Page 73 of Red Queen
Nearing the end of the season, we’re more stressed and we have to focus even more, and I’m honestly tired. I know the winter break’s almost here, but boy, I wish it’d start tomorrow instead. It’s been a long, long season.
“Try to calm down, okay? The event has only started. We’ve got a couple of hours left.” She plants a kiss on my neck, the contact making me shiver.
“I know. I’d just rather have you all for myself. I don’t want to be here. We’ve got enough sponsors.” She chuckles at my grumpy answer, the sound making me smile a little.
“The people who are here aren’t representing new sponsors, you know that, right?”
“I know,” I mumble, still not lifting my head up. She’s really comfy. And at least I don’t have to schmooze while she’s in my arms.
“Listen.” She grabs onto my head, lifting it so I’m looking into her eyes. “You’ve got two races left. I know it’s really the end, and you’re way too tired, but hold on a little more, okay? You’re fighting for the championship, so get your pretty ass together and finish this season on a high.”
“Yes, ma’am. Just promise me you’ll be there by my side. Til the end.” I pout, waiting for her to kiss me, and she chuckles at my expression.
“I promise. Til the end.” She smiles, my heart melting at the sight. God, she’s so beautiful.
“Good. Because I can’t do this without you. I can’t do anything without you anymore. You’ve turned me into a lovesick puppy.” She laughs, planting a small kiss on my lips.
I smirk, then pull her into another kiss, this time it’s harder and more fierce. My tongue slides into her mouth, trying to make the most out of the kiss, before she starts smacking on my arm, so I pull away.
“You’re crazy.” She chuckles, tracing her fingers around my chin. I love when she does that. It makes my skin tingle in all the right ways.
“Mhm, crazy for you. Because every man has needs. And you are mine, Rosa. I need you.” She continues to hold my gaze for another couple of seconds, and then we break away.
“Alright, come on, loverboy. You’ve got people to introduce me to.” I chuckle, following her as she pulls me with her.
48
MATEO
“One last time, mate. Vamos.” I hear Wiley’s voice on the radio as I’m taking deep breaths to calm my nerves.
After Asher won the last race in Qatar, and I finished 6th, he surpassed me in the driver’s standings by three points. I picked up lots of debris on the track after two drivers crashed into each other, and I got a puncture from it. Of course, it was around halfway through the 43rd lap, so I lost some places due to it.
The bosses up there don't really care about that type of stuff, as long as it doesn’t affect their favorite drivers. Liam and I had to get a puncture in order for them to realize it would be best to stop the race and clean the track. Thank god, I’m not fighting for the championship title.
Now, Asher’s starting from first place, and I start from beside him, from the second place. Since overtaking is slightly limited at this circuit, my best chance is overtaking Asher in the first corner. It sounds quite literally impossible right now, but since Hayes will be on our asses, it’ll give me a good chance to fight Asher.
And 3… 2… 1… It’s lights out and away we go, one last time! I step on the accelerator, reaching Asher, but as I predicted, Hayesis almost right next to us as well. Their car is damn fast, and it doesn’t help me at this circuit. We turn into the first corner, and I manage to overtake Asher, trying to close the space where he could fight back, even if he’s busy keeping Hayes behind him.
The last thing I need is an incident, so I’m not that desperate. I’m not fighting with Hayes, only Asher, so if anyone else other than Asher wants to overtake me, be my guest. I’ll happily let them pass, as long as I can see him in my mirror.
“Did something happen behind us? I see dirt fog.” I radio to Wiley, then I spot the yellow flag pop up on the side of the track.
“Yes, it’s a VSC now. I repeat, VSC.” Fucking great. Virtual safety car. Now Asher will have the chance to close up on me.
“What happened?”
“Aiden and Fred collided; they went off track.”
“Are they okay?”
“Yes, both are out safely.” I sigh, watching as the grid closes up on us.
I hope cleaning the track won’t last long, my tires will cool back, and then I’m fucked. Asher’s on a different compound, so if I can trick him at the restart, I’ll have a chance to fly away. If not, we’ll start the cat and mouse game.
As the VSC comes to an end, we’ve entered the 6th lap. It wasn’t a long clean, but it was enough to cool my tires. I tried to keep them alive and warm, but they couldn’t hold on for six laps.
When I restart the race, we’ve reached the worst part of the track, at least from my perspective. We’re at the long straight, the best place to overtake on track, and Asher does it without any difficulties. The good thing is that in the long run, this will benefit me, because I’ll have to pit later.
