Too real.
And still, the doubt lingered in the back of his mind: When will she tell me she’s back with Min-Jae? She probably wants to do it in person.
???
Aria
That night, Aria slipped out of the team hospitality suite just after nine. Jax had kissed her goodbye at the door of his driver’s room—slow, lingering.
“Go have fun with the girls,” he’d murmured against her lips. “I’ll be fine. Lucas and Etienne are dragging me to the simulator lounge anyway. They’ve been sending me memes all day about that new online gaming clip.” He brushed his thumb along her jaw. “I’ll see you back in the hotel room later. Don’t stay out too late.”
She’d hesitated, fingers still tangled in his hoodie. “You sure? I feel bad leaving you the night before the race…”
He’d smiled—easy, warm, the one that always made her stomach flip. “I’m sure. Go. Text me when you’re heading back.”
So she went.
Mia and Dana were already waiting at the quiet rooftop bar overlooking the Yarra River. The city lights glittered below like scattered diamonds, and the air carried the faint chill of an early-autumn Melbourne evening. They’d claimed a corner table, bottles of chilled rosé already open, three glasses waiting.
Mia spotted her first and waved her over with both arms, her smile bright and genuine. “Aria! There you are. Come sit. You look like you’ve been running on plane air and adrenaline all day.”
Aria laughed softly as she dropped into the seat and reached for the wine. “Something like that.”
Dana snorted, already topping up a glass for her. “You’re glowing, you know that? Proper post-sex glow. Spill it. How’s the domestic bliss going now that you two are actually shagging on the regular?”
Mia shot Dana a gentle look, but her eyes were sparkling with quiet amusement. “Dana, darling, maybe ease in with ‘how was your flight’ first?” She turned back to Aria, voice warm in that soft Kiwi way. “But seriously… you do look happy. It’s lovely to see. The distance must be hard, though.”
Aria took a sip, feeling the familiar heat climb her cheeks. To Mia and Dana (and most of the paddock), her relationship with Jax had always looked real—two people who’d crossed paths, clicked hard, and quietly made it official. And lately, even Aria had stopped correcting the assumption in her own head.
“It’s… really good,” she admitted. “The distance does suck, though. I hate that I’m not with him tonight. I know it’s stupid—he literally told me to go and said he was happy catching up with Lucas and Etienne—but I still feel guilty. Like I should be curled up watching stupid racing replays with him instead of here drinking rosé and gossiping.”
Mia reached over and gave her wrist a gentle squeeze, her touch kind and steady. “That’s what a proper relationship looks like, though. You get to have your friends, and he gets his mates. It’s healthy. The fact that you’re even feeling guilty about one night apart tells me you’re both properly invested. That’s quite sweet really.”
Dana leaned forward, blunt but warm, her English accent cutting through with affectionate honesty. “Yeah, and fuck me, the way he looks at you in the garage… it’s proper. He’s gone on you, isn’t he? Attentive as hell off-track too?”
Aria smiled despite herself, the memory of that afternoon in hospitality flashing back—his arm around her waist, the quiet way he’d kissed her temple when no one was looking.
“He’s… thoughtful. Like, really thoughtful. He notices the little things. And yeah, he’s intense in all the best ways.” She paused, voice dropping. “I didn’t expect it to feel this real this fast.”
Mia tilted her head, her expression soft and understanding. “You sound surprised.”
“I am,” Aria admitted. “I thought maybe it would stay surface-level for a while—racing schedules, time zones, all that. But it doesn’t. He makes space for me. Even when he’s under pressure like tomorrow. I don’t know… it just works.”
Dana raised her glass. “To relationships that actually work despite the chaos. And to Jax Callaghan finally getting his head out of his own arse long enough to be someone’s boyfriend instead of just the hot single driver everyone wants to shag.”
Aria groaned and covered her face with one hand. “Dana.”
“What? I’m single, I’m horny, and I’m invested in this. Give me something. Does he talk dirty? Does he go slow and torturous or fast and feral? Does he have that racer stamina where he just… keeps going?””
Mia swatted Dana’s arm lightly, laughing. “You’re incorrigible.”
They all clinked glasses, the sound bright in the cool evening air. Aria let the moment settle, the wine warming her from the inside.
“I just want tomorrow to go well for him. He’s been building toward this. The car’s finally there, he’s sharp… I don’t want to be a distraction.”
“You’re not a distraction,” Mia said firmly. “You’re motivation. He qualified P4. Imagine what he’ll do with you waiting at the end of the race.”
Dana grinned. “And if he wins, you get to be the one he runs to in parc fermé. Iconic. I’m already seeing the photos.”
