The wind from the snapping of her head in my direction is refreshing across my balmy skin.
“No one cares what Rome thinks,” she seethes.
He whistles. “There’s that feistiness that Vinny always talks about.”
Irritation crawls up my spine.
How does Vinny Walsh know anything about her?
I’m the only one who should be privy to Tessa’s fiery attitude. She’smyengineer, not his.
My chest tightens from the sudden jealousy. I take Tessa’s arm in mine again to pull her away from Jericho, and to my surprise, she goes willingly.
I glance at her, and it’s obvious she’s not fully in the moment. Her thoughts are elsewhere, and I’m pretty certain it has to do with Vinny.
I tug her toward her brothers, who just arrived.
“And here I thought your feistiness was only for me,” I mutter.
Tessa doesn’t so much as blink in my direction, which is sort of unsettling.
Beck, dressed similarly to me in a black suit and bowtie, curls his lip with disgust. “You two look like a couple.”
That seems to get Tessa’s attention.
She rips her arm out from mine hastily, nearly tripping over the red carpet.
“You good?” Van asks, looking at her strangely.
Noah laughs. “You need a Diet Coke?”
“I’mfine,” she snaps. “Let’s just go get this over with. I need at least ten hours of sleep in order to deal with this one and his lazy driving tomorrow."
Did she just call my driving lazy?
I watch her go, the dress hugging her curved hips like a glove, irritating me even more.
Noah, who I’ve rarely seen at HQ, as he stays in the other wing, practicing in his own sim, pats me on the chest. “Good luck with that one,” he says, joining her in the photo backdrop.
Beck steps in line with his siblings but not before he flips me off.
Something I’m hopeful the cameras don’t catch.
“Come on,” Van sighs. “Let’s get a quick photo and mingle before heading out. We’re not ones to stay out and party like the rest of the drivers here tonight.”
I’ve never really been one to do that either, knowing my father would go even harder on me the next day if I wasn’t fully present or, worse, hungover.
But I just might stay out a little longer tonight.
Simply because I can, and maybe because I need a fucking breather from the Halston siblings.
Chapter Eleven
TESSA
Sillyme to think there wouldn’t be any drama because Pierce Racing wasn’t on the invite for this particular brand sponsorship, but leave it to Walsh racers to prove me wrong.
Jericho’s comment about Vinny hums beneath my skin, silently brimming the surface. My arms break out in goosebumps, my gaze winding around the large area to spot him before he spots me.
