“Sorry, I’ve just been where you are now, except I didn’t give up the life of a fuckboy for the woman I love,” he says, and the smile vanishes, irritation replacing it on my face.
“I’m notgiving upanything. I’mgettingeverything by being with Nevaeh.” His jaw drops a little at my angry tone. I’ve never, ever raised my voice at Leonard. I respect him more than anyone else because of his experiences. He’s lived longer than me, seen more things than I have, and is an irreplaceable friend. “How do you even know Nevaeh and I are… something?” I can’t tell him we’re going to date in secret if he knows nothing yet.
“Because it’s clear as fucking day, Adrian. I saw you two at the event, I know you left together.” He cocks a brow, and I hide a frown by running my hand over my face. That’s not good. “Don’t worry, Val told me about Nevaeh’s job. I will take this to my grave,” he promises, and I know he’s good for it.
Leonard doesn’t tell anyone about people’s personal lives, including his own.
“I’m surprised you didn’t tell me your feelings were so strong. You usually ask me for advice,” he says and fakes a pout. I roll my eyes at him, but he merely returns to his scowling expression as he sips his beer. Grumpy old man.
“All you need to know is we’re going to date in secret, but I’ve never been happier.” Leonard’s brown eyes stare into mine from the other side of the table.
“You’ve changed,” he says, pressing his lips together to fight back a smile.
“I don’t know why you’re so surprised. You changed completely after you started dating Chiara.” The mention of her name makes his eyes twinkle.
“Yes, she warmed up my life and made me smile, but I wasn’t the one who swore off relationships until I reached my grave,” he says, and the reminder of that conversation sends a shiver down my spine.
“That was before Nevaeh,” I mumble.
“Maybe, but it doesn’t change that if you’re not one hundred percent sure, you’re going to break that girl’s heart by pretending you are,” Leonard says, and I look up at him.
“Her heart is not the one that’s in danger of being ripped to shreds,” I reply, staring out at the ocean and sucking in a sharp breath to gather courage for what I haven’t admitted out loud to anyone yet. “Mine is.”
Chapter 45
Nevaeh
We’reonthetenthrace of the season. Mrs. Lu threw my schedule around so that my interview with Valentina has been rescheduled to the weekend of the Monaco Grand Prix. My friend wasn’t happy about it, but when I reminded her how special it’d be for the article to be written about her at her home race, she beamed up at me.
We’re in Austin, Texas this weekend, and I have yet to take some time to go explore the city I grew up in for three years of my life. I meant to go when we first got here a few days ago, but then Adrian showed up at my hotel room with a pint of ice cream. We shared half of it before he buried his face between my legs until they were shaking and I was screaming his name. He did that over and over until I lost count of how many times I came and he finally sunk inside of me.
Adrian and I have been secretly dating for the past seven weeks, and something that’s become very clear is that he loves to watch me orgasm. All the time. Every chance he gets.
We’ve been good about keeping our distance and sneaking around undetected. We’ve also somehow managed to hug a lot less or touch each other in general, which I hate but has been good for Gillian to get off my case. Ms. Martin hasn’t asked me about Adrian anymore, and I’ve been handing in articles that have gotten a lot of attention from fans.
I’m making a name for myself and I’m loving every second.
Adrian has been kicking ass too, having won five out of the past ten races. Gabriel is currently second in the Drivers’ Championship standings, Lincoln only a point behind him, and ten points behind Adrian. They’re close, but there is still over half a season left. Nothing’s written in stone yet, or on a trophy, I guess.
Today is Qualifying, and James has been preoccupied with his responsibilities without paying too much attention to me. He’s the driver I’m interviewing this weekend and he warned me about his quiet behavior a few days ago, but I don’t mind it one bit.
We’ve been getting along well these past few days, and I’m already working on the article. It fascinates me how different the rituals are for every driver. James focuses on reflex training while Gabriel focuses mostly on stretching and warming up his muscles.
“Can we talk?” James asks me, surprise settling in my chest.
“Of course,” I reply, and he motions for me to sit down with him at the table in the empty conference room I was planning to work in until Qualifying was over. There is a small screen in here, showing live footage of the session. “What’s up?” I ask, slightly worried about the answer. James and I hardly know each other, and, even though I like him, we’ve never been alone, not even at any point during this weekend.
“I’m sorry to bother you like this, but I need you to promise me something,” he starts, and I watch him carefully as he wrestles to phrase his request. His blue eyes drift to mine, his gaze holding mine. “For the article, please don’t mention Damian. I know we’ve talked about him, but I’d like to keep him as far away from the spotlight as possible,” he explains.
I offer him a small smile.
“You have my word, I won’t say anything about him nor will I send it off to my boss without letting you read the article first. That’s how it works with me,” I assure him, earning myself a dashing smile I’m convinced could make anyone fall in love, given that they aren’t already with someone else.
“Thank you. I appreciate it, Nevaeh.” I smile at him, but there is more he wants to say. I can tell by the way he scans my face as if answers were written in my features. “At the end of last season, a man wrote an article about Damian without any knowledge of my actual relationship with him or that he was adopted by Gabriel’s aunts, Dominique and Nicolette. He called me a terrible father,” James admits, breaking eye contact and looking away. I slide my hand onto his shoulder and squeeze it, bringing a comforting expression to my face.
“I would never write lies like that, especially considering how great of a father you are. You made a difficult decision that got Damian two amazing moms and you. If I wrote about you as a father, and I won’t, that’s what I’d say,” I reply, squeezing his shoulder again before dropping my hand.
He studies me for another moment before smiling to himself and nodding.
