Page 8 of Jump Start

After a practice lap, Thomas was instructed to use the course to the best of his ability. From a complete stop, the car screeched,twisted, turned, and roared around the track. He used every bit of road possible and came to an abrupt halt not far from where we were standing.

“Front left steering is heavy,” his voice instructed the crew.

The mechanics rushed out to assess the situation with a small jack and a handful of tools, and after a few minutes of working on the car, the jack was released, and Thomas was on his way again. I made a few notes on my phone about the impressive speed at which the team worked.

I realised, despite being a girl who knew nothing about racing, I was enjoying the day. The cool breeze off the open plains, the warm sun on my face mixed with the screeching loud noises of the race cars that filled me with adrenaline. After Thomas’s turn was up, he climbed out of the car and came to stand next to me, sipping on water through a straw in his helmet.

“Chris wants me to take you for a hot lap,” he mentioned casually as he moved in closer to me.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “What, really? That would be so cool!” My interest was sparked.

“Alright, come with me.” He nodded and led me over to the garage where I was handed a fireproof race suit and helmet to put on. The engineers ran through a quick briefing with me and before I knew it, I was being led over to Thomas’s car. Tony opened the door for me.

“Now, if he does anything that scares you, please speak up and we can stop straight away. We will be on the radio the whole time.”

I nodded, feeling an odd mix of excitement and nerves.

“Okay, Harper, be careful on your way in. These cars aren’tmade for passengers so it’s not going to be overly comfortable,” Tony explained as he buckled me into the seatbelt. He shut the door and then all of a sudden, I was in very close proximity to Thomas.

“Are you all good?” he asked, looking in my direction. The visor of his race helmet was still up.

“I think so.” My reply was unsteady. Without warning, he reached over and pulled the harness tighter on my body, his hands ever so slightly stalling on my thigh. Hastily closing the helmet, he put both hands on the steering wheel and signalled to his engineer to start the car.

“Hang on tight, and try not to scream into the radio,” his deadpan voice ordered through the helmet. I couldn’t help but smile inside my helmet. My dad and brothers would be so jealous.

“Okay, Thomas, when you’re ready.” Tony’s voice was loud and clear across the radio.

Once again, Thomas’s car roared to life and even with the helmet on, it was deafening. Without warning, we were off, and I was immediately pushed back into the seat. An involuntary scream came out of my mouth.

“What’s wrong?” Thomas asked as he shifted the gears, setting up for the first corner.

“Nothing! A warning would have been nice,” I managed to say over the comms, hearing a slight chuckle from Tony.

I was thankful this was only a one-lap experience. I did, however, feel a sense of ease with Thomas driving, even though I had no idea how he could see what he was doing with the countryside flying by in a blur of grass, concrete, and sky. I watched as his hands swiftly and efficiently switched from thesteering wheel to the stick, his feet feathering the accelerator and brake, concentration unbreakable.

Before I knew it, we were slowing down to enter the garage, and Thomas switched off the car. Leaving us sitting in silence once again. Thomas lifted his visor and turned to face me. “How was that?” he asked in anticipation.

I couldn’t lie. I felt exhilarated. “That was unbelievable! Thank you so much!” I gushed, lifting my visor to look at him better.

“Glad you enjoyed yourself,” he replied as I unfastened my seatbelt.

Thomas jumped out of the car like it was nothing and appeared at my side to help me out, hands extended towards me.

“Come on then,” his voice wasalmostplayful.

I couldn’t help but smile inside my helmet as I reached out to put my hand in his, leaning all of my weight on him as I got out. Holly appeared in front of us.

“Photo for the gram! Thomas, put your arm around Harps, will you?”

I lifted the helmet off my head and tried to calm down the mess I was certain my hair was in.

Thomas put his arm around my shoulder, his hand splayed on my shoulder blade. The feeling of his warm hands on my body felt comforting, and I felt my face blush. I ignored the flutter in my stomach as he touched me for the second time in as many seconds.

“Go on, Thomas, get in closer,” Holly ordered.

I laughed in her direction. I knew what she was doing. To be honest, I didn’t mind it. For good measure, I let my hip lean on Thomas’s thigh. He appeared even taller than usual in his racesuit and helmet.

“Thomas, take the bloody helmet off for the photo!” Chris yelled from across the room. Thomas obliged and rested it against his other hip. I loved how the team seemed to keep his pigheadedness in check. I would need to learn how to do that, at least for the rest of my week at Echidna Racing.

---