Page 20 of Crash Course Omega
It breaks my heart that he’s never once stood on the number one spot on the podium. I always wonder what would have happened if I had taken the offer to be his teammate.
“And that's it?” Nat asks as she blinks at the board. “They just do that fifty times and then see who wins?”
I grin at her, squeezing her tight. “Not a chance. We're not just watching them go around the track; we're here for the fight!” I laugh as the cars scream past us, and I nearly moan.
It’s the most beautiful thing in the world.
I love acting with all my heart, but watching those cars fly around the track fills me with a sense of power nothing else could.
They feel like wild beasts that are tamed just for the race. I love the way the energy surges around us, and how everyone cheers as they stay captivated by the dance of cars on tarmac.
I’m so focused on the race that I only realize Jacob is standing next to me when Nat squeaks again.
He stays silent as we look at the screen, but we both watch Maddock, tense as he leads the race.
“Do you have everything ready to start my magical crash course?” I ask, as if I can hide how much I want to get back into the driver's seat. Nat and the other co-stars just need to learn the basics of the sport. They’ll do most of their scenes in the studio with a green screen behind them.
“We've already arranged a practice session for you in Texas next week,” Jacob says. “Everything is set up for you, and the rest of the cast can take over VR rooms.”
The other actors and stunt people will spend the next month practicing in 360-degree race simulators while they wait to be cleared to drive F1 cars. Then a month of on-track training.
The months will also be filled with photo shoots and sponsorship gigs as I do laps of the circuits outside official races. They want to make a short film of the actor's training sessionsfor the behind-the-scenes footage. But the big publicity stunt we are practicing for is a race for charity in Silverstone back in the UK, where the top five drivers of the Formula One season will race the stars of the movie.
“Have you told Maddock yet?” I ask.
Jacob grimaces as he avoids my gaze.
“I thought I'd leave that as a nice surprise. You know how important Vegas is to him.”
I nod before fixing my hard gaze back on the race.
Vegas was the first race I’d ever won in F2. And it was the perfect place to make a bet.
We bet that if I came in first, he'd agree to date me. And the moment I won, Maddock raced out onto the track to meet me before anyone else, spinning down around, and it had been so hard not to kiss him as we both laughed and cried.
We kept our relationship a secret from my family, but everyone knew what good friends we were. That’s why it hurt so much when it all collapsed around us.
I would rather see Maddock after the Championships are over. He’s the only consistent racer on the board this year. The fastest racers keep hopping between first and tenth, while he’s stayed straight second for the entire season. There’s only a ten-point difference between him and the number one, with Jaxx three places behind him. And I know how much that must hurt for him.
If Maddock doesn’t have any distractions, if I’m not there, then maybe he will be in with a chance of scoring first place this year.
Though maybe I’m putting too much pressure on myself, like I always do.
“I can’t imagine he’s going to take it well,” I say. “Why didn’t you tell him when they chose me?” Although, I had taken on the role right after everything blew up with Ross.
“The same reason I asked the Director not to tell you he and Jaxx would be your teachers before they bought the plane tickets.”
He gives me a cheeky grin, glances at Nat again, and I glower at him.
“I need to get back to the comms tent before Maddock causes more trouble,” he says. “Enjoy the race.”
He throws one more wink at Nat and darts off before I can ask him any more questions.
There are lots of reasons he’s a good Team Principal, but one is because he knows the best moves his people can make at the right time. So I have to trust him and hope Maddock’s famous temper doesn’t flare up when he finds out he’ll spend the next two months training his ex.
Maddock
God, I’m so fucking close. I just need two more laps to get ahead of the two cars in front, and then I can get there. I need a first so badly.
