Page 144 of Trading Paint
“That was different.”
“How so?”
“Well for one—they don’t want more. They only want sex and there was no strings attached.”
“Maybe that’s what Sway wants.”
I had no response for him, I’d never thought about that but then again, why would she want something like that?
Or did she? She didn’t have time for a relationship either.
Well that throws a wrench in my thinking, doesn’t it?
22.Diffuser – Jameson
Diffuser - The bodywork at the rear underside of the car that controls the underbody airflow as it exits the back of the car. A good diffuser generates significant down force.
I couldn’t stop thinking about what Kyle suggested and the thought wasn’t absurd to me. What if she didn’t want strings attached? What if all she wanted was what we had and nothing more?
We were friends yes, but what if we could have something more without the complications. It was noticeable the sexual attraction was there between both of us so why not?
I wanted to be alone with her for a few minutes before the race started but when I returned after my interview with SPEED, she was gone.
It didn’t take long to find her though as she still had on the red dress.
Prior to the start of the race, Sway was sitting on the edge of the wall looking over at the steep banking of turn one.
Her eyes were closed as the slight steady Florida breeze blew through her mahogany locks that cascaded down, framing her beautiful face. It was as though she was in a trance. She gripped the concrete barrier with her fingertips and her legs dangled off the side as she slipped her flip-flops on and off.
I stared at her, my gaze locked on her lithe form as she smiled back at me. It was as if a spotlight was stuck directly on her and that’s all I noticed, soft and warm, like an aura. In the raucous of the grid behind me, I could only see her; pure tranquility.
For a moment, I was held rooted to the ground as I felt the immediate draw to her. A magnetic pull drew me toward her, the feeling hot and caustic in my stomach. In a daze, I began to make my way to her, pushing through the mass or reporters.
I paused a few feet in front of her; the warm humid air blew across my face, dampening my skin. The smells of the engines and exhaust mixed with the warm moist air. The hums of racing was all around us as they always were but that’s what defined us, defined me and defined her.
It’s what brought us together and always brings us together. Neither of us knew a life outside of racing.
Sway tilted her head to the side, inhaling a deep breath before giving me a heavily lidded smile.
I moved closer settling down next to her throwing an arm around her. I wanted to move my mouth next to her ear and tell her just how much I missed her and that she was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen but instead I caved, flustered and simply mouthed, “Hi,” when she looked over at me. She answered me with a smile. Her eyes sweeping into mine and I was lost in their beauty, swimming in the deep pools of green.
I wanted to say so much to her right then but I didn’t; terrified she wouldn’t want to hear it.
I don’t know why it has taken me so long but I guess it just took me a while to figure out what I wanted or what I wanted to say, more importantly, how to ask for it. You don’t realize how important yourchoice of words areat times. It can either go smoothly or you can fuck it up with one wrong word. With so much weighing on that, you can see my hesitation here.
So I remained quiet and stared out at the grandstand teeming with fans.
It wasn’t long before Alley found me and I was being whisked away to driver introductions while Sway went with Emma.
Yet another time where I could have said so much but didn’t. With so much weighing on my words, I froze.
One of the coolest things about the morning of the 500, besides having Sway around, was seeing my grandpa walk out onto the grid with me. His only comment was to poke fun at my driving suit that was plastered with logos.
“You look ridiculous,” he told me laughing.
Then he took a long pull from his flask that I was sure was filled with whiskey, his drink of choice.
“It’s just a driving suit grandpa. It’s designed to keep me safe.”
