Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
?? SUZUKA, JAPAN
H is goal was to cross the paddock as quickly as possible, to ignore all photographers and fans begging for his attention, and lock himself in his room before starting his pre-race ritual. But of course, the fiery, wild, energetic blonde perched on high heels managed to distract him.
Damn it.
He decided he’d talk to her later, but there was this invisible force obliging him to go and find her. As if Indigo was the centre of gravity in his orbit, and he was innately drawn to her.
He changed his trajectoryand jogged towards her.
Indy was pacing back and forth between two motorhomes, notes between her fingers. The closer he got to her, the more he could see the panic in her demeanour. To the entire world, it simply looked like she was revising her speech, but Miles knew better.
“Hey, Daisy. Need a hand?” He pulled his earphones out, aware that a horde of photographers was still surrounding him. “Can y’all give me two damn seconds?” Even though they all scattered around, the cameras were still pointed at him, causing irritation to flare through his bloodstream.
Mesmerising cerulean eyes locked to his gaze, weakening him in the knees. She huffed, lifting the sheet of paper. “Unless you can inject the new speech inside my brain in less than thirty minutes, then no.”
“New?”
She studied his physique clad in his racing suit. “Yes, last minute changes happen quite often, but I just cannot read this font, and I can’t memorise the last bit of it, and it’s stressing me out. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Can you relax for me?” he demanded softly. “Take deep breaths?”
“I don’t know.” She sounded so panicked, so out of control, and he hated seeing her in this state.
He stepped closer, and her shoulders sagged. “Look at me,” he murmured, fingers twitching like his body yearned to touch her delicate face. “Breathe, Indy.”
She inhaled deeply through her nose, expelling through her mouth.He nodded, encouraging her to repeat the motion over and over again, until her panic-stricken face relaxed.
“Give me your notes.”
Without asking questions, she handed him the paper. He snapped a photo and sent it to Ava, followed by a text of what she needed to do—quickly.
She frowned. “What did you do?”
“You’ll see in a few minutes.” Extending an earplug, he eliminated the distance between them by taking yet another step closer. Her fingers brushed against his, the lingering touch setting his flesh ablaze, before grabbing the earphone. “Listen to this.”
She folded her arms beneath her breasts, the anxiety coiling through her bones still evident by the way she was shielding herself. At the first note of piano filling their ears, she looked at him in relief, then closed her eyes for a beat. The cord was the only thing binding them together—enveloping them in an invisible bubble where the outside world was nonexistent.
“I understand why classical music helps you relax.”
“It’s the best,” he confirmed.
“Will you share this playlist with me? It might come in handy when I get anxious.”
A smile touched his lips. “I’ll make you one. Anything you need.” What she didn’t know, though, was that he had already created a couple of playlists for her. “I usually switch between piano and songs that hype me up, but sometimes an audiobook is what I need when my nerves aren’t all over the place.”
She tilted her head. “About mental health, right?”
“What if I told you I started the one you’re currently listening to?”
Her lips parted, and he snickered at the shock painted over her face. “You mean—not the?—”
He leaned closer. “Indy, you naughty, filthy woman. I got to the cabin part, and I had to pause it to catch my breath several times.”
“Huxley!” she hissed in a whisper before gently smacking his chest with the back of her hand. “I listen to smutty audiobooks.”
“Yeah, I figured. Quite instructive, if you ask me.”
She raised her brows. “Are you going to show me what you learned?”
All flicker of amusement vanished from his veins as he paused. “Are you challenging me?”
Fire blazed in her eyes. “I dare you.”
The boldness this woman possessed was both unnerving and sexy. He couldn’t help but glance at her mouth, pulled into a taunting smile.
Ava was his saving grace—she always was—as she came up to them, smiling brightly. “Here.” She gave Indy a folded sheet of paper.
“What is it?”
When it unfolded, Miles almost laughed at the flabbergasted gasp escaping her mouth. She glanced from the notes to him, to Ava, and back down.
“Huxley,” she murmured.
“Indy,” he deadpanned.
“Ava!”
“Indy,” Ava mimicked. “It was all him.” She then squeezed his forearm. “Warmup starts in five,” she told him before heading towards Imperium’s motorhome.
“You—” Indy’s voice was already thick with emotion.
“Are extraordinarily amazing? Yes.”
A wobbly smile touched her lips. “Asked Ava to type out my speech?—”
“And told her to put it in a font and size that is easier for you to read? Absolutely. And I’ll do it again.”
He didn’t know why he’d expected her to throw herself at him and hug him. Didn’t know why he was thoroughly disappointed when her fingers tangled with his. He realised it was because too many prying eyes were settled on them, and he despised that they had no privacy.
Blue eyes were shining with gratitude. “You have no idea how much this means to me. Thank you for having my back.”
He applied pressure around her fingers, his heartbeat speeding up at the sight of her devastating smile. “Always.”
When she wished him good luck for the race, he told her to smash it on live TV before they parted ways.
Miles rolled his eyes when he passed by his father who was sitting across from Ava in front of the motorhome. “Not a word, Dad.”
Henry’s teasing smile was a thing of pure mischief as he lifted his hands in surrender. “Didn’t say a thing.”
It was official, Miles was doomed.
He was starting P11 because of the grid-penalty he had faced after changing his car’s power unit yesterday morning. Obviously, he had made the fastest lap during qualifying and was supposed to start the race from pole. Starting further down the grid wasn’t an actual problem, though—if anything, Miles liked the challenge.
Proving to the world he was the best wasn’t always by winning race after race, but showing that he could claim the trophy by facing obstacles.
After repositioning himself on the starting grid following the formation lap, he watched the other cars line up behind him. He cast a quick glance to the front row where Charlie was starting P2, right behind Valencia. The goal for today was to secure a double podium for Imperium Racing, but if Charlie could manage to have his maiden win here, then Miles would do anything to defend his teammate.
Suzuka’s circuit was an exhilarating one. It was a high-speed track filled with challenges, and undoubtedly one of Miles’ favourites.
The sound of engines revving around him was his all-time favourite. As he gripped his steering wheel, he sank into his seat, letting the car’s vibrations jolt through his body.
Stare zeroed in on the horizontal lights placed above the starting line, he waited for them to light up.
The first one flashed to red, and the engines started buzzing. The second one lit up. Until all five were red.
Four seconds later, they went out, and Miles pushed on the throttle.
Slotting in between two cars, he managed to overtake them, claiming P9 in a matter of seconds. Going at full speed down the straight line and braking late before taking the first turn on the inside, he overtook two other cars. The succession of S curves was his favourite part of the track, and as he raced through it, he was fairly certain that he could fall into fifth position by the end of the lap.
His fingers worked the forward gear clutches, his feet working in tandem to either push on the throttle or decelerate near a corner.
“Yellow flag,” AJ announced during the second lap. Miles was P6, on the verge of overtaking the driver in front of him. “Safety car is coming.”
Miles wanted to huff out in frustration, but he only decreased his pace, zig-zagging and keeping the warm temperatures on his tyres. “Already? What happened?”
“Collision between three cars at the end of the grid in turn one.”
“Shit,” he muttered. “Is everyone okay?”
“I think so.”
Checking his rear-view mirror, he noticed that Rowan had been overtaken by Hugo Bauer, a rookie racing for McMillan Motorsports.
He frowned. “Did Bauer just overtake Emerson under the safety car?”
“Yep,” AJ breathed out.
Miles winced. That meant Hugo would be getting a penalty because overtaking under the yellow flag and safety car was forbidden.
As Miles kept his distance from the car in front, he suddenly felt his stomach flip as a force went into him. The next moment, he felt the rear of his car lifting before being entirely pushed out of the track.
“What the fuck!”
“You okay?” AJ asked.
“He just went into me!”
“I saw that, mate. But are you okay?”
He groaned. “Yeah.”
“Good. I need you to get out of the car. There’s damage.”
Stopping in the gravel, he turned off his engine before unplugging the steering wheel. After pulling himself out of the cockpit, he unbuckled his helmet and rounded the car to observe the damage, blood pounding in his ear.
Miles could feel his heart racing furiously, his gloved hands curling into fists as he pivoted. Bauer was still sitting in his car, its front wing totally wrung out.
“Fucking idiot,” Miles said under his breath.
For good measure, and because he needed to evacuate the fury seeping through his veins, he kicked one of his car’s tyres before rushing towards the closest exit.
The lump rising in his throat was becoming uncomfortable, but so were the poisonous vines growing inside the pit of his stomach, tangling into a ball of anger he couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard he tried.
He took a sip of water, stopping at where Indy was in the media pen, watching him with so much tenderness that his frustration almost vanished. Almost .
“Hey, Huxley,” she said, glancing at Ava who was now standing by his side, portable recorder in hand.
He gripped the railing between them, offering Indy a curt nod, his jaw tightening.
“So, I just got done interviewing Hugo,” she announced coyly.
“I hope he’s doing great,” he coldly spit out.
“Well, he said the incident was caused by you because you braked.”
His scoff was rightfully outraged as he took a step back, his tongue poking at the interior of his cheek. He shielded his mouth with a fist, drifting his gaze towards Ava who shook her head in warning.
He aimed a finger at his chest. “He said it was my fault?”
Indy nodded.
Unbelievable .
Because of Bauer’s reckless mistake, Miles had been forced to DNF the race. On a positive note, Charlie had finished P3, and had scored points for the team.Miles was still leading the championship, though, but if he lost his title because of someone else’s bullshit, he would lose it.
Miles knew better than to act on his anger, but he was trembling with utter vexation. He scoffed again, shaking his head in disbelief and running his hand across his mouth. “Okay, I just listened to his radio, and he had the fu—audacity to say I was in his way. The guy literally overtook Emerson under the safety car then went into me, and I was in his way? I had just started to calm down, but now knowing that he still blames me for his own stupidity is just… I won’t say it, but this is truly pissing me off.”
“Have you?—”
“Do you think I’m the one to blame?”
“I can’t answer this, Huxley, but?—”
“You know what? I’m just fucking tired and this is bullshit. Hugo Bauer is a spoiled brat who got into F1 because he’s got money. He’s not man enough to take responsibility for his actions, so can you do me a favour? Tell him this sport is for tough kids. Get your shit together, people.”
He simply walked away, irritation boiling through his veins.
“Sorry,” he heard Ava whisper to Indy before rushing after him. “Miles, you’re in trouble. You said some things?—”
“I really don’t give a shit right now, Ava. I just need to be alone and punch something.”