“My head is in the game, chief.” I tried for a quirky smile, but I was sure it came out as a grimace as Brooke leaned in for a hug with Theo.
“Sure about that? If you really want to ask Brooke out, I’m sure she’d let you down gently.” Magnus laughed like he’d told the funniest joke in the world. I just huffed and headed back into the shade of the garage. It was a seriously hot March, and the air conditioning was a blessing. Being inside also took Theo and Brooke out of my line of sight.
Naturally, and annoyingly, Magnus followed. “I was just joking, kid,” he said. The cars were in their bays, and a team of mechanics was working on each, fine tuning them and even sticking tape over some of the joins. Moto 1 was one of the most high-tech sports in the world, but some high-tech problems needed low-tech solutions that wouldn’t break the bank.
“What were you joking about this time?” Damien said. He was our chief mechanic and technology officer, who’d designed the car we were driving but was never afraid to jump in and help fix things when they went wrong. His hands were oily from fixing some issues that had turned up in my third practice session.
“Don’t touch me!” Magnus shouted as Damien lunged for him, and I turned my head awkwardly as Damien pulled Magnus in for a passionate kiss, oily hands and all. They’d been insufferable since their feelings had come to light at the end of the season before, and now that they were living life in the open as the first same-sex couple even barely connected to Moto 1, they seemed to be taking every chance to touch each other in public.
“You can take him to HR, you know,” I whispered to Damien.
“Where’s the fun in that?” he asked. They separated, and Magnus gave Damien a tap on the ass as he sauntered backtowards the car. “Back to work!” Damien shouted at the mechanics that were gawping at them.
“I’ll ask you again. Is your head in the game?” Magnus asked me more seriously. “I need you to be at your best today.”
“You saw my practice laps. You know I can do this,” I said.
“I know. But I saw your practice laps last year. And then I saw you fail as soon as you got to qualifying. Or a fantastic qualifying and then a royal fuck-up in the actual race. I thought you had real bad luck, but then I wondered if you’d lost your nerve.”
“Then why am I still here?” I asked.
“Because I wanted you here. Now go out there and perform. I need you to be the best you’ve ever been so I can justify you being our main driver and keeping you on. Little Frankie is nipping at your heels.”
I resisted the urge to kick something. Of course Frankie was nipping at my heels, his father owned Remini, the sports drink which gave the team its name. He could be coming twentieth in every race and Magnus would still have to talk about him like the sun shone out of his ass.
“I’m going out onto the grid,” I muttered.
“Head in thegame, García,” said Magnus. I just flipped him the bird as I walked back out into the warm March sunshine.
My feet knew where I was heading before my brain did. I sidestepped some commentators and celebrities on the grid, and made my way over to the ZX Computing garages. Brooke and Theodore werestilltalking. Still laughing. Shestillhad one hand on his shoulder, and his was dangerously close to landing on her waist.
So I did what any self-respecting Spaniard would do. I utilised every stereotype about not respecting personal space to slide between Theodore and Brooke, arms over their shoulders, and gave them each a kiss on the cheek.
“Hola, mis amores,” I said. “How are we both?”
Theo, reddening, extricated himself from under my arm and gave a weak smile. “Ready to whoop your arse.”
Brooke laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you.”
Theo reddened ever further and took another step backward. Brooke hadn’t moved, but at least they were further apart now. Not that it mattered to me.At all.
Theo Tyler just did something to me that I couldn’t explain. The Spanish sun had barely kissed his skin, turning it just a couple of shades darker than his usual alabaster, but it had lightened his hair to a shocking light blond.
Brooke leaned in to the improvised hug. “It’s nice getting hugs from the competition so close to a race,” she said. “Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.”
I spotted a film camera approaching and quickly dropped my arm. “Well, if she’s watching TV, your grandma is about to start feeling all warm and fuzzy about you hooking up with me. Do I hear wedding bells?”
Brooke punched my arm. “Grandma would have a shock, she’s the one who caught me snogging Amy Jones in her spare bedroom back in high school.”
“Oh. I didn’t know you…”
“Batted for the other team?” Brooke laughed. “I don’t shout about it, but I’ve never hidden it either. But seriously, a woman working in motorsports. I don’t think I could get much more stereotypical.”
Theo laughed, though it sounded forced. “Yeah, get with the times,Seb. Gay is OK, it’s the 21stcentury.”
“You know what,” I muttered, “screw both of you. I’m going to sit in my car in silence until Qualifying.”
“Love you!” Brooke called as I stalked away.
