Page 111 of Hyperspeed
Since we’d admitted our feelings, everything had changed, and it felt great.
I smiled more . . . laughed even. Kai had offered to be my safe space, and saying yes felt as natural as breathing. I kept up the stony-faced facade in public, but with Kai, I could let my guard down and be myself.
It made me feel lighter than I had in a long time, like the weight of the galaxy wasn’t crushing down on me as much as before.
Even my family noticed the difference. My parents commented that I seemed happy when I walked through their door to visit—visits that included Kai more than once. I’d been nervous at first, unsure about showing him where I grew up, but he’d already met my family, and once Grandma started begging me to bring Kai over for dinner, I gave in pretty quickly.
Before long, it became a regular thing.
Every Wednesday, Kai watchedLove Planetwith Dad, gossiped with Mum, and gorged himself on Grandma’s food.
Their first meeting might’ve been rocky, but now I was pretty sure she adored him more than the rest of us combined. She treated it like her own personal mission to fatten Kai up with every Iskari delicacy she could think of.
And every time he moaned and sighed over whatever she set in front of him, Grandma beamed, declaring how lovely it was to have “someone who truly appreciated her cooking.”
Meanwhile, I was stuck hiding an inappropriate boner under the table, thanks to the downright pornographic sounds coming out of his mouth.
And don’t even get me started on the way he licked his cutlery clean.
On one of our weekends off, I took him to another underground race—just as spectators this time. He loved experiencing it from the crowd’s perspective, pointing out all the ways it differed from the more structured ASL. And when Al crossed the finish line in first place, Kai cheered so loudly I feared for my hearing.
But now we were back at the paddock for the eighth race of the season.
Two races remained, and Kai was leading the championship. He wasn’t untouchable, though, and Zylo was close behind him. Despite the small gap,Kai felt utterly sure of his ability to win a fourth championship. I was sitting in fifth place, just behind Dray in fourth and Jax in third.
It wasn’t the podium finish I’d hoped for, but I was still the highest-ranking rookie in league history, and that had to mean something.
Winning was great, but I had something more important to race for. If I could end the season shining a positive light on the Iskari, that would be enough.
The championship meant something different to Kai, though.
At first, I’d assumed he just craved the spotlight, but now that I knew him, I understood it was about his legacy. About proving he was still the best, even under the weight of everyone’s expectations.
The countdown to the end of a driver’s career started when they sat behind the wheel for the first time. And it only got worse when you won, because when you made it to the top, the only place left to go was down.
Kai faced relentless scrutiny, fans and media circling like vultures, ready to tear apart every choice he made. Always wondering if this would be the season his reign at the top ended.
Zylo had gone through the same after winning consecutive championships. Now he was one of the greats, a veteran in the sport, but no one expected him to win,not anymore.
Kai wasn’t ready for that. He’d been in the league for five years, and in his mind, he had many more seasons ahead of him. And every season meant another chance to win.
He didn’t just compete against the others, he competed against the version of himself everyone expected him to be. And somehow he made it look effortless, like racing through the stars at breakneck speed was the only time he felt free.
Kai was used to dominating the track. Nobody could touch him—but I had, and he hadn’t known what to do with that. So he’d lashed out, and I’d pushed back, sneering at him for being what he was—a cocky showboat. Mix the twotogether and we’d formed a rivalry fuelled by ego, assumptions, and enough resentment to blow like a supernova.
Funny how much a bit of communication could change things.
I was reading on the frosty grass outside the paddock, soaking up the minimal sun Krythion offered when Kai found me.
He bounded over with a smile on his face, eyes covered by his favourite pair of aviators. His unzipped racing suit pooled around his hips, and the thermal underlayer left little to the imagination.
He crossed his legs at the ankles and dropped to the ground with a smirk. “Like what you see, rookie?”
My ears twitched, the lines on my skin pulsing burnt orange. I’d tried to mask my staring with my sunglasses, but I was still caught.
“Fuck off, Mercer,” I replied, returning to my holo-reader.
“Whatcha reading?”
