“Too easy, Sophia!” He waves as I am a steady blur walking by him, trying to avoid the beaming sun that pierces against my skin.
Reaching my pit box, I marvel at the bikes sitting in the middle of the garage. Sleek, beautiful, loud, two-wheeled machines that always take my breath away. Dave and Riley are standing nearby and raise their heads to me. I fist bump them and join in their conversation. Dave, my favourite colleague, and Riley, our reigning champion rider, are discussing some new adjustments we have made to his bike based on his feedback from his last race. He nods his head in agreement and asks a few follow-up questions between Dave and I to answer.
“Heeeey, Riiilleeeyyyyyy!” A loud, goofy voice cuts through our discussion.
“Hey! Javi!” Riley moves around me to shake the loud goof’s hand. “Eavesdropping on our winning strategies? Quick! Hide your laptop,” Riley jokes to Dave with a nod, who slams it shut and holds it against his chest. We all laugh at Dave’s failed attempt of giving a tough guy face.
“Always have to keep my ears to the ground, mate! Try and catch up to you leading in the points,” Javi replies, a massive smile plastered on his face. I turn around so I am facing him, arms folded across my waist. He eyes me through his brown, curly mop of hair. “I’ll have Sophia slip me some notes next time I see her floating around the pits.” He winks at me. While he seems to have no issues finding girls to follow him around, I know this is a wink to carry on the teasing with Riley, not hitting on me.
I mime zipping my lip. They continue some back and forth, ending when Javi needs to head to his own pit box for a debrief with his engineers.
2
Javi
I’ve always known I belonged here. The smell, the feel. The bikes all lined up pit lane which I trail my eyes across as I walk to my pit box. I’ve lived and breathed motorcycle racing for as long as I can remember, and I have finally made it here. I might not be standing on the top step this season, but I am just getting used to the new machine and how it handles on the tracks. We had a huge uproot with our bike manufacturer leaving the grid, and we needed to find a new one. Triumph came to the rescue and supplied our bikes. The team has done a great job with the change.
I grew up on a large property, so I was on a motorcycle before I was five-years-old. I loved to go fast; I still do. My dad would repair bikes, as well as restore vintage ones. There was always a new bike to jump on. Once he saw I hated getting off the bike, he created a motocross track on our land. I would be on there from when I got home from school to bedtime. Then I asked to start competing in the local comps and worked my way up winning championships. And here I am. Going to win next year and be champion.
“Javi!” a good-looking brunette calls and waves from behind a locked gate. I wave politely and continue my way as I hear her keep saying my name. I can see how others get caught up in all this, the fame and recognisability. If I wasn’t so focused on my training, I know I could be enjoying the company of a different girl every week. Not even a magic pussy can turn my head away from my goal, though.
Be the best. Be a champion.
I start to pass Ghostly Flux’s pit box and see my best mate, Riley, the current champion and top of the leader board, speaking with his crew.
“Heeeey, Riiilleeeyyyyyy!” I bellow out.
“Hey! Javi!” Riley moves around one of his crew to shake my hand. “Eavesdropping on our winning strategies? Quick! Hide your laptop.” A female crew member has their back to me, as I take Riley’s hand, my eyes dart to her perfect ass.Quick, look up. Ignore. Focus on Dave shutting his laptop. Thank fuck.
“Always have to keep my ears to the ground, mate! Try and catch up to you leading in the points,” I reply, hoping a massive smile will hide me checking out one of his crew’s ass. It’s Sophia. She turns around and places her arms across her waist. Doesn’t she realise that makes her tits pop up, straining under her team polo? I’ll mention her so I can look at her in a non-creepy way. “I’ll have Sophia slip me some notes next time I see her floating around the pits.” I wink at her.Err, that was still creepy. Crap.
I have seen her around the paddock and, of course, when I come hassle Riley, but she normally hangs out with Dave or the crew. She is warm, open, and knowledgeable. She also has that car racing engineer douche of a boyfriend. Unavailable, so forget it. I do not have time for all that, anyway. She and Dave know their shit; Riley has nothing but positives to say about the pair of them. He’s going to hate me next year.
I get waves from my own box, and I embrace the distraction and enter my pit box to get to work with my team. I am here to focus. Nothing will sway me.
“Javi!” A warm voice drifts through the box.
“Is that my favourite Team Owner, Rayna?” I return as she walks over and embraces me, her dark brown hair with flicks of silver falling around her shoulders.
“One and the same! I hope you have been keeping well. Not training too much and getting enough rest?” She keeps an arm draped across my shoulders and a perfectly manicured finger pointed in my chest. Rayna is the Paddock Mum. She has been in this industry for years with her husband before he passed away. They both had a passion for the sport and loved making their teams feel like a family. I was over the moon being picked up by Rayna last year. I want to stay in this team and continue winning with her support backing me.
“Of course. Can’t overdo it.” I smile back at her.
“Absolutely. It’s all about balance, my dear,” she rushes out. “Now, I am dying to know: have you had time to think about what you wanted to do next year?” she asks, picking up our conversation from the other day.
“I have been thinking about it a lot, and I’ve been considering another siphoning from Ghostly Flux’s team. Sophia for Technical Director and Dave for Team Manager. What are your thoughts?” I ask.
Rayna doesn’t skip a beat. “Javi! I love it! I’ve been watching their careers the last few years and they are great at what they do. I think they are going to be a great fit for you and integrate well within the team. Luckily, we work closely with Ghostly Flux, so this will be a less painful negotiation. Leave it to me. I’ll start getting paperwork and conversations going with Koby on our plans for offers, so we can get some negotiations happening. It’s going to be a solid team next year. Great work, Javi!” She claps me on the back and hightails it away.
Riley is definitely going to be pissed. I have requested the best people in his crew, but I need to win next year.
3
Sophia
“Sophia.” Koby, the team’s General Manager, breaks my trance on my laptop from reading data. “Can you and Dave meet me up in the office in five?”
“Sure thing,” I reply, and Koby takes off, running a hand through his dirty blond hair, ending at scuffing the back of his neck. Swinging my head, I see Dave way out in pit lane, talking to the Tyre Coordinator.
