31. Aurélie
I sat curled on the corner ofCallum’scouch, a glass of red wine in one hand and my other tucked inside theoversized sleeve of his hoodie.
My legs were stretched across his lap, bare and warm from the shower.
His fingers traced slow, lazy patterns along my shin, and for once, we weren’t in a rush.
It was… quiet. Not because I could still hear the soft city hum outside the flat, not thewhirrof the dryer still spinning somewhere in the back, not even the gentle chime of our phones from the coffee table.
Just quiet—the kind that came after chaos. After a race. After a fight. After being filled andworshippedin the shower by the man who had every piece of me.
Best shower of my damn life.
Aside from the obvious, I was happy to have rinsed off the sweat, rain, and champagne, with my hair freshly blow-dried and out of those ridiculously tight braids. My muscles were less tense but no less sore, and part of that was because of the man leisurely sipping wine beside me.
Callumand I leaned over at the same time to pick up our phones when Marco’s name lit up the screens. A group chat. How exciting.
Marco
Okay, kiddos, what’s the move tonight? I’ve got a team of very antsy engineers waiting for the green light to party.
Kimi
They’re going to drink like fish and regret it tomorrow. Classic!
Callum
We can’t deprive them of that experience,Kimi. That’s cruel.
I bit my lip and reached for my camera. I lifted the glass and snapped a picture—just the rim of the wine with the edge ofCallum’sgreycouch, the flooring and the corner of the coffee table. I didn’t even think twice about sending it.
Cheers to terrible decisions.
“Terrible decisions?” Callum murmured, shaking his head.
“You make me do wild, reckless things,CallumFraser.”
He grinned, and just when his hand was sliding a little higher, both our phones pinged with several notifications.
Oh no.
Kimi
That’s not your hotel room…
Marco
WAIT A DAMN MINUTE.
Is that Callum’s flooring?
Kimi
Zoom in. Enhance.
[image sent]
@Marco, does this look like Callum’s flooring?
Marco
YES AND THAT’S HIS COFFEE TABLE.
[image sent]
I also caught the corner of her sleeve. Or should I say HIS SLEEVE. Those bleach stains have been there for years.DUBOIS, HE’S LETTING YOU WEAR HIS LUCKY HOODIE?
Kimi
Explain yourselves. Immediately. How long has this been going on for?
I snorted, nearly spilling my wine. The bleach stains were, in fact, visible in the photo. Barely.
“They’re onto us,” I murmured.
“You made the sex comment to Marco, not me.” Callumdidn’t even look up from where he was inspecting his bruised knuckles, phone in his lap.
“Joke. Sex joke. There’s a difference. We obviously did not have sex right after the race.”
“Do you think he knew that?”
“Marco knows there wasn’t enough time between the podium and the interview.”
He finally raised his head to arch a brow at me, then held out his hand. “Let me see what you’re going on about.”
I passed him my phone.
“What did you do?”Callumgaped in horror at the messages before handing my phone back.
“How was I supposed to know they were going to go full detective mode?”
“You saw how obsessive Marco got over theTikToks. Oh God, and that fake story.” He groaned, head falling back against the couch.
I frowned. “Fake story?”
“Yeah, that fake story. Red Flag and Red Lace ?”
I threw my head back and laughed. “You mean the fanfiction?”
“Yes, that. Whatever. They won’t give us an iota of peace until we shut it down.” He picked up his phone and the bottle of wine from the coffee table, and a moment later, a new message came through.
Callum
[image sent]
The photo was blurry and probably meant to be that way—the wine and the wall behind it with his overpriced modern artwork. Nothing significant.
“That’s going to make it worse, Call—” I started to say when a response came through right away.
Marco
OH MY GOD.
Kimi
His hand. His WATCH.
Marco
[image sent]
SEE? THE FLOORS ARE THE SAME.
“Really? You couldn’t have cropped the flooring out?” I pulled my legs out of his lap to tuck them under me, but he grasped my ankle and pulled me right back.
“Where do you think you’re going? You’re staying right here.”
“Aww. You are a hopeless romantic.”
Before he could respond, another deluge of texts interrupted us.
Kimi
Marco. Look at HIS HAND.
Marco
Fraser, WTF did you do?
Kimi
He fought someone, didn’t he?Dubois, did he fight someone for you?
Marco
Who was it? Who’d he hit? WHY IS NO ONE TELLING ME THINGS.
Kimi
Auri, just admit it. You’re at his flat and he fought someone for you.
I decline to comment at this time.
Marco
THAT’S WHAT GUILTY PEOPLE SAY.
Kimi
She didn’t deny it…
Callum
Both of you calm down.
Kimi
That’s also what guilty people say.
Marco
What, verbal foreplay wasn’t ENOUGH during the conference today?Aurélie’slittle comment about smelling like sex after? YOU GUYS CAN’T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH THIS.
You never even gave me a chance to tell you it was a joke.
Marco
Oh so Fraser talking about you in the wettest of conditions was A JOKE?!
“I tried to tell you,” Callum taunted, clucking his tongue.
My eyes narrowed. “This is not the time for I told you so ,” I grumbled. “The bottom line is, he’s smarter than I gave him credit for.”
“Imagine being his teammate.”
I giggled and then noticed the wayCallumwas flexing his hand, knuckles red and cracked open again. This time I was too fast for him to grab me when I set my wine down and stood.
“Aurélie. We just talked about this. Get back here,” he said, voice low and dangerous and so fucking delicious that I never wanted to leave his flat.
“No,” I replied stubbornly. “Where’s your first-aid kit?”
He blinked up at me. “Bathroom cabinet. Top shelf.”
I padded down the hallway, a bounce to my step, flicking the lights on as I went. A sigh escaped me as I retrieved ointment, gauze, and a few butterfly bandages. I’d never felt so… cherished. Important.
He loves me.
I’d barely given myself a moment to process that. I’d been so swept up in the moment when I’d said it—just needing him to know and unable to hold it in any longer—that when he returned the sentiment as I was barreling toward an orgasm, I was too far gone.
But he’d said it. I’d said it. And it didn’t need to be a huge fucking deal. It was just… us. Loving one another was in our nature, it was always meant to be, and we’d find a way to make this work. We had to.
I returned to the living room, where his eyes found me immediately.
He looked so relaxed in a pair of joggers and a T-shirt, and part of me didn’t want to go out to celebrate.
I just wanted this moment, this night with him.
Without external pressures, without having to hide, without the knowledge that it was one night and it would be over.
I stopped in front of him, towering for once. But he reached out and grabbed my hips and I fell onto his lap, straddling him. I grabbed his injured hand and turned it so I could see the bruising and the marred skin.
“You didn’t have to hit him that many times,” I mused. “But I’m glad you did.”
Callumsqueezed my hip with his other hand. “He deserves worse.”
“Yeah,” I whispered, setting my supplies down and opening the tube of ointment. “He does. But he’s not worth it,mon amour.”
“No, but you are.”
My heart soared, but I focused on gently applying the ointment and bandaging his hand. He winced slightly, and I turned his hand over to press a kiss to his palm. “I meant what I said earlier,” I admitted softly.
Callumdidn’t answer right away. He just stared at me like I’d hung the fucking moon—like he didn’t know what he’d done to deserve hearing those words from my lips, but he was going to spend every day trying.
Then, quietly, so softly I almost didn’t hear it over the hum of the dryer down the hall, he said, “You don’t say something like that when I’m inside you and not change me,Aurélie.
” His thumb brushed along my thigh, eliciting a shiver.
“I’ve never loved anyone before you. Not like this.
Not in a way that makes me want to give up every piece of myself just to protect you. ”
I looked at him, wide-eyed, breath caught in my throat. He brought my hand to his mouth, kissing each knuckle as if I was made of something sacred.
“So yeah,monc?ur. I love you. I love you in a way I don’t think I’ll ever come back from.”
I threw my arms around him, nuzzling his neck and inhaling his scent. “A girl could get used to hearing that. Just so you know, I’m not letting you go.”
He chuckled, and I rolled my hips over him to find he was already hard under me. Even though my body ached, I also yearned for him. I pulled back to kiss him, to push this further, when both of our phones rang, startling us.
Group Facetime Call: Marco, Kimi
“For fuck’s sake,”Callumgroaned, dragging his hands down his face. “Ignore them.”
“They know we’re together. They literally zoomed in on your flooring.”
“They’re going to do that whether we answer or not.”
The ringing stopped only to start up again.
“You should answer,” I said, thrusting his phone at him. “I’ll be quiet.”
He arched a brow. “Being quiet is not in your nature, Auri.”
Auri.
It had been a while since he’d called me that. I still loved it.
“Then I’ll leave the room and join from the guest room.” Already making up my mind, I scrambled off his lap and bolted out of the room.
“Aurélie, it won’t work!”Callumcalled after me, but I just laughed and closed the guest room door behind me.
I ripped his hoodie off so I was just in my pink pajama set, belly-flopped on the bed, and hit Join . The screen split in two ways to show Marco andKimi—and just like that, all hell broke loose.
“You two are the worst liars in the world. Not even good liars. Pathetic ones,”Kimisaid with a shit-eating grin.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said nonchalantly.