She reached out, intending to brush a nonexistent speck of lint off Reese’s sleeve, something harmless, but her hand lingered an instant too long. Her fingertips grazed warm fabric, then the warm forearm beneath it.
Reese inhaled softly. Sloane met her eyes.
God, what am I doing?What am I starting?
She stepped back half a foot, breaking the moment, fighting for sense. “This is a terrible idea,” she whispered. “You know that, right?”
Reese nodded, eyes steady. “I know.”
“And dangerous.”
“I know that too. Still don’t care.”
“And I’m not looking for serious.” The words were quiet, raw, more honest than she meant them to be. “Not emotionally.”
Reese took the smallest step toward her, not pushing, not asking, just there. “Who is? I think we’re two people who are drawn together. Just let whatever this is be what it is. Real.”
Real.That word resonated. And tempted. Sloane shook her head, enjoying their proximity immensely. She could smell Reese’s shampoo, melon again. It was becoming her drug. “You’re very bad for my self-preservation, Reese.”
Reese’s grin was soft. “Maybe. But you’re very good for mine. Also, I like it when you say my name.”
Sloane felt the pull, the gravity, the terrifying comfort of it.
She didn’t kiss her.
But she stepped close enough that her breast brushed Reese’s arm when she reached to pick up her notes from the table. Close enough to feel Reese’s breath. Close enough that the space between them wasn’t space at all. And Reese didn’t move away.
For this moment, that was enough.
Sloane wasn’t ready to fall.
But she was starting to lean.
“What ishappeningout there lately?” Delaney asked, clapping Reese on the shoulder hard enough to rock her forward. They stood in the Ravensport garage, still buzzing from the aftermath of qualifying, mechanics and engineers weaving around them with the kind of barely contained excitement that only victory could generate. “This is epic. You’re starting on pole?Again.And at Monza no less.You’re on a streak that doesn’t quit.”
“I know,” Reese said, eyes wide, cheeks flushed from the adrenaline that hadn’t yet worn off. She still felt the vibrations from the last lap, every apex clean, every braking point sharp, every risk she’d taken paying off. Her body remembered it all, even as her brain still tried to catch up. “It’s fucking rad, and I don’t want to do anything to jinx it.”
“What changed? I need the recipe so I can join you on the front row of the grid.” Delaney had qualified in P6, which would still give her a good shot at finishing in the points for the team.
“I’m not even sure. There have been a variety of factors, but I’ll tell you one thing: I’ve been working my ass off.” She shook her head. “I was too complacent before. Headstrong and thought I knew exactly what I was doing.”
“You?” Delaney oversold a scoff. “No. That can’t be.”
“I get it.” She shrugged. The lighthearted back-and-forth was easier than admitting how close she’d come to stalling out her own career. “Turns out there might be, like, two things I don’t know in life. It’s fine.” She flashed a smile, still riding high from quali.
“But let’s be real.” Delaney arched an eyebrow in a way that suggested she had further suspicions. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
“Who?” Reese asked, attempting casual innocence but overshooting it by a mile.
Delaney simply crossed her arms. Waiting. Knowing.Dammit.
Reese sighed. Why was she fighting the inevitable? “Fine. Yes. Maybe.”
“Say more. All the words, please.”
Reese kicked at the concrete and exhaled. “She made a lot of valid points about how I was spending my time. We … disagreed about it at first. There was all this tension.”
“Of course there was,” Delaney said with a smile. “Here we go.”
