“Why not call him? Maybe there’s an explanation,” I said, not believing my own words.
Sebastian’s humourless laugh was back again. “It’s too late now. My phone is gone.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Under the water,” said Sebastian, pointing into the darkness of the Marina.
“And they say Spaniards are passionate people,” I muttered. Finally, I got a good laugh from Sebastian. Determined to keep his mood a little better, I ploughed on. “You know, you’re still a winner. And that can only mean one thing.”
“What?” asked Sebastian.
Rather than answer, I let go of his hand and stood. I took a quick furtive look around before ripping my t-shirt off, kickingoff my shoes and then dropping my shorts to the ground. With just a hand over my groin to cover my modesty, I took a deep breath before jumping and plunging into the cool waters of Monaco Marina.
“Fuck, that’s cold!” I shouted as I surfaced, pushing back my hair and looking at Sebastian where he sat, grinning down at me. “Happy now?”
“Almost,” said Sebastian. “I just wish I still had my phone to take a picture of you.”
“Pervert,” I grinned. “Come on in, the water’s warm!”
I didn’t expect Sebastian to actually do it, but he ripped off his t-shirt and cap in one solid movement. He turned around as he dropped his shorts, giving me the view of a lifetime of the perfectly round globes of his muscular arse with just the right amount of fur.
When he turned, cupping himself with one hand, I tried my best to keep my face casual. Inside, I was melting, and I knew I was getting hard in the water. Sebastian took a couple of slow steps backwards, then ran before jumping into the water, splashing me with a wave as he hit the surface.
“Bastard,” I said, as he surfaced, wet and smiling. He paddled over to me. It was so dark I couldn’t see much of him underwater, which on one hand was a shame, but I was grateful that he wouldn’t be able to spot just how hard his naked presence was making me.
“You love this really. The danger of losing a bet like this. It will make you want to win the next race even more.” Sebastian’s hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I wondered if he could feel my heartbeat even from that far away.
I didn’t need to tell him that my need to win didn’t come from our silly little bets. It came from the desperate need that all of us drivers had to be the best. It came from my overwhelming desire to stand at the top of that podium at the end of the year. No, ourbets gave me something far better. An excuse to be close to him. A real friendship in the middle of the craziness that was Moto 1.
After a little while of swimming together and chatting about the race overall, I made my excuses and swam back to the ladder at the edge of the marina. I was keenly aware of how close Sebastian was as I climbed the ladder naked with no means of covering my modesty. We both dragged our shorts over wet legs and slipped on our shoes, and then walked back up the hill with Sebastian’s arm over my shoulders. And for just one moment, I allowed myself to wonder what life might be like if I allowed Sebastian García fully into my heart.
Sebastian
The thing about Monaco was that the streets were too narrow to cart the pre-fabricated hospitality units into the little principality. So that meant that I only had to amble down the stairs to the hotel conference room where Magnus would be sat waiting for me in a hastily assembled hospitality suite for sponsors.
I was still angry, but that anger had been tamped down from all-encompassing spikes of fury to a low simmer. Theo was responsible for raising my mood, and we’d split at the top of the street between our two hotels with smiles on each of our faces. I’d watched as he sauntered away with the street lighting reflecting off his pale skin, and I had been desperate to run after him, to kiss him like I wanted. But I just had to accept that he may not want that, and content myself with memories of stolen glimpses at his naked body.
I pushed open the frosted-glass doors and found Magnus sitting at a long mahogany table. There was still a fridge in the corner half-full of champagne bottles.
I sat down opposite Magnus. He looked up at me, and I kept eye contact, hardly blinking, until he had the grace to look away from me.
“Why?” I asked him. I kept my voice as carefully neutral as possible. I thought of Theo, of the smile he could so easily bring to my face. I thought of myabuela, who was probably going mad with worry that I hadn’t texted her back yet. And I stayed calm for them.
“Because you’ve been under-performing for a year, Sebastian. You thought one good race would derail our contract negotiations with other drivers?”
I smirked. “Magnus, I do not care about losing my contract. It hurt, but I will move on. What hurt even more was finding out at the same time as the rest of the world.”
“I’m sorry about that, Sebastian, I really am. The news should have broken tonight.Afterwe had had a chance to talk. I have no idea who leaked it.”
“Frankie?” I asked. “He knew, didn’t he?”
Magnus couldn’t look me in the eye. “I don’t know, and I’m not throwing accusations around, Sebastian.”
I could feel the anger bubbling away again, a little more fierce, but still under control. “That kid has been underperforming since he started. But he’s safe. Because his daddy owns shares in the racing team. That hardly seems fair.”
“Life isn’t fair, Sebastian,” said Magnus, holding out a hand to stop me from talking. “I wanted you on this team. The whole pit crew loves you, and when you’re good, you’re great. You just needed to get good a little earlier this year, and maybe I could have saved you. I didn’t want it to come to this.”
“How much is Max getting paid?” I asked. “More? Because his performance has suffered the last few years. He’s old.” I tried my best not to sound bitter or petty. I was just relaying the facts as I saw them.
