“A bit?” Connor mumbles.
“Shut it.” I glare in his direction before turning to Senna. “You may be my little sister, but you’re the bigger force.”
“Are we driving or what?” Jacs asks.
Tawny claps, drawing an eye roll from Jacs. “Yes. How about me, Senna, and Niki, and then the winner goes against Connor and Jacs? There will be plenty of time for several races. I’ve always wanted to drive against my heroes.”
Senna and I do a jig in front of Connor.
“Her heroes.” I point to the two of us.
“You’re adorable,” Jacs tells her sister, who grins as she ties her hair into plaits.
“Can I sit in the car with you, baby?” Connor asks.
“Okay,” Senna agrees, sliding on her gloves. “But no chatter. I came to win.”
“Do you want to sit with anyone, Rosie?” Jacs asks.
Rosie shakes her head. “It’s nice to be here and see this side of the business.”
“This isn’t business. This is pleasure,” I whisper in Rosie’s ear, making her blush. I need to walk away. A semi in a racingsuit is impossible to hide. I must remain professional, especially with others around. I want people to recognise her as an exceptional assistant, which she is, even if my dreams last night were filled with her calling me sir.
“Pick your cars. Mine’s the McLaren, and although I love you all, no one else is allowed to drive it,” I shout as I walk towards my car. I need it clean, and if others use it, I’ll either want to wet wipe it, which I don’t want them to see me do, or freak out while driving it.
I slide my fingers across the red body as I step close. It matches the fitted jumper Rosie’s wearing. She’s a flame teasing me with her heat.
I shake my head, ease myself into the seat, and squeeze my knuckles. Outside of my window, spring bursts through the green of the grass. Flowers lined the roads as we drove here, and for the first time, I have hope. My counsellor is helping, and I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I glance at Rosie, who bites her lip as she watches me.
She’s helping, too.
Through the radio in my helmet, Tawny says, “It’s always been my dream to race against you two. Senna inspired me as a woman in racing when she was a teenager, and Niki, I grew up watching you.”
“Thanks,” I say cheerily, although I’ve never felt so old. If I race again, it will be against people who watched me drive when they were children.
“Let’s do this,” Senna says. Connor babbles in the background.
“Is he going to talk the whole race?” I tease.
“Only if he wants me to kick him out of the car,” Senna grumbles. “On the count of three.”
I squeeze my steering wheel and breathe in the leather. There’s thirty of these hypercars in the world, and as of yesterday, I own this one.
“One.”
I glance at Rosie, who stares at my car as Jacs chatters. She fiddles with the chain around her neck, and my blood rushes down. She has no idea what that action does to me, and it seems me driving a hypercar does something to her.
“Two.”
You ain’t seen nothing yet, Rosabella.
I rev the engine. She twists the chain around her finger.
“Three,” Senna shouts.
I floor the accelerator and take off with a smirk.
Tawny leads, but we’re the Coulter siblings, and it’s not long before Senna and I gain on her.
