Page 81 of The Player Penalty
“Well, no, he hasn’t. Here’s the thing. If you fall back on old habits, it will be everywhere. Pete will be humiliated. Everyone in our sport will know because it will be front-page gossip. Your standings won’t matter, and your old scandal will be discussedall over again. We will have a massive PR problem. You get that?”
“Yes, I’m aware because you warn me every day.” Boone is one of many who thinks the worst of me. Hell, my entire family was convinced I’d cheat in the middle of the playoffs. It wasn’t even a request; my dad sincerely believed I’d follow his orders without question. “My feelings are sincere.”
I didn’t cheat, and all it cost me was my family and my reputation. There’s a nasty lesson in there about never doing the right thing.
“See, I told you he loved her,” Sarah says. She prides herself on always being correct, especially when it means butting into other’s private lives. “He’s in love.”
“Stop,” Boone and I say, speaking over each other.
“You both know I won’t. Also, as I said, you won’t have a problem, big brother. You’ll worry because you enjoy the misery, but he’s completely gone. There isn’t going to be a scandal.”
“I don’t enjoy misery,” Boone says.
He kind of does.
“There won’t be a scandal,” I promise. “If we end, it’s because she dumped me, not the other way around.”
His head bobs. “If it matters, I hope she doesn’t. You’ve been an asset this season.”
“Great. If we’re done here, I’ve got a rookie who needs me.”
∞∞∞
Darlington Raceway
“Walk up the embankment there.”
We pretend to climb the turn so the social media team could take more pictures.
“Okay, that will do it. Thanks, guys.”
We resume our walk, checking for any changes from last year. The up-close visual helps reset our minds on the next race, which I appreciate.
“Handling on these turns will be difficult,” Boone says.
“It’s always difficult,” I say. One is narrow and tough as shit, while the other one is wide and annoying as shit. The engineers always build our cars to handle well on one or the other, with neither turn coming out perfect. I’ll find out what to expect during practice tomorrow.
“You expect to win this weekend?” Jake asks, coming up beside me. He’s been reticent during the walk so far, to the point I suspect Sarah told him about our conversation in Boone’s office the other day. Either that, or he’s tired.
“It’s a good car, and my results in the sim were decent. I hope for a decent showing.”
“You’re second in points right now,” he points out. “It seems like you’d have a strategy to keep yourself there.”
“Running ten points behind.” A decent showing on Sunday could change that, or I could wreck out and drop several spots. “It’s Darlington. Who in the hell knows?”
“How’s Matteo doing?”
The change in topic surprises me. Jake helped push Boone to take Matteo on as a full-time truck driver, which I appreciate, and he’s barely mentioned him since. “Are you planning an expansion so soon?”
Jake and Sarah launched their own company, conveniently located next door to our headquarters, last season. Jake is the only full-time driver, but the two of them regularly talk up plans. Personally, it all sounds like a giant pain in the ass.
“Not yet. We aren’t there, operations-wise, at this point. My big push is to win this season. That’s more easily achieved than a championship,” Jake says.
He’s wearing faded blue board shorts and a darker blue shirt. His relaxed body doesn’t show it, but that statement gives me pause. A win comes with a nice purse attached. “You still want to expand.”
“What are we doing here if not dreaming big?”
“Racing cars is dreaming big.” It’s almost enough for me.
