“Not even if you asked nicely.” Liam grinned, making a note on his tablet. “One more set.”
I groaned, letting my head hang forward. “You’re enjoying this too much.”
“I enjoy all your suffering equally.”
“Prick.”
I hated neck day. Every driver did. It wasn’t like normal training, the kind most people did for show. No one cared how much you could bench when you were strapped into a car, pulling 5G through a high-speed corner. What mattered was whether your head could handle the force without snapping sideways like a rag doll.
“Hydrate.” Liam tossed me a water bottle.
I caught it, downing half of it in one go. My body ached, but it was the good kind of ache.
A week in Singapore had done what it was supposed to. My body had adjusted to the heat. The humidity still hit me like a suffocating wall the second I stepped outside, but it was manageable. Just.
The early morning runs, the sauna sessions and the constant hydration were all helping ensure I could handle two hours in the cockpit under the floodlights without my body shutting down.
“Your times were good yesterday,” Liam said, checking his tablet.
I grunted.
“Julian seemed pleased.”
I snorted. “Julian’s never pleased. He’s just varying degrees of not disappointed.”
“Fair point.” Liam set the tablet down. “Ready for the last set?”
I wasn’t, but I nodded anyway. That was the job, pushing past the point where your body begged you to stop. Finding that extra gear when there was nothing left in the tank.
I positioned myself in the harness, bracing for the weight. Liam adjusted the resistance, and the pressure slammed against my skull instantly. My neck tensed, holding steady.
“Good. Keep it there.”
Ten seconds felt like an eternity. My neck burned, the muscles quivering with the effort. I focused on my breathing, trying to push the pain to the background.
“Five seconds.”
My mind drifted under the strain. Anything to keep from focusing on the pain. But the moment my mind wandered, it went straight to her and all the moments where our gazes caught and held a beat too long.
I’d spent years moving through life with the certainty that if I wanted something, I’d take it. No hesitation. No second-guessing. Racing taught me that. You saw the gap, you went for it, and you dealt with the consequences after.
But Violet had me second-guessing everything.
It had been a grueling week of sharing limited space, struggling to find ways to entertain us both while distracting me enough to resist the allure of her lips.
For a week, I’d wanted nothing more than to close the distance and I hadn’t done it because for the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure what would happen if I did.
I hated not being sure.
“Three.”
The problem wasn’t whether she’d let me kiss her. The problem was that I couldn’t predict what came after. And that terrified me more than any wall I’d ever faced at 200 mph.
“One.”
The weight released. I sagged forward, sucking in air, but the tightness in my chest had nothing to do with the workout.
“You good?” Liam asked, frowning at me. “You look like you’re about to be sick.”
