I listen to my brothers talk as our da comes to join us. Da comes with us to every race and test. Our mama joins us for most of our races, but the rest of the time she spends either at our castle in Ireland or back in Lake Renegade.
It takes us thirty minutes to get to the restaurant and check in. Besides each of our crew chiefs, we’re the first to show up. We all give the others a hug.
“You ready to meet the new ones?” Matteo smiles.
“I’m a little nervous. Meeting new people is always hard. It’s the worrying about if they’ll fit in with us.”
“Sì, I know what you mean. But I have a good feeling about all three of them.”
After a few minutes, all the others start to show up. In the crowd I spot a woman walking in and holy fuck. She’s holding the hand of the cutest little boy. I don’t see her walking with any of the guys, but I know I’ve never seen her before.
Matteo introduces me to Niall and Tomasso. Then he waves at the woman I can’t take my eyes off. Holy shit…she can’t be Matteo’s woman. He’s never mentioned having a girlfriend. And I know he doesn’t have a kid. We watch her walk towards us.
“Who’s that?” I whisper to Matteo.
“That’s Sawyer Hamilton.”
“You said Sawyer was a guy.”
“I did not.”
“Yes you did. You said ‘he.’”
“You need to get your hearing checked, and maybe clean your ears while you’re at it. I never said she was a guy.”
I opened my mouth to argue more, but Sawyer’s standing in front of us.
“Sawyer, this is Emerson. Emerson, this is Sawyer,” I hear Matteo say as I take her hand.
“I saw you on the TV,” a little voice says.
I crouch down to his level. “What did you see?”
“I saw you on your motocyle. Mama was watching it.” He grins at me. “I want to wide a motocycle.”
“Maybe your mama will let me teach you,” I say as I boop his nose. He giggles more and I know that I want to take care of him and his mama. I just need to know if she’s single. Because I know Sawyer’s mine.
Sawyer
I’ve seen Emerson on TV, but seeing him in person is a whole different thing. I have to keep reminding myself that I can’t fall for him. I’m on his crew and that wouldn’t be a good idea. But watching him talk to River makes me wish I could. Matteo introduces me to Emerson’s brothers, his dad and all the crew guys. By the looks on all their faces, I don’t think they were expecting me to be a woman. I take a good look around the room and I realize that I’m the only woman here. There are no other women on any of the O’Connor teams. I was surprised when Matteo called and told me that I got the job, women on GP teams aren’t common. I wanted to ask about being the only woman, but I didn’t want to seem like I didn’t want the job. Because this is my dream job.
The best part of meeting the team and all the O’Connor’s teams is no one makes me feel left out. They’re all talking to me and to River. Making sure we’re both okay and genuinely trying to get to know us. I think we’ve finally found where we belong.
“You let us know if you need anything. I know that Matteo has you staying in the same building as some of the other crew. But you can call me if you need something,” Emerson says as he writes his number down and hands the paper to me.
“Thank you. And thank you for tonight. I was worried about meeting everyone. But I love your crew and your brothers’ crews. They’re all so genuine. I didn’t expect that.”
“We’re a family here, we’re all there for each other. Where are you from?”
“I’m from Chicago.”
“I spend a lot of time in Lake Renegade. Most of my family is there.” He smiles at me.
“I’ve been there once, a long time ago. But I remember thinking how much I loved the town.”
“Maybe one day I can take you back there with me. Unless you’d rather visit your family when you go back to Illinois?”
Wait. Is he suggesting he’s going to take me back to Lake Renegade with him? Snap out of it, Sawyer. He’s probably just being nice. Like he is to everyone. I take a deep breath.
