CHAPTER 22 - WAGYU
wagyu
CHAPTER twenty-two
Three days later, David sat on a pile of tires and tried to breathe. His pole position trophy sat on a work bench beside him, a hard-won feat after a dicey qualification session that included some rain. The car felt good, though, and thanks to Noah’s insistence on him eating a full protein bar in front of him, David had more strength than he’d anticipated.
Oh, and everyone knew he was going to be a father.
Caroline made the announcement yesterday during practice. Her post included a picture of David smiling at her bedside for her first ultrasound, still flushed with happiness at having Noah back, though he’d been a country away in Milan at the time.
so excited to bring this little human into the world , Caroline said in the caption, along with heart emojis. She included a few candid photos of her baby bump, an ultrasound photo, and photos with her family on their living room couch, surrounded by baby things. David had liked the post and commented some heart emojis, and Noah commented some party emojis.
To say people were floored was an understatement. The whole crew looked at him like an alien after they found out, but then the congratulations came flooding in. Hugh was pissed about not being told, but the PR team had sternly reminded him that demanding information like that could result in a lawsuit.
Finlay had put Noah in a headlock the second he found out, and David tried not to smile too big from his spot in the garage.
Media crews asked him about fatherhood, but David had politely put aside all the questions with a simple statement that he and Caroline would give more details when they were ready.
All in all, announcing the pregnancy wasn’t as dramatic as David expected it to be. He didn’t feel any different about fatherhood, though he did feel more responsibility for Caroline’s privacy. He was glad she’d decided to go back to France so he didn’t have to worry about American media or his father.
As for his own family, no one reached out. No calls or texts from his mother; nothing from his sister, even though she was still following him on Instagram and had undoubtedly seen the news.
He didn’t know why he expected anything different.
“Mind if I grab that drill behind you?” Sunny asked, suddenly appearing in David’s vision and snapping him out of his vision.
“Oh, sure,” he replied, hopping down from the tire stack.
Sunny grabbed the drill and smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, man. I was worried about you for a minute there. We all were.”
David blinked. “Worried about what?”
Sunny shrugged. “You know, being sick all the time and stuff.”
“Sick? I wasn’t sick,” David said, cocking his head.
Sunny’s smile turned pained. “Right. Well, you seem happier, then.”
“Oh. Thanks, I guess. Probably because Noah’s here,” David said.
He did feel better. He still had to lose those three pounds, but earning pole position with the extra weight made him less concerned. Noah had already planned an evening with Finlay and his wife, Nadia, and David was looking forward to acting like a proper couple on a race weekend. Noah had even convinced him to try a six-ounce steak at the best steakhouse in Austin.
“Glad to hear it,” Sunny said. “See you tomorrow, David.”
“Yeah, see ya. Thanks for your hard work today.”
David took another sip from his water bottle as he waved goodbye to the group of mechanics heading out with Sunny, then turned to see Noah walking up the pit lane with Evan and his boyfriend, Idiotface.
Okay, so his name wasn’t Idiotface, but it did start with an I .
“Hi there, polesitter,” Noah called out as he approached.
David met him for a kiss but kept it civil only because his German heritage wouldn’t allow him to be a PDA person. “Hi.”
“David, this is Isaiah,” Noah said, gesturing to Idiotface.
Idiotface stuck out his hand. “Hey, dude. Nice to finally meet you.”
David gave his hand a firm shake. “We’ve already met, but nice to meet you again.”
Idiotface balked, and Noah nudged David with his hip in a silent warning to be nice.
“What? We met last year when Evan was snooping around with him,” David said innocently.
“I wasn’t snooping,” Evan said, turning his Cobalt cap backward. “But yeah, you guys did meet. I mean, I guess you could call it meeting.”
Idiotface frowned. “Right. I remember now. You yelled at me for asking your mechanic about your pull rods.”
David narrowed his eyes. “Best not to do that in front of the driver, for future reference.”
“You can pull my rod any time, though,” Evan added cheekily.
Gross. David fought not to roll his eyes. He couldn’t believe Noah kissed that guy. Sure, he was handsome, but his personality was so immature .
Then again, maybe that’s exactly what attracted Noah to him in the first place, even though Noah claimed there was nothing there.
“Congrats, by the way,” Evan said, slinging an arm around Idiotface’s shoulders. “You’re gonna be a dad. That’s pretty cool.”
David’s hackles rose on instinct. That sounded like a backhanded insult, if he’d ever heard one. “Thanks,” he said tartly.
“Have you guys picked a name yet?” Evan asked, glancing between him and Noah.
“That’s above my pay grade,” Noah said, putting an arm around David to squeeze his hip. “Biological parents only.”
“We haven’t discussed it yet,” David admitted. “We’re still rather early in the pregnancy.”
Evan traded a look with Idiotface. “Really? I thought it was like halfway through?”
Noah tensed beside him just as David realized that Evan was counting back the timeline of his and Noah’s relationship.
“Yes, it is,” David said quickly. “It’s a European tradition not to name a baby until much closer to the birth.”
That was a total lie, but Evan and Idiotface accepted it with a nod of understanding.
“We’re headed to dinner,” Noah said, effectively ending the conversation. “Catch you guys tomorrow. Faris, get some sleep, yeah?”
“Don’t even start,” Evan warned with a smirk. Some inside joke that David didn’t want in on. Idiotface blushed, so it was pretty obvious what they were talking about.
“Come on,” David said, guiding Noah back into the garage to grab his stuff. A few photographers took pictures of Noah stepping inside, but David ignored them. Anyone could walk around the garages; it wasn’t a crime.
“I booked my checkup for my wrist,” Noah said as David hefted his backpack on. “Last one before summer.”
“That’s great,” David said, popping up to snatch his hand. “How does it feel?”
Noah shrugged, looking down at his wrist. “Physical therapy-wise, it’s back to normal for range of motion. Strength is good too, but it’s a bit different than driving.”
David pressed a kiss to the little scar there. “There. Now it’s perfectly healed.”
Noah laughed. “Thank you, baby.” He paused, biting his lower lip in a way that made David’s head spin.
“What is it?”
Noah released his lip with a smile. “I just love you a lot, that’s all.”
David shook his head and nudged him with his shoulder to push him out of the garage.
******
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” Finlay said to Noah with a shake of his head. His plate of steak was half-eaten, along with the mashed potatoes and asparagus that Noah joked would turn his piss green if he kept eating them. “I mean, you’re having a baby!”
“It wasn’t his news to tell,” David said as he sliced another piece of steak for himself. “It wasn’t really mine, either. Caroline is in charge of this whole thing.”
“I think I get to be on the top secret being told list, especially if Jacob Pitts gets to be on it,” Finlay said, swinging his fork in David’s direction.
“You’ll have plenty of time to be the creepy uncle, darling,” Nadia said with a kiss to his cheek. “Oops. Steak sauce.” She lifted a napkin and dabbed the mark off his cheek.
“Nothing like cow’s blood kisses,” Noah teased.
“I’d flick potatoes at you if my wife wasn’t here,” Finlay shot back. “Weirdo.”
Noah lit up around Finlay. The depth of their friendship was palpable as they joked around about everything other than racing in a way only best friends could. Every other driver David had ever met only talked about racing at meals; they didn’t know how to talk about anything else.
“How is Caroline doing with everything?” Nadia asked. “Is her family supportive?”
“Totally,” David said with a nod. “She has all the best care over there, and her parents can’t wait to meet their grandchild.”
“Do you guys have a registry?”
“A registry?” David asked.
Noah shook his head. “Gotta keep everything pretty tight-lipped. They’re having a baby shower in Paris, but Caroline’s parents are keeping it really small. Security concerns and all of that.”
David looked at his plate but caught Finlay glancing between him and Noah from across the table.
“Right,” Finlay said. “And how is all of that going?”
“Fine,” David said curtly.
“Finlay,” Noah warned. He squeezed David’s thigh under the table. It startled him into snapping his knee up, jostling everyone’s plates.
“Sorry,” David said quickly. “Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry,” Finlay said with a shake of his head, righting the toppled salt shakers. “That was a stupid thing to bring up.”
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure Klaus is far away from this,” Noah finally said after too long of a silence.
“And my mom doesn’t want to be involved,” David added. “Or my sister.”
Noah leaned over and kissed his temple reassuringly. It didn’t do much to reassure him of anything except that his family wanted nothing to do with him. In movies, there was always a reason for the family being so distant—some irredeemable thing no audience member could approve of. Klaus had that quality, David supposed, but not his mother or sister. They hadn’t even given him a reason for turning their backs.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nadia said, leaning into Finlay. “You’re always welcome to bring the kiddo to our place. We’d be happy to help support you guys.”
“Thanks, Nadia,” Noah said.
David set down his fork and found Noah’s knee under the table, giving it a squeeze. He wanted to go home, but he knew Noah had been looking forward to this dinner all day. He rarely spent time with Finlay anymore, not since David took him away from Colorado.
“Well, I know it doesn’t help with any of that stuff, but I’m scared as shit for the race tomorrow,” Finlay said, changing the subject. “You killed me out there today, man. I thought I had an insane lap and you were half a second up.”
A smile cracked across David’s face. “It’s only three tenths, mate.”
Finlay rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh. So, what, like, fifteen seconds on me by the end of the race?”
“If you make it out of Turn 1,” David teased. He could joke about racing. He could fall into these conversations as easily as breathing. “I bet Noah would have two tenths on me, though.”
Noah snorted. “Yeah, right.”
David leaned into him. “You know his telemetry, Finlay. I was just telling Noah about how smooth his inputs are. Way smoother than mine.”
Noah stopped chewing his steak and glared at him.
Finlay nodded. “Dude. Insane. That’s why I always tell people, I don’t know how I beat him once, let alone twice.”
David thumbed the inside of Noah’s knee under the table. “He’s such a late braker, but his throttle control is just as good.”
Noah nearly choked on his steak. “Enough,” he croaked before slurping down water.
Finlay offered his wife a spoonful of his potatoes. She accepted with a hum.
Finlay said something to her that David couldn’t hear, and they shared a look of utter devotion. Finlay tapped the spoon to the end of her nose after she took her bite. Nadia scrunched her nose in response and gave him a kiss before checking her phone.
David was making sex jokes while Finlay and Nadia were falling deeper in love at the dinner table. No wonder Noah had so much trepidation about him being a father.
“That’s it?” Noah teased, suddenly there and nibbling at David’s ear. “No talk about my sexy Nomex?”
David turned beet red. “I was giving you a compliment.”
“I accepted your compliment,” Noah murmured. “I’d like more of those when we get back to the hotel, please.”
Nadia raised a brow at him, then gave Finlay a look. “How come you don’t flirt with me like that anymore?”
David blinked in surprise, fully expecting her to chastise them.
“If I say anything in response to that, I’ll spend the night before the race sleeping on the floor,” Finlay said, lifting his hands in mock surrender. “I’m sorry, my love. Want to go on an ice cream date with me after this?”
Nadia smirked. “Oh, your response is to ask me on a pity date?”
Noah put an arm around him as Finlay sputtered to come up with a better response. Around them, conversations floated from different tables, and every couple looked happy in their own way. He and Noah blended right in. Not one person seemed concerned that they were two men.
“We used to want this so bad,” David said quietly, resting his head on Noah’s shoulder. “I’m glad we found a way to have it.”
Noah nuzzled against him, warm and everything he needed. “Me too.”