“You keep telling yourself that, sweetie,” I nuzzled my face into his hair. “I’m honoured to have you as my greatest competition.”
“And I you.” Theo smiled, but then grimaced. “Meet me in the shower in five minutes?”
“Sure,” I said, missing him as soon as he moved away from me.
I tapped my foot, checking my phone every five seconds until my allowed waiting time had elapsed. I heard the shower switch on in the bathroom, and gave Theo another 30 seconds before I joined him there. The jockstrap had been left on the tiled floor, and Theo stood under the waterfall spray waiting for me. Helooked like something a Greek sculptor might have carved, and as he grinned at me I had the realisation that he was entirely mine, and if I was very lucky, always would be.
We met under the spray, and I kissed him lazily and slowly. We had all the time in the world to love one another like this. I took care of my Teodoro, massaging shampoo into his hair and soaping up his whole body, and then he did the same to me. I reached for his tattoo, and he mirrored the action.
“Did you think, when you were so angry at me that you forced me into making such an embarrassing and personal change, that we would ever be here?” I asked Theo.
“I was thinking about this, when we were with Bradley and Arthur the other day,” replied Theo. “I think I’ve wanted you since the second I clapped eyes on you. Last year…I put my passion in the ring place. I wish I’d let myself just love you.”
I stroked his cheek with the back of my palm. “There’s no use wondering what might have been. You have let yourself love me, and I have you. In fifty years, when we look back at this moment, that year we missed out on being friends will seem like the blink of an eye.”
When we collapsed back into bed a short while after, I held Theo as he fell asleep in my arms.
I was the luckiest man in the world.
Epilogue - Theo
Las Vegas - 4 Months Later
The final race of the American Tour, and I was experiencing a sense of deja vu. I was a point behind Sebastian overall, but this race, I’d qualified in first. As I wandered the paddock, shaking hands with celebrities and getting pictures with fans, I couldn’t help but marvel at how easy our relationship and rivalry had been to juggle. I loved Sebastian, and he loved me. Everything else was secondary. Except for today. In Vegas, the final race of the season, the title race came first.
I spotted Sebastian in conversation with Albert Stevenson, so I hung back out of the way until Albert had spotted and ambushed some poor C-list celebrity. As soon as I saw my chance, I pounced, pulling Sebastian out of the throng. I walked him down a corridor towards the back of the media centre, where no one was likely to see or hear us. It was dark in the corridor, and I didn’t bother to reach for a light switch.
“Have I told you how much red, white and blue suits you?” I asked, leaning in toward him for a quick, chaste kiss.
“Every week for the last three months,” Sebastian grinned.
“Oh right, I guess I have,” I said. I trailed a finger down the zipper of his overalls. “Better out of them, though.”
“Are you trying to distract me before the race,Teodoro?” asked Sebastian.
“No. Is it working?”
Sebastian growled and leaned in for a kiss that was definitely less chaste. He glanced around us before nipping at my neck, catching skin between his teeth in the way he knew I liked. “Two can play at that game,mi amorcito.”
“Bastard,” I mumbled. I tried to subtly adjust my cock so that it wouldn’t be visible when we re-emerged out into the crowds. But palming it in Sebastian’s presence wasn’t likely to help it go down either. “I hate you.”
“I love you,” Sebastian replied. “And I was thinking…”
He was rudely interrupted by the presence of Frankie Jenkins, who barrelled past us and into the corridor without spotting us. “You need to stop worrying so much!” he shouted,
"Your safety is the most important thing to me," said his bodyguard as he followed close behind. He was a big, hulking bastard whose name constantly eluded me. He had been following Frankie around for the whole season.
"And racing is the most important thing to me, so just drop it, OK?"
Frankie's bodyguard reached for him, and it was almost tender, the way he rested one hand on his shoulder. "I need you safe, Frankie,” he said. "for me, for..."
"Don't you dare say 'us'," replied Frankie. "Not after-"
Sebastian cleared his throat, and both Frankie and his bodyguard looked right at us. His bodyguard immediately and seemingly instinctively moved Frankie behind him, like we weresome kind of threat. Frankie reached out toward his hand, then caught my eye and dropped it.
"For fuck's..." Frankie started, then tailed off. "Sorry. Didn’t mean to bother you both. I’ll see you both on track.”
He walked past us and out of the room. His bodyguard sighed. “Can you…you know what? Don’t worry. I’ll fix it.” And then he followed Frankie out of the space, back toward the track.
