Page 32 of Flat Out
The crowd cheered, the cameras caught every second, and I was suddenly thinking verynot safe for workthings.
I was not to be trusted alone with my thoughts anymore, because he pouredeverythinginto this kiss. But most importantly, he was here, showing up for me. Even when I ghosted him the way he ghosted me.
Ugh.
When he pulled away, his lips hovered over mine, smudged with my lipstick.
"If you ever doubt that you're mine again," he growled, all low and possessive in a way that had my blood heating, "I'll fucking punish you."
My hand flew up to cover the mic on his lapel, eyes as wide as saucers. "Callum. You're mic'ed up," I hissed.
He graced me with his signature smirk. "Good. Let them know." I was trembling, every nerve alight, but now my cheeks were getting hot. The pale blue of his eyes traced my face before he full-on grinned. "There she is. I missed you. You okay?"
I laughed, watery and overwhelmed and real for the first time in days—weeks, maybe. I’d lived a thousand lives since his crash. None of them were worth focusing on when the only thing that mattered was him in front of me now. "I should be askingyouthat. But yes, I am now."
"Me, too."
"Alright, now that you've made a grand entrance," Marco muttered behind me.
Somewhat sheepishly, I stepped back from Callum and his intoxicating presence, remembering where we were. Cleo watched on with dark eyes, shocked andblushing.
Yeah, well. She allowed them in here not realizing that together they were like feral little gremlins. That was on her.
We took our seats, me at one end next to Callum, and Marco and Kimi on his other side. Cleo had now recovered and was beaming at all of us. Callum clamped his hand over my bare thigh and pulled me across the leather to be closer to him.
Ooooo-kay.Guess we weren't hiding this anymore. Not like that kiss left anything to the imagination.
"Well. That was not scripted, but very welcome," Cleo said, and the crowd cheered and clapped again, louder this time as if they were celebrating love and rage and survival all at once. Meanwhile my insides were melting at the smallest touch from Callum.
Yesterday, I got myself off in his sheets and convinced myself this was the end. And right now, I told myself how fucking insane I must be if that was what I thought. He'd never have given me a key in the first place, or sent me all the filthy things he had, or gotten me my favorite snacks and coffee, or loaned me his private jet, or all the other ways he'd found to pull me out of my lonely spiral, if he didn't love me.
Jesus Christ, I was really fucked in the head.
"So what part of thiswasscripted?" I asked her.
Her teeth glinted in the overhead lights. "This whole thing, minus their entrance. Callum reached out yesterday asking if they could join the interview to support you."
I slowly turned to face him, the plastic wrap from the flowers crinkling in my lap. He just stared at me with nothing butwarmth and fondness. Then I leaned forward to look at the other two, who were wearing twin shit-eating grins. "Bonjour, boys. Bienvenue."
"If this interview doesn't end with you biting one of their heads off, I'll be shocked," Callum muttered.
Cleo laughed, flipping through her cards. "You know, this might be thefirsttime we've ever had a live declaration, a public kiss, and two surprise co-drivers on this show in the same segment."
Kimi deadpanned, "We do what we can. But most importantly, the world should know that we stand beside Aurélie Dubois and all the women who continue to be silenced for no reason other than their gender."
The crowd fuckingscreamed.
Marco tipped his head at me before looking at Cleo, the spotlights above reflecting off his dark hair. "Besides, someone had to show up and say what the world's been too afraid to: she is the bravest damn person in this paddock." A murmur of applause. "She's not here because of a quota. She's not here because of her brother. She's here because she can outdrive half the grid on her worst day and still stand up for what matters when the rest of us are hiding in the garage."
Callum squeezed my thigh before speaking, and it took everything in me not to react. "She's doing what none of us would've had the guts to do, and she's doing it with her head held high. Do you understand what it takes to do that? The kind of public criticism she's getting for this?"
My eyes watered again, because yeah, it fucking sucked being painted the way I was. Maybe Callum sensed the sudden rush of emotions, because he released my leg and grabbed my hand, intertwining our fingers. His touch grounded me.
"She's being called horrendous things by people who claim to be fans of the sport, and all for speaking well within regulation.Advocating for driver safety and using her platform to do good things for the sportandfor feminism."
Cleo blinked, stunned. “Well… I don’t even have a follow-up to that. Except maybe this.” She turned to me again. “Your fans are obsessed. Your critics are loud. And the internet is still demanding answers aboutthis.” She gestured to me and Callum.
A few audience members whistled, some sighed dreamily, others yelled their support.
