Chapter 35 Aurelie
The second-to-last race.
Not just with my husband, but with the man who'd been my idol for a decade.
Callum had already won the WDC. Vegas took care of that. There was nothing left to chase in these last two races. No records, no titles, no scoreboard to fight.
Just one last ride with the people who made me believe I belonged and gave me a family I never knew I needed.
Vanguard locked out the front. One-two. Living proof that two world champions were on that team.
I finished P3. Kimi right behind me in P4. The original Grid Gremlins, crossing the line one after the other. Like it was always meant to be.
It wasn’t even a competition anymore. But it was everything.
We waved to the stands like we were all rookies again. Laughed in the cooldown room like nothing was ending. Pretended it wasn’t the last time the four of us would ever share a celebration like this when I’d just gotten used to it.
But I felt it. God, I felt it in every inch of me.
The weight of ten years. The joy. The ache. The history.
The man I’d loved from afar… now my husband, my life teammate, my future, and the legend I had to learn how to let go of.
I didn’t cry on the track. Didn’t cry in parc fermé. But when he looked at me across the room, helmet off, sweat dripping down his temples, still grinning like I was the only thing he saw, I felt the breath catch in my chest.
Only one race left.
And I had no idea how to say goodbye, but when he stormed across the room at the sight of my tears and folded me into his embrace, I knew that it would all be okay.