Chapter 7
CHAPTER 7
JACE
If these nerves could fuck off, that would be grand.
I never get this nervous.
Not when I slipped into my first kart.
Not when I asked out the cutest girl on our street.
Not when I first had sex.
Not my rookie season in Formula 1.
I don’t even get this nervous before a race.
I’m the perpetually over confident, outgoing, golden retriever—as my sister calls me—guy.
So why now?
Oh, that’s easy.
Because I’m about to lay it all out there for a girl.
But not just any girl.
Kinsley Jones.
The girl that has ruled all of my thoughts since the moment she crashed into me. It’s only been three days, yet I can’t ignore the fluttering in my chest when I think about her, the smile that blooms whenever I’m reading her texts, or the way everything else fades when she’s near.
I leave tomorrow for this weekend’s upcoming race, but before I’m gone for days on end, there’s something important I need to do. Something I need to tell the girl that’s had my insides all twisted up in the best of ways.
I knock on the door, swiping my clammy hands on my jeans as my eyes take in the small terraced house with vines overgrowing the stone walls. There’s a crack in one of the second story windows and I watch as a light pink fabric blows in the soft breeze.
Please tell me that isn’t her room.
I pull out my phone and am scrolling through a list of window repair men when the door swings open. My head shoots up and my nerves dissipate in the glow of her smile.
“Kinsley,” I breathe.
“Jace,” she whispers.
“Ready?”
She glances behind her quickly before slipping on her bag and stepping outside. “Ready.”
We walk side by side down the short walkway and I rush around her, opening her door. When she’s settled, I close the door and round the hood, slipping behind the wheel.
I fumble with my seat belt three times before I successfully secure it. Breathing out a steadying breath, I look at her sheepishly and turn the car on. She peers over at me as I pull onto the street and I shift in my seat.
“Are you okay? We don’t have to hang out today if you don’t?—”
“What? No. No.” I glance over at her and sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.”
“About what?”
“I—I have to tell you something. Well, it’s more showing than telling.”
“Okay,” she hums. “Is this a good something or a bad something?”
“Good?”
She giggles and the worry in my heart lightens its hold. “You don’t sound very confident.”
“That trait seems to be on the fritz today,” I grumble.
“If you’re planning on taking me to the woods to murder me, all I ask is that you make sure Lily doesn’t use my camera for nefarious activities.”
“Last I checked, you were supposed to be the murderer.”
She shrugs. “That was Saturday. Wednesdays are my day off.”
I huff a laugh, shaking my head. “Well, you don’t have to worry. I don’t plan on murdering you and your camera will keep its innocence.”
She blows out a breath and wipes at her brow. “Dodged a bullet on that one.” She leans her head against the headrest. “I’m sure I’ll love whatever it is you have to show and tell me. Unless I’m supposed to hate it, then bleh, off with their heads!”
Chuckling, I weave through traffic, sneaking quick looks at her. “You don’t even know what I want to show you. It may not even be a person who can lose their head.”
“Well is it something that can lose its head?”
“You aren’t getting a hint, but nice try though. Also, are you sure you’re not a murderer?”
“Dang, so close. And yes, I’m sure. Me and Lily have just been binging a lot of documentaries lately. It’s our background sound for when she’s sewing and I’m editing photos.”
I hum, nodding. Blowing out a breath, my hand flexes on the wheel. “I’m nervous. I just don’t want this to change how you see me.”
She reaches over, placing her hand on my forearm resting on the center console. “It won’t.”
“You sound so sure about that.”
She shrugs. “I’ll be sure enough for the both of us.”
My eyes flash to hers and she smiles, her thumb brushing my arm before she settles back in her seat. We leave the city behind, trading the busy streets for quiet tree lined roads.
Kinsley sits forward in her seat as I pull through the compound’s front gate decorated with a metal script reading Miller Racing. I park in front of the main building and help Kinsley out of the car.
She looks up at the sleek building with wide eyes. “It’s, uh?—”
“A bit intimidating, innit?”
“A bit,” she says through a breathy laugh.
Looking up at me with a raised eyebrow she bumps her shoulder into my arm. “Evil lair?”
I smirk. “Some would say.” She giggles and I nod towards the entrance. “Want to go inside?”
She nods and I look down, slipping my hand into hers. Smiling, she follows me through the massive front glass doors.
Memorabilia decorates the entry leading into a large atrium. Groups of people are scattered around and I reflexively tug Kinsley closer to me when a gaggle of kids comes running by.
She laughs as they trip over each other to get a closer look at the replica of our team’s first race car. “Is it always like this?”
“Not usually. There’s a kids camp thing going on today. They get to tour the garages, see how everything is built—well, to an extent—and later on, they get to ride a couple laps on our practice track out back.”
“So cool,” she whispers in awe, her eyes dancing over the room.
“Collins! Back already?” I look over as a man with graying hair calls out from across the room. He strolls over, breaking away from what I assume is a group of parents and his eyes slide to Kinsley. “And you brought a friend.”
“Kinsley, this is Mitch. He’s the team principal.”
“I have no idea what that is, but cool?” She laughs, shaking his hand.
He raises a single brow at me and I wink. “She’ll get there.”
Nodding, he claps me on the shoulder. “Okay then. Kinsley, it was lovely to meet you. I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got lord knows how many kids are snooping around this place. Jace, let me know if you need anything?—”
“Actually. Think we could slip in on the practice track later?”
“Of course. I’ll let the boys know.” He turns and winks at Kinsley. “Have fun out there.”
“Thank you,” she calls out to his retreating back before smiling up at me. “He seems nice.”
“He’s great until he’s yelling at you through a headset.”
She looks up at me with confusion and I smirk, holding out my hand. “Come on, all will be answered soon.”
We head through the doors out back and pass by garages filled with more groups of energized kids. Parents stand around them as team members walk them through the basics of one of our cars.
I chuckle when Kinsley steps towards the open bay door and pushes to her tiptoes, twisting this way and that to get a look. She stumbles into me with a laugh when I gently tug on her hand and glances back towards the garage as we walk away when the kids cheer.
We stop in front of a closed bay a few doors down with the number 24 above it. I tap in my code and hold open the side door for her.
She peeks inside before tentatively stepping over the threshold. I follow her in and flip the lights on as the door softly clicks closed behind us.
“Wow,” she whispers. Spinning in a slow circle, she scans the room with wide eyes. Pausing, she looks over at me and points towards the car. I huff a laugh and smile, nodding once.
Excitement ripples over her features as she practically skips over to the car. I lean against the wall, watching as she runs her hand over the glossy blue paint, fingers tracing my name by the driver’s cockpit.
She glances around the room again, her eyes snagging on the wall across from her. Walking around the car, she steps up to the wall of photos.
I move to stand next to her as she reaches up, brushing her fingers over a picture of me in my race suit, sitting on the wheel of my car.
She looks over at me, her eyes sparkling. “You’re a race car driver.”
I nod, my eyes never straying from hers. “I am.”
She scans the endless pictures and article clippings. “You love it.”
“With everything I am. How can you tell?”
“Your eyes.” She looks at me, smiling. “I saw it the moment we pulled through the gate,” she waves a hand over the wall of pictures, “and I see it in every one of these.”
I take in the ‘Wall of Jace’ as my sister calls it and take a deep breath, letting the scent of metal and rubber calm my nerves like it always does.
“Why were you so nervous to show me this?” Her voice is barely above a whisper and I look down into her cautious eyes.
“Because in the past, this is all I’ve been for people. I didn’t want that with you. I didn’t want you to see me as only Jace, the Formula 1 driver.” I swallow, tucking my slightly shaky hands into my pockets. “I wanted you to like me as Jace, the man.”
I sigh, shaking my head. “Then I got that talking to from Lily about honesty, and this,” I motion around the garage, “Is a pretty big part of who I am. So, I wanted to share it with you, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about how you would react.”
She studies me for a moment with something akin to wonder. “This is all amazing. Truly. What you’ve accomplished and are still achieving is incredible. You’re incredible.”
I suck in a breath when she steps closer and slips her hand in mine. “But I like Jace, the man . With or without racing. He’s a pretty great guy off the track as well.”
I take the first full breath since coming up with this idea and dip my head to hide the relief I know is flashing across my face. “So this doesn’t change anything for you?” I look up, our eyes meeting. “For this?” I squeeze her hand and she smiles, shaking her head.
“Not in the way I feel like was driving your worries earlier. I’m not here because you’re this big fancy race car driver—and please don’t feel offended by the fact I didn’t recognize you, I’m just not a big sports girl.” She laughs and I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“I think my ego can take it.”
“Good. Good,” she hums and takes a deep breath. “The racer isn’t the man I’ve been excited to see every day. Although it is a nice bonus knowing I don’t have to ever drive again as long as you are around.”
The quiet garage fills with our laughter. “You’re not getting out of those lessons.”
“Dang it.” Her pout disappears with a sigh. “There is one change I’m worried about though.”
My body tenses and her eyes spark with mischief. “My sleeping schedule. Now I’m going to have to get up at ungodly hours to watch you kick some serious butt.”
The floodgates holding back my relief open and I sag against the tool box. Shaking my head, I pull her in for a hug and bury my face in her hair. “Thank you,” I murmur.
“Thank you,” she whispers, my chest warming with her words. “Thank you for sharing this with me.” Her arms tighten around my waist and I hold her against me for a moment longer.
An engine roars to life outside and she pulls away, bright eyes flashing to the door before looking up at me. I tuck a piece of her hair and smirk. “You want to go have some fun?”
Her eyes light as she bounces on her toes. “Absolutely.”
I spend the next few hours showing her my world and the entire time I’m left wondering why I ever doubted the two colliding.
Because it already feels so much better now that she’s a part of it.