‘Obviously,’ I say.
‘Should I be expecting you down on one knee soon, then?’
‘Not with that attitude. It would be an honour if you got to marry me.’ I can’t even believe that just a month into our relationship we’re joking about marriage. Shit, I’m already in so deep with this man, and while it’s daunting, I’m not scared of falling for Caleb. He’s not Jackson. He isn’t.
He slips off his shoes and jacket, folding it over the desk chair and then quickly strips down to just his boxers before climbing into bed. I follow suit until I’m left in just my underwear and slide in next to him. I open an arm for him to snuggle in next to me and he does so after flipping off the light next to the bed.
It hits me suddenly that he’s here for the night. To sleep. Not for sex. This isn’t a booty call, though maybe I’ll wake him with a blow job. But this is purely so we can hold each other tonight and wake up to each other in the morning. It shouldn’t be such a wild concept, but it is, and at the same time I feel perfectly content.
We fall asleep together, his head still on my chest, our bodies snuggled up tight together.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Caleb
Everything feels like a high right now. Between Johannes racking up another top of the podium finish in Italy and a second place in Singapore, the dates we’ve managed to fit in and of course, the sex, everything is stupidly good. Johannes is slowly gaining back the lost points, and with Harper finishing third in Singapore, it’s a good bump for us.
The first two practices in Brazil yesterday were nothing but perfection for us. Jo’s found his groove with the car and he’s performing over and above even our highest expectations. He’s a true winner.
Then comes the third practice on Saturday morning and it all falls apart in front of my eyes.
It’s a ridiculously hot day and other teams’ tyres aren’t performing like ours. Which is how six cars end up being taken out in one slip-up from a Team Distraus driver. Johannes goes straight into the wall on one of the turns and it has me out of my seat at the pit wall desperate to run to him.
When he climbs out of the car, I probably should be looking at the record of damage as they lift his car off the track but I’m too focused on him telling me he’s okay. That’s all that matters.
‘I’m so sorry to do this in FP3. Is there going to be enough time for them to fix the car?’ He’s breathless as he runs over to where I’ve been talking with a couple of the other engineers.
Both his and Nils’s cars are an absolute mess. We’re lucky to have four hours between now and qualifying and the best team of mechanics in the world. I’m not quite sure why he’s apologising, though. It’s not his fault that the newbie doing a test drive for Distraus wiped out a quarter of the grid towards the end of the session.
‘Not your fault, Jo. Half the teams are panicking right now; we’re just amongst the fun.’
He coughs as he goes to reply, which turns quickly into a wheeze, leaving him doubled over. ‘Are you okaay?’ I ask as he regains his balance, arms still wrapped around his chest.
‘Absolutely fine. I’m going to go nap before the debrief and then pray that catering has that brown-rice salad thing I like.’ He’s clutching at his chest, moving slowly as he tries to step around me to head to his room.
‘Woah, woah, woah, absolutely not. Medical needs to see you. Nils is already being checked over and then it’s your turn. You hit both a car and a wall, mister.’ Plus, there is pain etched in every tightly formed line on his face.
‘I’ll nap first and then get checked. Don’t worry about me. I’m just a bit tired. Had a late night.’ He waggles his eyebrows, before starting to cough again.
‘Nope, medical then nap. Race engineer’s orders.’
‘But—’
‘No buts.’
‘But you have such a nice butt.’ He grins like this is all a joke, but his health isn’t a joke. Not in one of the most dangerous sports in the world.
‘Jo.’ The bossy tone he only gets to hear when he’s being a dick on the track comes out and it stops him in his tracks. ‘I’ll walk you there myself, if I have to.’
He finally stops protesting and we head to the medical room where Nils is just leaving. ‘All good. Just some bruising from some asshole hitting me.’
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to watch the footage of Harper’s car flying into Johannes’s car sending it spinning into Nils’s car before both of them go straight into the wall. It was bad enough the first time. I’ve seen worse accidents in my career; I’ve seen cars catch fire, I’ve seen cars with their whole front missing. But this, this was the most stressful, to the point my smartwatch was like do we need to call an ambulance your heart rate is so high?
‘You’re welcome, dickhead. Not my fault. I was literally just the meat in a car sandwich.’ Johannes ruffles Nils’s hair, but I can tell he’s just trying to delay getting checked over.
‘I think I know someone who’d like you as the meat in a sandwich.’ Nils drops me a not-so-subtle wink and I shake my head at this pair– stubborn and sarcastic, the both of them.
‘As nice as this has been, Nils, he needs to see the doctor, so move along.’ I shoo him with my hands, but he doesn’t budge.
