“I know, it’s just–”
“It’s just nothing,” I cut him off. “Go play Barbies with Vivian. I have a race to win.”
“Barbies? Since when has she ever played with dolls?”
I smile and continue to stare into the paddock. The crowd is thinning, and the majority of the racers are heading into their own pens to prepare. We have twenty minutes until the national anthem, and then it’s go time.
“Hey, uh, before we get off here…is Rome near?”
No, but it sure feels like it.
He’s standing next to Noah, and from the sharp edge of his jaw, they must be talking about something intense. His race suit hangs loose around his waist, unzipped, with the tight fireproof underlayer hugging his toned arms beneath—the same toned muscles that are engraved into my brain from walking in on his intense gym session the other day.
“He’s in the paddock with Noah.”
As if Rome knows I’m gawking at him, he snaps to me from across the crowd. I instinctively take a step backward, like he’s standing in front of me instead of several yards away.
Gia walks over to him with her headset perched on top of her head. He leans down to hear whatever she has to say, her mouth inches from his ear.
An abrupt—and totally uncalled for—rush of something hot shoots down my spine.
I pause, barely able to register the words leaving Dad’s mouth.
Did I just get jealous?I must be more cagey over this race than I thought.
“Just tell him I said to stay focused and remember why he came to our team.”
“Yeah, okay,” I say.
It isn’t until we get off the phone that I fully register what he says.
Remember why he came to our team.
But that’s just it.
Why did he come to our team? And why is my father so adamant that he help Rome succeed?
Or is it about helping me succeed?
After hanging up with my dad, I place my headset on and purposefully keep my back to Rome so I can ease my thoughts.
It isn’t just the racers that have to concentrate, but the entire team.
This isn’t my first time calling the shots, so it should be easy-peasy. I’ve had to take over a time or two when things got hairy with Dad’s health, except…this is the first time I’m doing this in my new position and with a driver who is at the very center of the media as of late.
All eyes are going to be on him.
“What’s going on over there?”
I peek upward at Van, who has made his way over to me. He’s staring into the paddock, his own headset still around his neck, and I hesitantly look in the same direction.
My eyes widen, and I quickly jump into action.
I click my headset, turning it to the right channel. “Gia, get Rome.”
She hisses in my ear. “If it’s not Beau, it’s Vinny. I can’t keep up.”
Rome, standing entirely too close to Vinny, says something with a cocky grin. Vinny stiffens, and I hold my breath. Gia slips up beside Rome and grabs his arm to gently pull him away so it doesn’t look obvious to any lingering cameras.
