He really was incredibly cute.

I wrapped my hands around what I could of his wrists and moved his arms from side to side, the look on his face confused.

“What are you—”

“Just shh! Loosen up, it’s not that bad. It’s just photos, Thomas,” I whispered, then leant in to kiss him. “Loosey goosey, let me see some movement.”

His response was a half-assed movement of the hips.

Better than nothing. He better behave.

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