Chapter 11
Savi was sprawled across Miko’s bed in her gym wear, having just gone for an hour-long run through the streets of Monza.
She had decided to stay on an extra couple of days, filling time before she and Marco flew to Los Angeles for Jesse’s show.
She hadn’t expected everyone else to stick around too, but it was a nice surprise.
They were also keeping her sane in the wake of her and Marco being the latest hot topic in the world of motorsport.
She wasn’t used to this kind of media attention and while most fans were being complimentary and showing genuine excitement, there were always going to be some who had nothing nice to say.
There had been comments on her upbringing, her skin colour and texture, her cowboy boots.
Anything they didn’t like about her made her unworthy of Marco’s affection, in their eyes.
She had been prepared, but it still stung.
They were doing a fantastic job at putting her off ever going public with Jesse, and she was finally seeing his point.
She was also acutely aware that someone somewhere was probably going to do enough digging that they uncovered her brother’s identity, and she felt sick to her stomach.
If that ever got out, she wanted it to be on Weston’s terms.
‘Give me your phone,’ Esme demanded, still disappointed in Jesse for his fake-dating plan but deciding to play along to keep her friend happy.
Her eyes had brightened at the prospect of him having to watch the woman he loved in the arms of another man.
She had never particularly liked him; she thought he had lost touch with reality when he made it big.
‘You need to stop reading things, it’s no good for you.
Who gives a damn what anyone else thinks? ’
‘An IEC rookie. That’s who,’ Savi huffed, rolling over and burying her face in a pillow.
‘Savi, people just like to cause a stir online. They want likes and views, and controversial opinions are the best way to get a reaction.’
‘Okay, I’m going to take action.’ She sat herself up with a sudden newfound vigour.
This was the best year of her life, and she didn’t want other people’s negativity to take the enjoyment out of it.
She had a seat on a team she’d dreamt of being part of since she started out in the sport, her family were incredibly supportive, she was forming wonderful friendships and Jesse was…
well, he was hers. For the most part, she was happy.
‘That’s our girl.’ Kodie took the phone from Esme and tossed it back onto the bed. ‘Just don’t go on the warpath.’
‘No, no. I’m just doing a cleanse.’ She unlocked it and proceeded to delete all her social media apps and silence her text notifications.
She’d been flooded with messages from people back home who all had questions, and she couldn’t really blame them.
Savi had maintained relationships with almost everyone from her tiny, close-knit graduating class and they had bi-annual reunions at a local bar.
She was the only one who had left Wyoming behind for something different, everyone else choosing to embrace small-town life and settle down.
Savi loved her hometown, and she was all for settling down, but she had the best of both worlds and she wasn’t in a rush.
‘On the plus side, you looked really hot in the footage and photos,’ Kodie grinned.
‘I did not .’ Savi rolled her eyes.
‘You did!’ Miko agreed.
‘You’re just trying to make me feel better. I had helmet indentations on my cheeks, I was a sweaty mess, and my hair was flat as a three-day-old opened can of Coca Cola.’
‘Marco’s hands in your hair gave it some volume,’ Esme teased.
Savi was convinced they were going to hell for lying to their friends about this.
She was good at keeping secrets but if the truth ever came out, they were never going to understand.
How could they? It was a miracle that Marco got it.
They were less than twenty-four hours in, and she felt awful.
Miko was ready to plan a wedding, she was so happy for them.
‘I think I’m going to go back to my room for a bit,’ Savi sighed and rose from the bed, itching to wallow in peace and not have everyone trying to cheer her up.
It wasn’t that she was miserable and regretting it, she was just processing.
This was a big, sudden adjustment. One that Marco was handling much better than her.
On her way out of the door, after saying her goodbyes and promising to meet up for dinner, she shot back a response to the group chat of girls from back home and gave them very brief, very basic details.
Just enough to stop them hassling her until next time she went home and saw them.
She was already dreading that trip to the bar.
Even the barman was all up in her business.
Funny how she could be thousands of miles away and still wrapped up in that small-town environment.
You could take the girl out of Sheridan but…
well, it would always be part of her life in more ways than one.
Swerving the corridor that led to her room, she took the elevator straight down to the lobby and made a swift exit.
It probably wasn’t the wisest idea given that it was only one day since the race and there were still fans hanging around the area, but she needed fresh air.
She had followed a running route recommended by Brett that morning and managed to avoid people, but she could already sense she wouldn’t be so lucky later in the day.
She hadn’t even got to the end of the street before someone recognised her and snapped a photo without acknowledging her with so much as a ‘hello’.
Savi hated that. She wasn’t a monster, and she would much prefer being interrupted than people trying to be sneaky.
Nevertheless, she shot the girl a smile and kept walking.
‘Jesse?’ She breathed a sigh of relief when he picked up after the first ring.
‘Hi, baby. Everything okay?’ His voice was warm, comforting, and she would give anything to have him here with her now.
They had talked last night, he had even excused himself from a meeting for her sake, and she’d woken up to an audio message where he’d told her he loved her and the buzz around those photos was dying down on his end.
It was looking promising, and she was sure this fake-dating arrangement wouldn’t have to be dragged out for as long as they initially thought.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a lot.’ She sighed and found a seat on a park bench.
‘I know, but it’ll be worth it when you come out the other side and you and I can move forward.
Together.’ He emphasised that last word.
‘But you know the media attention is going to be far worse when we do, don’t you?
Think of this like training for that. You’ve got to learn to block it all out and just live your life. ’
‘I just miss you more when I’m stressed.
’ She was fighting back tears now. What she really wanted was to go home.
To Jesse, her family, her horses. She shouldn’t have chosen to stay in Monza for longer, not with all of this going on.
But at least she was with Marco who was also being dragged through hell in the press.
‘I miss you too, Sav. But I’ll see you at the LA show at the end of the week. Kind of a shame Marco will be there too, but it will be good to meet him.’
‘I think you’ll like him.’
‘I don’t like many people.’
‘No,’ she laughed, ‘I’m aware. But hopefully you guys can get along.’
‘As long as he doesn’t touch my girl in front of me,’ Jesse huffed.
‘Jess… he’s not an idiot. He wouldn’t have agreed to come to your show if he didn’t respect you and want to get to know you.
He keeps his hands to himself unless there’s a camera in the vicinity, and even then, he doesn’t overstep.
’ She didn’t mention the odd bit of flirting because as far as she was concerned, it was totally harmless.
‘I guess. I just don’t want to regret this decision. I know you’re still not totally sold on this whole idea, and yeah, it might not work. But I think it will… You search up my name alongside yours online and nothing comes up. At all. I want it to stay that way.’
‘Hopefully it will. I’m just thankful my hair was so messed up in the photos that nobody will recognise it when we go public.’
‘Mm, yeah. Most of it was buried in the bed sheets while I railed you from behind.’
‘Jess!’ Her cheeks were tinged pink, and she felt all hot and bothered. ‘But it does beg the question, is all this really necessary? Is pretending to date someone else not a bit extreme?’
‘Just ask yourself what your sponsors would think if it did get out, and that’s your answer. Remind yourself of that every time you start to doubt it, every time you think of ending the agreement. This is for you, Savi.’
‘I know. And I appreciate you for thinking of the idea, for protecting me the best way you know how. Even if it does all feel very strange.’ Strange was an understatement. It still felt like she was betraying him, even if he didn’t seem fussed.
‘Well, just know it’s always going to be me you get to come home to.’
Except that was such a rare occurrence, it wasn’t really true.
When Jesse wasn’t on tour, he was in the recording studio for months at a time and Savi was either travelling to different racetracks or she was at home with her family.
They got a week or two together in the cabin every now and then, or Jesse would sometimes manage to spend a few days on her family’s ranch with her when he was visiting his own hometown just down the road, but they weren’t likely to ever share a home together or start a family. It just seemed impossible.