CHAPTER 8 - PEDIALYTE
pedialyte
CHAPTER eight
The bar Sunny chose was some hipster joint in Van Nuys. David ordered himself a rideshare out of precaution—not for getting drunk but for being too tired to drive. His whole body hurt from just fifty laps of testing, and the pain seemed to be part of his bloodstream, traveling into the furthest recesses of his limbs.
“Dude, it was so fun out there today,” Jacob said, setting down his beer on David’s high top. “Why don’t you have a drink, man?”
David lifted his sweating glass of water with lime. Jacob rolled his eyes. “Beer is good for recovery, you know.”
“I’m German. Beer is good for everything, in my eyes,” David muttered in reply. He suddenly longed for home, where beer didn’t taste like fermented piss and he could stop his rumbling stomach with Schnapps.
And god, what he wouldn’t give for a d?ner. He could practically smell the shredded meat and pita bread, and his tongue tingled with a phantom mayonnaise tang.
“You don’t look so good,” Jacob said, pulling up a seat beside him. “You’re all sweaty.”
“Thanks,” David growled, but he knew it was true. His shirt was stuck to his back, and his collar felt too tight. Noah was asleep in Italy and wouldn’t be waking up for a few hours. David wished he could call him just to hear his voice—he’d been too busy to call earlier.
“I’ll do a beer,” David said with finality. One beer wouldn’t get him drunk, especially not American beer. “I’ll get a pale ale. Whatever they have.”
Jacob slapped his sweaty back and headed to the bar to order it.
David had already made his rounds with the pit crew and left his credit card with the bar to pay everyone’s tab, the way Noah used to do. Aiden was in charge of grabbing his card at the end of the night, since David planned to head home early, so he didn’t have to worry about remembering it.
A quick search online determined his beer would be about 170 calories. If he didn’t eat anything else for the rest of the night, he would still end up under his projected calorie count. He’d just have to savor the beer as long as he could and enjoy every sip.
“Here ya go,” Jacob said, setting down his beer. “Cheers, mate.”
“Prost,” David said, clinking their pint glasses. He took a sip and screwed up his face. “Hey, this is an IPA.”
“Yeah, India Pale Ale,” Jacob said with a shrug. “It’s the same thing.”
“It is absolutely not,” David said with disgust, smacking his lips at the bitter, hoppy flavor.
Jacob rolled his eyes. “You want a new one?”
David shot him a look. “I do not waste beer.”
******
He should have wasted the beer. David had never gotten drunk off of one beer before, but he was hazy and warm by the time he sipped down the last of the froth from his pint glass. He smiled at everyone who approached them and laughed at all of Jacob’s horrible jokes. Stress melted from his shoulders and made him feel light on his feet.
“We should get going,” Jacob said. “Want to ride back with me, Jochmann?”
“Sure,” David said, nodding to the beat of the dance music blaring from the speakers. The mechanics were doing another shot, but just the smell of their tequila made David’s stomach shrivel.
No more calories.
Jacob guided him around the bar by the shoulders as they started their parade of goodbyes. The only person David didn’t speak to was the engineer who had talked shit about Noah, but the guy avoided eye contact anyway. Fucker.
“Come on,” Jacob scolded as David leered at the engineer. “We’re not adding a bar fight to your list of atrocities.”
“I’m surprised you even know what that word means,” David slurred.
Jacob laughed. “I’m smarter than I look, man. Maybe if you actually spent any time with me, you’d know.”
David blinked sluggishly as they piled into the back of a black SUV. Jacob was a decent guy, but he hadn’t reached true star status yet. He had brown hair with no real dimension and a sparse mustache that needed to be shaved. Otherwise, he was decently handsome, but he could be even more handsome if he put some time into his personal grooming. If Noah ever gave him style tips, he might even get a girlfriend.
“You’re not like Caroline,” David said as Jacob buckled him in.
“I’ll take that as a compliment, considering you dumped her,” Jacob said.
The car started moving, and David watched the lights blur out the window.
“She still really likes you, you know,” Jacob added after a long silence. “Most girls would tear you a new one after what you did.”
“I really like her, too,” David said. He thought about calling her so she could join the conversation, but then remembered she was in the same time zone as Noah. Caroline probably wouldn’t be happy if they called her right now. Probably.
Jacob snorted. “Clearly. She’s having your kid.”
David furrowed his brow, trying to figure out if that was an insult. “Were you guys always close?”
Jacob shrugged. “I wouldn’t say that. Her dad was a big influence on me, but we never hung out much outside of family stuff. I was too busy racing. We’re a lot closer now. She’s staying at my place for the week leading up to Los Angeles. You should stop by.”
“You mean Noah’s place,” David corrected. “Because you’re staying at Noah’s place.”
Jacob patted his knee. “Uh-huh. Speaking of, it’s not gonna be weird or anything with both of them here, right?”
David rolled his eyes. “No. They’re both adults. It’s not like the baby is a secret I’m keeping from Noah.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been more involved with the baby stuff than Noah has.”
Caroline had mentioned consulting Jacob on nursery colors, though consulting was a stretch. She basically wanted Jacob to tell her the colors she’d picked were amazing. She’d chosen a pastel green that could work with a boy or a girl, and the secondary color was undecided.
“You’re her family,” David mumbled. “She doesn’t consider Noah family yet.”
“Ah,” Jacob said, as if that connected the dots somehow. “Sorry, I don’t mean to pry. I know it’s personal stuff, and I’m just the cousin who happens to be your teammate.”
“S’fine,” David said. “I don’t mind talking about it. I don’t have anyone in my family I can talk to about it.”
Jacob lightly punched his arm. “Hey, I’m technically family now. You can talk to me.”
David shot him a drunken smile. “Last thing I need is my teammate getting in my head about my baby.”
Jacob’s eyes dimmed. Yellow bands of light flashed across his face as they drove past streetlights, moving too fast for David to track them.
“Dude, I hope you know I’d never come at you like that,” Jacob said gently. “Yeah, sometimes I think you’re a piece of shit on track, but I leave that stuff at work. I’d never go after our family.”
Our family . David had never really considered Jacob part of his new family. Extended family, sure, but… Well, he supposed that counted, didn’t it?
“This sport does things to people,” David said, circling his finger at his temple. “Be careful making promises like that. They come back to bite you in the ass.”
“So you’re a sage drunk,” Jacob teased. “I know my mental limit. At the end of the day, this is my job, not my life.”
“I can’t say the same,” David muttered. “If I wasn’t racing, I’d be a cashier or something in Germany right now. Some silly job. Even as a champion in Formula America, a lot of guys back home think I just abandoned Formula 1 because I couldn’t make the cut. But I never tried to make the cut.”
“Do you want to drive in Formula 1?” Jacob asked.
“I wouldn’t say no.”
He couldn’t see himself saying yes, either.
Jacob shrugged. “You never know what might happen, man. You’re still really young to be a champion. Maybe Formula 1 can still be in your future.”
David frowned. Jacob was kind of right, but the thought of running around the world no longer excited him. Traveling around the United States was enough of an annoyance. Noah lived only two hours away by plane, and they still wouldn’t have much time to see each other this season. A series like Formula 1 would make that a thousand times worse.
The car rolled to a stop. Jacob thanked the driver and helped David out onto the sidewalk. They were still a few blocks away from the apartment complex.
“I’m grabbing us some Pedialyte,” Jacob explained, dragging him into the corner store David only ever went to for emergencies. The harsh, fluorescent lighting made his eyes burn, and everything inside was overpriced.
Jacob found the Pedialyte and shoved a bottle into David’s hand. David examined the label, relieved to find it was only forty calories. Worth it not to feel hungover tomorrow—from a single fucking IPA.
Jacob paid for their drinks, and they stepped back out into the cool night air. David sipped on his as they walked, and Jacob started telling him about his friends in college who went to crazy keg parties.
“I guess I drink a decent amount, but I’ve never done that kind of stuff,” Jacob said. “We have a job to do, you know? Can’t be hungover.”
David wondered if Jacob knew about Noah’s alcoholism. He bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything as they turned the corner, just in case he didn’t. That was Noah’s business, and though it wasn’t exactly a secret, he never wanted anyone seeing Noah in a negative light like that.
The apartment complex glowed in the distance, as did the lights of the marina beyond, beckoning them home.
“Did you see Bezos’s yacht last night?” Jacob asked. “It stopped in for a refuel or something. That thing is fucking huge.”
“Hey, Jacob!”
David stopped dead as Jacob turned around to face the voice. David’s nightmares had been so full of that voice that he had to watch Jacob to make sure he’d really heard it.
“Hello?” Jacob called, scanning behind them. “Is someone there?”
David was frozen to his spot, just like in his nightmares. He couldn’t will himself to move. Coward. Wuss. Weakling.
David was certain his father was exactly as far away from him as he was allowed to be. He also knew Klaus hadn’t addressed him because he wasn’t allowed to, but addressing Jacob was totally legal.
Jacob touched his shoulder, and David barked out a noise of pure terror, dropping his Pedialyte. It splattered all over the sidewalk, and the cap rolled into the sewer drain, lost forever.
“David? What’s going on? You’re white as a ghost, man. Are you sick?”
How long had Klaus been following him? Maybe he’d been at the bar or right outside it, waiting with that metal bat. If Jacob hadn’t offered him a ride, he might have been attacked on his own.
The hair rose on the back of David’s neck, conscious of his father’s murderous eyes boring into him from behind, drilling into his skin until they found bone.
He couldn’t move. He asked his legs to work over and over again, but he could only stand there as Jacob said things to him that he could no longer hear. David stared at a crack in the sidewalk in front of him, waiting for the sound of hurried footsteps that would mean his end.
How many hits would it take to kill him? Maybe two, if Klaus used all his strength to hit him in the skull. Maybe six, if he felt like drawing it out. Or dozens if he went for the rest of his body first.
Or maybe Klaus had embraced American values and bought a gun. No one would have any time to think; there would just be a bullet in his back, and his whole career would be gone.
No. David knew his father would never go that route. It would be too mercifully small of a wound.
“David?” Noah’s voice broke through his thoughts, and the roaring in his ears went silent. “Baby, can you talk to me?”
He sounded groggy. Like someone had woken him up.
David blinked, searching for the source of Noah’s voice, until he spotted a video chat on Jacob’s phone screen. A light turned on, and Noah’s face lit up, puffy from sleep.
“Noah?” David croaked.
“That’s me,” Noah replied gently. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
David swallowed hard and looked up at Jacob, who was watching him with wide eyes. Jacob offered the phone to him, but David still couldn’t move.
“Is it Klaus?” Noah asked, his tone turning lethal. “Is that fucker around somewhere?”
“Shh!” David hissed before he could say anything else.
That was answer enough for Noah. “Jacob, get inside right now. Send me your location and any details, okay? Get David into your place and lock the doors. Don’t answer for anyone except the police, okay?”
“What the fuck? What’s going on?” Jacob asked.
Noah gritted his teeth. David silently begged him not to say anything. Jacob already had enough leverage over him.
“David will tell you when he’s ready. For now, you need to stay on the phone with me and get inside. Tell security there’s been a situation with David’s dad. They’ll escort you.”
Jacob looked between Noah and David for a few moments of panic, then steeled himself with a nod. “Got it. Come on, Jochmann, we’re moving. Hold my phone.”
“Just look at me, Davey Jones,” Noah said, soothing David’s nerves enough that he took the phone and held it in both hands. Jacob put an arm around his shoulders and guided him toward the apartment complex at a breakneck pace—the only pace they knew.
Noah smiled at him, but David saw the fear in his eyes. “Did you get a little tipsy tonight?”
David nodded. “A little, on accident.”
“Wild night? Any stories I can spread around Cobalt?”
Tears stung David’s eyes as he shook his head. “I’m really scared,” he whispered in a shaking voice. He caught Jacob glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Great. Just fucking great.
Noah let out a soft noise. “You’re safe, baby. I’m right here with you, and Jacob is going to look after you until I get there.”
“No! Don’t come,” David said suddenly. Noah couldn’t see him yet, not until he lost at least five more pounds. “Please, please. I’ll be okay, but you can’t leave early because of this.”
“My internship bullshit doesn’t come before you,” Noah said. “I’m coming to LA whether you—“
“If you want to help me, don’t come,” David forced out. “I can’t be worried about you and dealing with the start of the season right now. Okay? I can’t. I know you want to be here, and I want you to be here too. I love you so much. But I cannot deal with you being where he might come after you.”
Noah didn’t speak for a long time. “I’m fast-tracking my restraining order, then. As soon as it goes through, I’m gonna be there. I’ll fly to—“
“Don’t say anything!” David hissed. “He might be fucking listening.”
He squinted as they stepped into the lobby. Jacob patted his shoulder before approaching the front desk.
“Jesus, David. Since when did your cheekbones come in?” Noah said. “Very handsome.”
David quickly turned the phone camera away so Noah couldn’t see more of him. “Please call Josie and don’t come,” he begged. “I’m serious. No surprises or anything unless you want me to have a heart attack—I’m fucking serious.”
“Easy,” Noah soothed. “I’m going to call Josie and figure this out. I won’t make any surprise trips. Let’s talk about this stuff tomorrow, okay? Right now, let’s talk about how much I want to be there to cuddle you all night.”
David let out a sigh. He had to trust that Noah wouldn’t break his word. He had to trust. “Well, I won’t be cuddling with Jacob, so don’t worry about that.”
Noah burst into laughter. “Oh, good. I was getting a little worried. Hey, guess what?”
“What?” David croaked. He was so pathetic.
“I love you,” Noah said gently. “I love you so, so much. And you and I are gonna get through this, okay? The second I get there, I’m not letting you go.”
David blushed as one of the security guards cocked a brow at him. “You’ll have to let me go long enough to drive the car, but okay. And I love you, too.”
His stomach growled, but Noah didn’t seem to hear it. Thank god. Jacob motioned him over to where he stood with a burly guy who looked at David with pity.
“Hey, I’m going to go,” David said softly. “I’ll call you back on my phone as soon as we get up there.”
“No, stay on the phone,” Noah said. “Jacob can be without his for another few minutes.”
David shook his head. “You need to call Josie. Please. Then you can call me as soon as you talk to her—how about that?”
Noah frowned but nodded. “Okay. I love you. Call you right back.”
“I love you, too.” David hung up the phone and handed it off to Jacob. Jacob patted his shoulder, and David didn’t even mind as Jacob put an arm around him again to guide him to the elevator.
“I’ve got you, man,” Jacob said. “It’s gonna be okay.”
David bit his tongue to keep from refuting him. No, it was not going to be okay.