Chapter 31
ONE STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE
Reese wanted to start race morning by looking through the photo album on her phone, the one that contained photos of her and Sloane from various cities.
Her favorite was the one in Monza at the little wine and cheese place where Sloane was smiling into the camera with her arms around Reese’s neck, and Reese was smiling at Sloane.
A little crooked, like she’d forgotten the camera was even there.
It was a memory she held onto and pulled out when she needed to drift away to a happier moment.
But she wouldn’t be doing that today because the stress of her current reality was adding fractions of a second to her lap time, so anything that would tug on her brain had to be shelved until after the race.
She had prep to get through and that started now.
Barcelona’s morning air carried a hint of salt from the Mediterranean, warm already despite the early hour.
The paddock hummed with its usual race-day rhythm—generators buzzing, radios crackling, the low thrum of engines being woken up.
Somewhere, an air wrench barked to life, sharp and sudden.
Reese moved through it all like she was stepping across thin ice.
Careful. Deliberate. Not allowing herself to fall through.
Sixteenth.
The number had sat beside her name on the timing sheet yesterday like an accusation. She’d told the media it was “a learning weekend.” She’d told Julie they were “still dialing it in.” She’d told herself to stop spiraling.
Two races out of the points. Sixteenth on a circuit where overtaking wasn’t exactly a gift. And a brain that insisted on replaying every almost-text, every unfinished conversation with Sloane.
She adjusted the strap of her backpack higher on her shoulder and ducked into the hospitality unit, grateful for the blast of air-conditioning. Fuel first. Smoothie. Hydrate. Review data. Visualize starts. Brake markers into Turn 1. Stay out of chaos.
Simple.
The smoothie counter was tucked into the corner, half-hidden behind a column wrapped in sponsor decals. Reese stepped into line, eyes already scanning her mental checklist.
Strawberry. Always strawberry on race mornings. Predictable. Familiar. One thing she didn’t have to think about.
“Hey,” a voice said softly.
Everything in her body stilled.
It was ridiculous how quickly she knew. Not just the sound of it, but the way it landed—like it belonged to her.
Reese turned.
Sloane stood there, hair pulled back, academy jacket unzipped, a smoothie cup already in her hand. Strawberry pink, unmistakable even through the clear lid. She was smiling, not carefully or cautiously, but the way she did when she’d been counting the minutes to see Reese again.
For a second, Reese forgot where she was. Forgot sixteenth. Forgot Barcelona. Forgot the careful walls she’d built around her heart for three weeks.
She didn’t think. She just moved.
Reese stepped forward and reached for Sloane, one hand sliding around her waist, the other coming up to her shoulder, pulling her in. It was instinct. Muscle memory laced with relief.
Sloane came easily, like she’d been waiting for permission and now had it.
The smoothie was set down on the counter without a second thought as Sloane wrapped her arms around Reese’s back, holding her close.
Reese caught the faint scent of Sloane’s citrus shampoo and the last of the tension in her chest finally loosened.
If there was ever a metaphor for home, Reese had found it in this moment.
“There you are,” Sloane murmured, lips brushing Reese’s temple.
“Hi,” Reese said, her voice smiling into the word.
They stayed like that longer than was strictly professional, but neither of them rushed it. The paddock would get over it. Sloane’s hand slid up and down Reese’s back once, grounding her and reminding her she wasn’t alone.
When they finally pulled back, Reese kept her hands where they were, thumbs brushing lightly against Sloane’s sides like she needed the contact to stay upright.
Sloane picked up the smoothie and pressed the cup into Reese’s hands. “Strawberry. Race morning. I know the rules.”
Reese laughed, bright and surprised by how freely it came. Her chest felt lighter, like something tight had finally unclenched.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’ve missed you so much.”
Sloane’s expression softened. “Same. A lot.”
Reese took a sip, the cold sweetness hitting her tongue, familiar and comforting. She closed her eyes for half a second, then opened them again, feeling for the first time in a while that she was on solid ground.
“I qualified sixteenth,” she said, matter-of-fact.
“I know,” Sloane said. “That doesn’t change anything.” They stepped out of the way of people entering the smoothie line and found their own spot along the wall.
Reese searched her face. “Doesn’t it?”
“No,” Sloane said firmly. “It means you have an uphill battle and you’ll have to work if you want to get into the points and P10. Which you’re very good at.” She brushed her thumb along Reese’s jaw, quick and subtle but intimate all the same. “And it means I get to watch you fight forward.”
Reese’s heart lifted, buoyant, soaring in her chest. This—this—was what she’d been missing.
“Don’t go anywhere,” Reese said.
“I’m not,” Sloane promised. “I’ll be right here. When you get back.”
Reese nodded, gripping the smoothie like a talisman, then leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Sloane’s lips. It was soft, sure, and full of all the things they didn’t need to say out loud.
When she stepped away, she felt different, like she was ready to take on twenty-one other drivers, knowing that at the end of the day, something even more important was waiting for her. They hadn’t had a conversation yet, but Sloane’s presence alone, her entirely open demeanor, communicated a lot.
Sixteenth no longer felt like a sentence, but a problem to solve.
When Reese walked back to the garage, prized smoothie in hand, she nodded to the crew members she passed, some offering words of encouragement.
Others knocked lightly against her shoulder or lifted a wrench in greeting.
One walked out from behind the car with a big smile on his face.
She nodded to him as she passed before pulling up short.
She turned back immediately and found herself face-to-face with her brother, dressed in Laurens team gear, no less.
“What is happening right now?” Reese asked.
“I couldn’t let you have all the fun,” Luke said, shuffling over in that ridiculous walk he put on that took six inches off his height.
He wrapped her in a soft hug that brought tears to her eyes. For half a second, she smelled grease and laundry detergent, and suddenly she was five years old again, being lifted into the kart.
“But you’re working?” She looked behind him to the car and the tools off to the side.
“Got the call a couple days ago, and wanted to surprise you.”
“I have so many questions,” Reese said.
“And I have answers for you. Later,” Luke said, heading back behind the car. “You have a race ahead of you and I’m gonna get you ready for it.”
He wasn’t wrong. She had to get started on her checklist and make the strategy meeting in time.
“Reese, can I grab you a minute in my office?” Shanelle said, from around the corner.
“Um, yeah. Of course.” Reese turned to Luke, and they exchanged a smile. “I can’t believe you’re standing here and we will catch up after this.”
He nodded and went back to work.
Having Luke in the garage again was not only surreal, it was so far beyond the realm of what she’d thought possible that her brain still hadn’t fully caught up.
She arrived in Shanelle’s office to find Julie sitting in one of the leather-backed chairs across from Shanelle’s desk. She met Julie’s gaze and turned back to Shanelle. “Okay, what is going on around here?”
“Julie will be shadowing Geoff today to learn the intricacies of our operation.”
“Okay,” Reese said, the smile on her face growing.
“The expectation is that she’ll take over as your engineer shortly after she’s completed that training.”
“You’re kidding.”
Shanelle folded her arms. “I don’t do that very well,” she said with a wink.
“My brother is out front. My favorite engineer on the planet is sitting in your office.”
“Thank you, Reese,” Julie said, touching her glasses.
“No problem. It’s true.” Reese gave her head a shake of disbelief. Her and Julie. Back together again. It didn’t get much better. “How did this happen?”
Shanelle folded her arms. “Veronica thought bringing some of your people on board might be a good idea.”
Leave it to Veronica Vance, maker of miracles, to swoop in and change her life once again. It was starting to make sense.
“Please tell me Danielle Todd is still racing for the academy and is not going to pop out from behind your desk.”
“No. I think Veronica had standards,” Shanelle said.
Reese nodded. “She arranged a support system.”
“That’s what she does. She’s an arranger.” Shanelle smiled. “How does this sit with you?”
“Are you kidding? That’s not even a question. I’m thrilled with the idea.”
Shanelle clapped her on the shoulder. “Great. Now, get out there and figure out what you can do with sixteenth.”
Reese deflated again when she remembered what she was working with today. “I’ll do my best for you, boss.”
“Oh, and I passed Sloane in the hallway.”
“I still can’t believe you rebounded from that first night in the bar,” Julie said, as if alone in her own room.
“Well, I’m going to need that story one day,” Shanelle said, turning to Julie.
“I’m your woman,” Julie said. “It was epic.”
Reese laughed and made a gesture as if erasing a whiteboard. “No need. Nope. Nothing to see here.”
“Now I really need to hear.”
“Then I’m gonna go start reaction drills.”
By the time Reese stepped back into the garage, the world felt different. The noise of the paddock sharpened into something electric instead of overwhelming. The clatter of tools, the murmur of strategy calls, the low growl of engines coming to life invigorated her in a way it hadn’t all weekend.
Sloane was here. Luke was here. Julie was coming back to the pit wall.
Somehow, the universe had lined up every person who’d ever believed in her and placed them exactly where they belonged.
Sixteenth wasn’t a setback anymore.
It was an invitation.
Her mind flicked automatically to the run into Turn 1—her braking point, inside line, who might overcook it ahead of her. Opportunity lived there.
Six drivers stood between Reese and the points. Six cars to hunt down. And for the first time all weekend, she couldn’t wait to go find them.