Chapter 19 Sebastian
Sebastian
He had frantically texted me to let me know that our relationship was about to be front-page news.
Once upon a time that might have scared me, but I felt our relationship was strong enough to stand up to scrutiny.
I knew how I felt about Theo, and I was almost certain he felt just as strongly.
But I still needed to see his face, to know that he was OK.
And that the news and attention wasn’t going to put his racing in jeopardy.
I jumped off the tyre and pushed through the crowd, smiling briefly and apologetically at a couple of people who tried their best to get me in frame for a selfie. “Not now, in a minute,” I said to none of them in particular.
Then there he was, with a blissfully clear path over the last couple of metres between me and him.
Theo’s eyes caught mine, and with the way he lit up at the sight of me, it was a wonder we hadn’t been caught out long ago.
I could only hope that my expression showed just how much he meant to me.
I crossed those last couple of metres as quickly as I could, wary of the gaps between people closing.
Once we were face to face, near enough to touch, I suddenly felt insecure.
I had always been boisterous and handsy with Theo in the paddock even before we’d sealed our relationship.
Could I still be that man, or would it be too much pressure on him?
All I could think of was his race. I would not compromise my Teodoro in any way that could hurt him.
It was Theo’s turn to be the confident one of the two of us, as it turned out. With the briefest of glances towards Albert, who was advancing with the microphone, Theo took a step in to close the distance between us and planted a kiss on my lips. “Missed you,” he said, and then kissed me again.
In that moment, I was certain one of the cars could explode and no one would notice. His action had drawn everyone’s eyes to us, and a hush had descended over the paddock.
That was, until a foam microphone head bumped me on the cheek.
“So, this is a turn up for the books!” said Albert, essentially forcing us apart with his presence. “Another bit of your famous tomfoolery? A bet gone wrong for one of you?”
Theo and I looked at each other, and I could see he was holding in laughter. I guessed I would have to answer for him. “No, we are together. We are serious about each other. And we have been for some time.”
I felt Theo stop shaking with contained laughter next to me, and when I risked a look his way, he was blushing. I idly stroked his cheek and watched the blush rise, glad not to have to hide any more.
“Is this going to impact your racing careers? You two famously have an intense rivalry on the track, are you planning on going easy on one another now?” Albert asked. The camera crew behind him seemed to gather closer, and I could see our distorted reflections on the big camera lenses.
“Not at all,” Theo answered. “In fact, we’re more competitive than ever. We both know what’s on the line, and we both want to win. That makes no difference to our private lives.”
“And you, Sebastian. How do you think this relationship is going to impact your chances of getting a new contract in time for the American Tour?” Albert asked.
I felt myself still for a second. I had been trying to think as little as possible about it, trusting my manager to find me a good contract in the background.
And I hated the thought of Theo taking my future into account when we raced.
“As Theo said, we’re going to compete hard. I want to win, and so does he. Our relationship can only make our racing better.”
I felt his hand clench at my hip, a reassuring squeeze that I leaned in to. “Now if you’ll leave us to it, I would like to talk with Theo before we are pit back against one another this afternoon. I promise you all a spectacular race.”
Theo and I moved back through the crowd and into the shelter of his garage. A few of the mechanics had gone back to work, but a lot of them were still staring at us, agog. I did not care.
I placed my forehead against his, but spoke loud enough for everyone around us to hear.
“Now, Teodoro, I love you. But I expect you to race hard and fast today. Whichever of us wins, we know we have raced with integrity. I will be aiming to beat you, and aiming to beat Frankie.”
“Understood,” said Theo. “Are you ready to get your arse whooped?”
“Oh, always,” I replied. “But we should probably finish the race and get back to the hotel room first.”
A couple of the mechanics around us laughed, and I was sure there’d be some salacious story in Racing Monthly later on about our bedroom activities. But the tension had broken between us, and I was ready to race, come hell or high water.
My head should have been in the game. But as I waited for those famous lights to count us into the race, my brain could only focus on one thing.
I had told Theo I loved him for the first time, in public.
I hoped that he felt the same way, but I could not anticipate him being willing to so publicly declare his feelings in front of so many people.
I would wait for him to feel ready, if he ever did, and—
The first light switched on, and I put romantic Sebastian back in his box and locked it tight. I was ready to race, García vs Tyler. And Frankie too, if he didn’t have the good sense to get out of our way before causing an accident.
“We’ve got reports of rain coming in from the west, may hit you around turn eight,” I heard through the comms.
Three lights had lit now. “Noted. Now let me race and don’t bother me until the heavens open.
” I was glad of the relationship I had with the pit team, we could speak frankly with one another.
I just hoped that if I was lucky enough to secure another team’s contract, we could be so frank with each other.
The last light lit up. For one excruciating moment I felt my foot slip on the pedal, but I kept the bite without the car sliding forwards.
And then the lights were all off, and I was roaring forwards.
To my right was Brooke Savage, but the bigger threat just behind me was Max Burnham, championship leader.
At the first turn, a left turn, I had the inside line, and though Brooke tried to squeeze me toward the gravel I was far enough ahead at the apex of the curve that she had to back off from the chase.
That meant I was clear of her for the second, trickier curve and into the long straight.
In front of me, Theo had already won the battle with Frankie and was storming ahead of the pack with clear air.
In racing, there were two potential advantages to track positioning.
In front of the pack, there was clean air, undisturbed by anyone else.
Behind each car was a slipstream. If I could stay in Frankie’s slipstream until my Drag Reduction System was allowed, I could get ahead of him.
I could tell that Frankie was already far enough behind Theo that he would end up in a disadvantageous area - dirty air, where his car would be buffeted by the crossover of air at the end of a slipstream.
“He has to let me past,” I told my team. “I have faster race pace, and I have a chance of catching up to Theo.”
“Have you tried buying him flowers, or asking him out to a drink?”
“Cheeky bastard. Can I get past Frankie or not?”
“We’re relaying the request to his crew, we’ll get back to you. Just stick in his slipstream for now.”
For a whole lap, with clouds overhead and threatening rain, I did my best to stick to Frankie’s tail without crashing into him.
I could get past, but team orders were firm that we weren’t to overtake one another without permission.
We weren’t allowed to race for fear of crashing, and costing the team as whole a big bunch of points.
“C’mon guys, Theo Tyler is getting ahead of us!” I growled.
“Frankie has been told to move over,” I was told. “Prepare to overtake.”
“Thank God,” I muttered, having already switched off the communication link.
I kept to Frankie’s tail, ready for him to shift over the track or slow down to let me past. Instead, as I crept forward, he mirrored my movements, making an overtake a risky endeavour.
I checked my own mirrors, and Brooke was creeping up behind us.
Close enough to see the situation I was stuck in, and potentially happy to attempt the risky overtake that would make me persona non grata with my team.
“Why isn’t he moving?” I growled through the comms.
“He’s switched off comms. Disobeying team orders.
We’ve taken it up with the team principal, hold tight.
” My race manager sounded annoyed, but I knew they were keeping their real feelings buried deep.
When Frankie’s father owned the team, what could any of us do to fight the system we were caught in?
This time, I kept my finger on the comms button as I spoke. “Wouldn’t want to upset Frankie’s daddy, now would we?”
As we entered lap three and the turn that I’d previously outsmarted Brooke on, I knew I had to make a move or risk us both losing our place to her and potentially to Max Burnham.
I feinted toward the inside line, and Frankie moved immediately to defend.
One twitch of the wheel and I was sailing around the outside of him even as his wheels dipped into the gravel, spraying the track behind him and slowing him down.
I checked my mirrors as Brooke slipped past him too, but I felt I had the race pace advantage on her as we pushed around another lap.
A quick check in with my team confirmed that Theo was fast, but I was matching and maybe slightly exceeding him.
The rain that was threatening never arrived, and though the whole team exceeded expectations with pit stops and strategy, I hadn’t quite matched Theo by the end of the race.
From the twenty second gap that Frankie had allowed to build up with his stupidity, I had cut down Theo’s lead to less than five by the time we crossed the finish line, chequered flags waving.
“Well done,” I said, as we stood on the podium, crowds cheering. “You deserved the win.”
“I didn’t,” said Theo. “If your teammate hadn’t screwed you over, you would have whooped me.”
“We will never know, Teodoro. But I aim to always keep you on your toes.”
The win had taken Theo into the lead for the European half of the championship, with three races to go.
Max Burnham had finished far enough back to give us both a real chance of competing, and the newspapers would no doubt start hyping up the three potential champions and a climactic end to the season.
But it was a bittersweet feeling. I was the only one of the three of us who may not be racing in just a few weeks’ time. I was in line for the championship, and even if I lifted the cup, I may never have the chance again.
That night, I received a call from my agent that could revive my career — and jeopardise the relationship with Theo that I had worked so hard to build.