18. Matt
The week has gone by quickly, preparing for the upcoming race weekend and the long stretch we have ahead of us, leading up to the final four races. Our team is close to making the final four, and this win last weekend brought us closer to that number-four spot.
“Matt, you look like you have a fucking hanger in your mouth, man. I know you’ve been getting sexy regularly since Grace finally gave in, but damn, man, even I’m a little jealous,” Ryan remarks, coming to sit beside me as I finish up looking over paperwork for this weekend.
“Well, I’ll have you know, bud, this is my normal face. You just don’t get it during the week as much. But hell, Grace does make me smile more, especially when I can make a special trip to her office.”
“Dude, I do not need to know that!”
“Let’s just say, you may wanna knock before entering her office anytime soon is all.” I’m laughing as I get up to go.
I leave Ryan sitting by the desk as I finish up the inspection with my team and make sure that my seat is ready for the road course this weekend. The setup is always a little different for road courses than ovals, so I like to sit in the car and make sure that I’m comfortable with the position before I load it on the hauler.
Living in North Carolina, the haulers are already being packed to the brim for the next two weeks because of the long stretch we have at the end of the season. And being across the country, they had to load the road course car and then the Texas car. That will make for a long two weeks, but luckily, being a driver, I have the option to come home in between. And I would want that if Grace was going to be home, but next week, she’ll be in Boston while I’m in Texas.
Thinking about that kind of makes me wonder what our life might be like if we really made a go of this. I know she has a job here at Mac, and next season she’ll be traveling with Mila each week, so I’ll see her each weekend, which would be ideal if she wanted to be with me after these two months. Guess that’s one thing that I’ll decide in less than a couple of months now.
After packing all the items into the front of the hauler that I want on this trip, I head down to Grace”s office to check on her.
“Okay, great, Mila. I’m so excited to see you next week, and thank you for coming to the fundraiser with me. I know that Cort will appreciate it,” I hear her say as I walk into her office, shutting the door behind me.
“Glad I’m able to come and not have a race that weekend. It worked out perfectly. I mean, how could I turn you down? Think any of those Boston Rebels will be there for me to stare at?” Mila questions with a playful tone in her voice.
Coming around the other side of the desk, I’m compelled to kiss the top of Grace”s head, and I smile at Mila on the screen in front of me.
“What’s up, Mi? Causing trouble in the small show this week?” I ask.
“I’ll have you know, Matt, I have been very ladylike this week. Thank you very much,” she fires right back before she and Grace both break out into a fit of laughter.
“Yes, from the way you two just started laughing, I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for y”all to be paired up next week while I’m all the way in Texas.”
Grace looks up at me with those beautiful eyes of hers and kisses my lips softly.
“Cowboy, I can shop all day, but I know where I buy my groceries,” she says in a sultry voice that has me wanting to bend her over this desk right now.
“Yeah, on that note, I’m not. Grace, I’ll call you next week. Unless you have anything else for me this week,” Mila shoots with a smirk as she hangs up the Skype call.
Spinning Grace around, I finally get to kiss her just how I’ve been wanting to since I left her this morning.
Moaning into our kiss, I know I need to back away, or I really am going to bend her over this desk. The big guys upstairs definitely won”t like that and might give me a ding on the contract negotiations.
“You almost finished for the day, Red? I’m headed out but wanted to check in with you before I leave.”
“No, I’ve got about three more hours of work before I’m done,” she says with a sigh.
“Well, just let me know when you’re on the way home then, and I can just order us some takeout.”
“Sounds great,” she says before giving me one last kiss as I walk out of her office.
Closing the door behind me, I smack right into Ryan.
“Shit, man, are you trying to give me a heart attack today? I’m gonna start putting a damn bell on you. Freaking hell, for as big as you are, you shouldn’t be able to sneak up on me that easily,” I chide.
“If you weren’t in that Grace bubble, you would have heard me, shithead,” Ryan says.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I start to walk toward where my car is parked.
“Ryan, why are you following me, man? You’re like a dog with a bone right now. You know that, right?” I’m laughing at my friend because it’s true that this guy has turned into a golden retriever instead of the aggressive dog he used to be.
“Just seeing what you”re up to. I’m bored, and Tinley…” he starts to say.
“There it is. Tinley’s busy, and you have no one to play with, ha. So that’s why you’re up my shit today. I knew something was going on with you but couldn’t put my finger on it.”
“Hey man, that”s not fair. You’re my best friend,” he starts to say.
“Yes, so you say. But what happens when Tinley calls and you drop me? If I make time for us to have a guy hang out, you’re not going to bail on me then, right?”
“Not me and you, Shake and Bake, bud,” he replies.
“For the love of God, don’t call us that. That dumbass name finally died down. Let”s not bring it back into the light.” Laughing, we continue to head toward our cars.
“Okay, bud, but the first text or call from your little lady and guy day is over,” I say, getting into my car and heading toward Ryan’s place. I sent Grace a quick text to tell her I’ll be back later. Damn, I really am starting to be a whipped man.
Ryan’s condo has always been my place to come to relax. We’d play video games, drink beer, and eat pizza. I haven’t been to his place since Tinley moved in, wanting to give them space. Yet the minute I step foot into the doorway, I can tell a woman lives here now.
“Ummmm, Ryan, did Martha Stewart explode in your house? What the hell happened here?”
“Well, Tinley made some changes, but don’t worry, the gaming system is still in the living room. I made sure that stayed.”
“For the love of all things holy, please tell me you have beer and not the fucking craft shit like you ordered at dinner the other night.”
“I’ll have you know that craft beer is amazing, and I’m just trying to expand your palate with it,” he says, coming over to the couch and handing me a good ole American-made beer. While he, on the other hand, has some craft shit he’s opening.
“I feel like I don’t even know you right now, man. First, the apartment has candles everywhere, your shelves have pictures all over them, and now, you’re sitting beside me, drinking something from a place called Wicked Weed.”
“Tinley wanted us to have a space that was for us both. Adding a woman’s touch isn’t so bad. Maybe if you took the plunge, you could see it’s worth the fall.”
I take a sip of my beer as Ryan continues to rant about how great being a relationship guy is, and it has my head spinning a little. I mean, it wasn’t eight months ago that he was sitting on this couch, moping around because the media had taken his relationship with Tinley and spun it to make her out to be some home wrecker for a crazy-ass bitch, Serena. After watching what they went through, it’s probably why I’m so paranoid about going all-in with Grace. Her last name alone brings the media, and then lump in my little bit of fame associated with NASCAR, and we could crash and burn quickly.
“Damn, Matt, did you hear a word I just said?” Ryan asks, looking as if I’ve sprouted an extra arm. “Wow, you really are living in your own world right now, aren’t you?” Laughing at me, he grabs the game controller and turns the system on.
As we start to play, my head spins back to Grace. Did I really want more than the two months that we signed up for? Can I be the man she wants or even that she needs?
“Ryan, how did you know that Tinley was it? What made her so special that you thought, ‘damn, I can’t lose this woman’?”
I look over to Ryan and watch as I know he’s thinking back to the relationship he and Tinley had at the start. The smile on his face is growing.
“I guess the moment I ran into her after she went to the drivers’ meeting with Grace in Bristol,” he declares, smiling at the memory.
“But you literally just met her that morning. How the hell could you have known that she would be worth it?”
“Man, the moment I kissed her between the haulers, I knew she was it for me. My whole body caught fire, and I knew that I would do whatever I needed to protect her and keep anyone away who might hurt her. Did I screw up during our early days? Yep, and the media was rough, of course. But when it came down to it, she was there. When I needed her to be, she was right beside me,” he recounts, going to grab a picture.
It”s their first kiss. The media caught them kissing and then ran with it wondering who the mystery woman was. When word got out, Ryan thought he’d lost her, but that was just the start of their love story.
Smiling at the image he puts the picture back where it goes and comes to sit back down with me.
“Now, ask me the question you really want to ask,” he pushes.
I pull the cold beer to my lips and take a long pull, trying to wrap my head around what I’m feeling and if it’s even real.
“I think I might be falling for my fake wife, and it’s scaring the absolute shit out of me, man. Problem is, I think she might be falling for me too, but we’re both so freaking terrified of admitting it to each other that we’re using sex to mask things and having to have this talk.
“Don’t get me wrong, the sex is the best I’ve ever had, and I’m not complaining at all, but I guess we should have a grown-up talk at some point, right?”
Just as I am finishing my statement, I hear soft footsteps coming toward us and know that our guy time is ending. But Tinley could help me. She’s Grace’s best friend. Surely, she has some tricks to help me woo my fake wife.
“Hi, guys. Nice afternoon off?” she asks, going over to Ryan and kissing him on the cheek.
“Not too bad. Matt was just asking me how I knew that I wanted to keep you forever,” Ryan remarks with a smirk that makes Tinley blush just enough that if I hadn’t been looking, I would have missed it.
Sitting down between the two of us, Tinley looks at me before resting her palm on Ryan’s knee.
“Are you thinking of Grace as more than just a pain in your ass, McCall?” she asks, looking at me like she might chop my balls off if I give her the wrong answer.
I shift in my seat and face Tinley after grabbing another beer from the table and taking a sip.
“Honestly, the more I’m around her, the more I like her. I don’t know if that means forever or if that is just right now. We haven’t talked about it.”
“Well, she’ll be with you for the long stretch coming up, so you have plenty of time to find out,” Tinley says, like it’s so easy and uncomplicated.
“Yeah, so there lies the problem. Sure, she’ll be with me in California this weekend, but when we head to Texas, she’s flying to Boston to talk with her dad about everything that’s going on. And then she and Mila are going to a fundraiser her cousin, Cort, is having for the Boston Rebels baseball team.”
Tinley looked at me like she had no idea Grace was going home for the weekend. Well, get in line, lady, because that’s a fight I’ve already had.
“Okay, well then you need to tell her how you feel before she leaves for Boston. That leaves us, what, about a week and half to get you on the same page and show her that you”re worth the fall too?” Tinley states so matter-of-factly it makes me smile.
Okay, let’s do it.