Page 46 of Close Contact
Aurélie hummed, stepping around me to grab her phone and her fireproof shirt. “It seems so unlike you to not be confident you’ll win.”
I watched her type out a text before glancing up at me, and it was as if our moment had never happened, though the memory of it would stick with me forever. Never in my entire racingcareer had I allowed that kind of distraction to happen, and I would have to take a minute to regroup once I left here.
“You’re on pole position, and one of the best defenders on the grid. Monaco is a difficult track to overtake, but mostly, I believe in you, baby.” The pet name slipped out more casually than ever before. I snapped my mouth shut before I could say anything else that might wreck her concentration—or make her look at me like that again.
“No, no, no.” She wagged a finger at me as she yanked her shirt over her head with frantic movements. “Don’t go there. Not right now, not here. You can’t call mebabyorloveor any kind of French pet name outside the bedroom.”
I arched a brow. “Technically, we’re not in the bedroom right now.”
She scowled, putting her hands on her hips. “You know what I mean,Callum.When we’re not—” She gestured wildly between us, cheeks flushed, voice breathy. “When we’re notdoing things.”
“Doing things,” I echoed slowly, lips twitching.
She stamped her foot like a cartoon character, and it took everything in me not to laugh. “This isn’t coming out right.” She huffed and turned her back to me like she needed a second to reset. I gave her one. Her voice was quieter when she spoke again. “What I mean is, when we’re about to get into cars and drive at insane speeds, when we need to be focused—sharp—we can’t afford distractions. Andyou…” She turned back around, eyes cutting straight through me. “You’re the distraction. Because when you say things like that…” Her voice broke, just barely. “I think you might mean them. And if I let myself believe that for even a second…” She swallowed. “I’ll fall in love with you.”
My heart slammed into my ribs so hard I swore it echoed through the walls, because the truth was…
“Maybe it’s too late for that,” I confessed.
Her lips parted and her eyes widened as if she’d heard the confession for what it was. And I wished desperately that for once our mild language barrier could’ve interfered, because this wasn’t how I should tell her for the first time. Fuck, I’d only just started to understand these feelings myself, and I’d never felt this way before, and she deserved better, and?—
Before either of us could say anything more, the door swung open, and Jules re-entered the room. Just outside the door, a few Luminis engineers turned away like they weren’t trying to peek in here to see what was going on.
“Your suit,” Jules said, holding it out for her to take.
She gave him a polite smile. “Thank you so much.” Her eyes drifted back to me, and that look completely disarmed me.
“Just… keep your head on straight out there, Dubois,” I offered, before turning on my heel and high-tailing it out of there.
Her voice followed me as I stepped into the hallway. “You, too, Fraser.”
One wrong moveand Monaco would swallow me whole, or in this case, my first shot to convert a pole position into a GrandPrixvictory.
I could almost hearCallum’svoice, the urgency in his warning still fresh in my mind.They’re targeting you. Be careful.
Thinking of him, I turned my head slightly. Just enough to glance through the haze of the grid and catch the car beside me—his Vanguard, lined up inP2. The overcast sky made everything look flatter and grayer. His visor was just clear enough to catch a flicker of blue. Our eyes met.
I gave him a small wave. Barely more than a flick of my fingers on the wheel. But it was enough. And just like that, his voice echoed again.Maybe it’s too late for that.
My heart stuttered—just for a beat—but it was enough to remind me what waited after the flag. He felt something. So didI. And if I made it out of this race alive, maybe I’d let myself feel it, too. There was so much I wanted to say. But right now I had to race.
I tightened my grip on the wheel, feeling the familiar give of the leather under my gloves. My heart hammered in my chest, each beat a countdown to lights out.
Marco loomed just behind me, a wolf ready to pounce. Thankfully,Kimiwas on the second row alongside Marco. My hope was thatKimicould successfully hold Morel off inP5.
The lights began their sequence above me, the world narrowing to the five glowing orbs that would dictate the start.
The lights turned off, and instinct took over.
The first corner came fast—SainteDévote, sharp and unforgiving. My tires screamed as they bit into the asphalt, the narrow streets of Monaco blurring into a kaleidoscope of barriers and banners.Callumlunged into my mirrors, but I held my line, forcing him wide.
“Clean start,” my engineer crackled in my ear. “Good defense.”
Good defense? I’d barely begun.Callumwouldn’t let up, not here, not with a track this tight. He pressed closer through BeauRivage, my mirrors filled with red and black. The incline up to Casino Square was treacherous, the car twitching under the strain of acceleration and gravity, but otherwise felt great—responsive and balanced.
Clean air stretched ahead of me, the rest of the track waiting for me to conquer. Fraser stayed glued to me. Through Mirabeau and the Hairpin, I could feel him testing me, his front wing darting in and out of my periphery. Every move was a question:Will you crack? Will you falter?
My answer was no. Always no.
