Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Royce
I’m sitting in a meeting with Pascal, Glenn, Marcel, Cowan, and my dad. Cowan and I are still a little icy. He isn’t Kai. Kai might have pissed me off as teammate, but Cowan riles me up differently. He thinks he is the golden boy, like his shit don’t stink… I can’t stand it.
My fist is pressed against my lips, my eyes drifting towards him every so often as my dad sits to my side. He turns his face towards me, glancing and I am sure he can notice the tension, and I wonder if he thinks he has made a wrong move. Because if he asks me, I will tell him he has.
Glenn drones on about the new season and what is expected from both of us, how we’re teammates and there is no favouritism.
Lie.
Dad wouldn’t kick me from the team, but he would sure as hell kick Cowan-fucking-Pierce.
“But we’re competing. We’re not going to race next to each other and not fight,” I say on an exasperated sigh, my tone wrapped in utter boredom.
“We’re not asking you to be best friends and skip into the fucking paddock.” Glenn’s tone has me smirking. “We’re asking you to race clean with each other. We get it, you both want a good season.”
“I want world champion,” I say it how it is. No point sugar coating and Cowan scoffs a laugh. “Something funny?” I turn my attention to him and he shakes his head, a stupid smile on his face, and I swear I can feel my temper simmering.
My dad turns his body to face the both of us. “Either of you step out of line, I’ll swap you out for the reserve.”
His threats don’t bother me, but I do keep quiet. I don’t want to piss the old man off.
Cowan’s lip twitch. Pascal and Glenn wrap it up and Cowan is up and out of his seat the second their voices trail off. My dad glares at me and I twist to look at him.
“What?” I ask defensively.
“Why can’t you just play nice?”
“How is this my fault?” A shocked laugh escapes me because I can’t quite believe he is asking me.
“You have to poke the bear.”
“I do not! I simply asked a valid question. Fuck.” I run my hand around the back of my neck. “I am racing for the world championship. I am not playing Mr Nice Guy; I never have and I never will.”
He shakes his head in a disapproving manner. “Where is Athena?” he asks, a heavy breath exhaling through his lips as he stands.
“No idea.” I shrug and he looks down at me, brows furrowed.
“Is she not meant to be shadowing you?” His hands fold into his pockets.
“Yeah… next week?”
“I think she is meant to be with you on all aspects of racing, Royce.”
Scrubbing my face, I slide down in the chair and let my head fall back as I pin them to the ceiling. “Right, I’m not sure what she is going to get out of watching me and you in a sparring match.”
“Royce.” My dad laughs deeply. “You go into a sparring match with anyone who goes against your views. It’s either your way, or no way.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” I smirk.
He sighs, glaring at me. “It makes you an entitled, selfish, little prick.”
I shrug. “Look where it’s got me.”
“Exactly.” He raises a brow before he turns on his heel and walks away.
I sit in the silence and ponder over his words for a moment.
Was it a bad thing if I was what he said?
I have always been that kid. Lost a lot of friends because of it, but it didn’t help being pulled from school left right and centre.
I was always dragged all around the world because of my dad, and my own karting journey meant I was never in one place for too long.
Rubbing my hand around the back of my head, I give it a squeeze and stare at the open door my dad left through. Picking up my phone from the table, I drop Nora a message asking for Athena’s number. If I need to bring her everywhere with me going forward, I need to make some kind of plan.
Message sent, I push from the chair and walk out of the room back to the hotel. I need some down time before race week really kicks up a notch. An ache settles into my chest, and I know it’s my dad’s words, lodged deep inside the crevices.
My phone buzzes with her number and I drop her a message.
Me
Well, hello you. R x
A hard gym work out has me dripping and my trainer is sitting there with a silly smile on his face.
“Fuck you.” I flip him off as I pat my face down with my towel.
“Felt good though, right?”
“Yes.” I am still breathing out my ass, my hand curled on my hip.
“What are your plans? I want to get you back into some form of routine now the season is back up and running.”
“Great.” I roll my eyes. “And not a lot, you know me, head down and focused on the season. I need this to be my year.”
He nods. “I think it will be, but we need to make sure you’re fitter than you have ever been.”
A smirk tugs at the corner of my lips. “Going to be hard.” I wink and he stands up, shaking his head as he stuffs his gear in his bag.
“Be careful of your big head on your way out.” He chuckles.
I laugh loudly as I drag my tired legs towards the shower when I hear the sound of footsteps approaching.
I give Dane a look and he shrugs. No one else was booked into the gym when we booked our slot. I had messaged Athena and invited her to watch in on the session, but she never replied so I assumed she was busy.
“Oh.” Her voice floats around the changing room and I stand a little taller, my shoulders rolling back ever so slightly.
“You’re late.” I smirk, dropping the towel into the dirty laundry basket then gripping the hem of my tank and lifting it over my head.
Her eyes widen, and she clutches her notepad and laptop close to her chest. Her gaze slowly roams over my body, her cheeks turning a pretty pink. I love that I have made her blush.
“Nice to meet you, I’m assuming you’re Athena,” Dane says, pushing to his feet and holding his hand for her to shake, which she does.
“Er, yeah, sorry… I… erm?” She looks over her shoulder then back to me.
Her brown curly hair sits just past her shoulders, her nose crinkled. She is dressed in a plaid skirt and vest top. She looks cute.
“I got caught on a call with my agent, sorry.” She winces, her foot twisting in as she leans against the doorframe.
“It’s fine,” I say as Dane sits back down on the bench. “I’ll be back at it tomorrow,” I offer, shrugging a shoulder.
“Okay,” she says in a breathy tone, and I watch as her eyes lock on mine. “I’ll see you then…” She trails off and slowly turns her upper body.
“I’m just going to jump in the shower, give me ten?” I call out and I’m not sure why. I have nothing else planned, but I didn’t want her to go, weirdly.
She spins to face me again.
“Speak to Dane whilst you wait, he can give you some bits on my workout and diet if you want to jot that down,” I say as I walk away and head for the shower. I can feel her eyes on me, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t love it.
Lathering up my skin, I rub against the aches that are already presenting themselves. My mind flickers to her, sitting just outside the shower room whilst I am in here, sudding myself.
The way she looked at me, those brown eyes all wide as she took every inch of my sweaty skin.
Goosebumps prick at the base of my neck but I shut the intrusive thoughts down when they slip in about what we could get up to if she allowed it, but I have to remember we work together.
She is forbidden and it doesn’t matter if I find her attractive or not, I have to keep things professional.
I broke off one relationship because I wanted to focus on my career, I am not about to fuck it all up because of a pretty girl.
Turning the shower off, I grab the towel and wrap it around my waist. Reaching for a smaller one, I run it over my hair before dumping it in the laundry bin and pad towards the changing room.
She is sitting all pretty, pen resting on her full bottom lip as she listens to Dane’s lecture about my routine.
They’re currently on the neck exercises and what I have to do to make sure my neck is strong enough to take the G-force of the car when racing.
I clear my throat and it’s like I want her looking at me like she wants me. I get a hit from it. It’s the only form of attention I am letting myself receive this season.
Her honey eyes sweep up and over my body, her cheeks flush that cute pink I have become quite fond of seeing. Her lips part as the pen tumbles from her fingertips and hits the tiled floor. She snaps out of it, turning her body and lowering herself down to pick up the pen.
Dane scowls at me and I give him a wink. “How did you get on?” I hover in front of her, water drops gliding down my torso.
“Fine.” She snaps her mouth shut and jumps from her seat, grabbing her stuff and walking out of the room.
“You’re such an asshole.” Dane rolls his eyes and shakes his head in a disappointed manner.
“I know.” I sigh and grab my bag before disappearing to get dressed.