Chapter 14
By this point, Scott had been to plenty of Formula One races and had seen his fair share of VIP paddock clubs, but the atmosphere at Monza was something truly special.
The excitement was contagious, even if you weren’t a Ferrari fan.
Drivers couldn’t step out of the garage without thousands of fans screaming their names, which was probably why Cam was practically hiding inside.
Normally, Cam would join Scott in the hospitality suite above the team garages, but not this time.
Or maybe his absence had something to do with the fact that Scott had left his hotel room yesterday without waiting for him.
“It’s utter madness, isn’t it?”
At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Scott turned his head and found himself looking at the prettiest guy he’d ever seen. A slim build, delicate features, curly golden hair—he was exactly Scott’s type. And judging by his flamboyant style of dress, he was likely gay.
“Hey there, beautiful,” Scott said, putting on his best flirtatious smile. For some reason, it actually required some effort. Weird. The guy was his type to a T.
The guy gave him an amused smile. “You can tone it down. You’re hot, but I’m very much taken.” He stretched out his hand for a handshake. “Luke Whitford.”
“Scott Palmer,” he said, wondering why he didn’t feel disappointed that the guy was unavailable.
“Oh, I know,” Luke said. “I’ve read about you.”
Scott’s eyebrows flew up. “Really? I’m hardly famous or anything.”
Luke chuckled. “You’re being filmed even now, mate,” he said, nodding toward the fans in the grandstand opposite the VIP balcony.
Scott frowned. “Me? Why would the fans film me?”
Luke shot him an amused look. “You don’t know? You’re pretty well known online. The fans call you Richter’s hot friend.” His full lips twitched. “Well, those who don’t call you his WAG.”
Scott’s brain stalled on the word. “I’m sorry, what?
” he spluttered with a laugh. But before he could question Luke further, a tall dark-haired man approached them.
He was handsome, with a touch of silver at his temples that gave him a distinguished air.
He rested a possessive hand on Luke’s shoulder and said something in what sounded like Russian.
Taking his hand, Luke smiled at him with a fond eye-roll before looking back at Scott.
“This is my husband, Roman. Roma, this is Scott, and he isn’t interested in me at all. ”
Scott met Roman’s cold gaze and nodded with a wry smile.
“His dating history suggests otherwise,” Roman said dryly.
Scott blinked, because what?
Luke elbowed his husband. “Can you be normal for two minutes, Roma?” he said, his lips twitching. “I’m trying to make friends here.”
Roman murmured something in Russian before kissing his husband on the temple. Luke leaned into him with a smile.
Scott felt a twist of envy. There was casual intimacy to the couple, the way their bodies responded to each other seamlessly and communicated without a word.
He’d always wondered what it would feel like.
But he’d never achieved anything like that in any of his romantic relationships, no matter how much he tried.
“How long have you been together?” he asked.
“A decade now,” Luke said and grinned at Scott’s surprised look. “I’m not as young as I look.”
“Wow, a decade,” Scott said wistfully. He’d had so many relationships, had fallen in love so many times, but his longest relationship had lasted maybe a month.
His feelings tended to fizzle out quickly.
A decade seemed like an eternity to him, but the couple in front of him seemed very much in love and happy, although Luke’s husband was harder to read.
Before Scott could ask them what their secret was, he heard familiar footsteps behind him.
Goosebumps prickled along his spine, and his heartbeat quickened.
“You’re done already?” he said, flashing Cam a smile that hopefully looked normal.
He still felt more than a little off-balance after yesterday.
They’d exchanged a few texts since then, and Cam sounded normal enough, but they hadn’t seen each other since Cam had sucked on his tits and told him to wait for him.
Cam stopped at his side, his shoulder knocking against Scott’s. “The debrief didn’t last as long as usual.” His gaze flickered to the couple, his expression becoming inscrutable as he noticed Luke holding Roman’s bicep.
“Cam, this is Luke and Roman.”
“Hey,” Luke said with a crooked little smile, stretching his hand out to Cam. “So nice to meet you!”
Thankfully, Cam was much nicer to Luke than he’d been to Andy and shook his hand.
“Are you a fan?” Scott said with a grin, noticing how flustered Luke suddenly looked.
“He is,” Roman said with a long-suffering eye-roll. “I’m almost jealous sometimes.”
Flushing, Luke elbowed his husband. “You know it’s not like that!” he hissed, looking mortified.
Snorting, Roman pecked him on the flushed cheek. “I know,” he said, meeting Cam’s gaze steadily, slipping an arm around Luke’s waist. “I’d have him killed if I really thought you wanted him.”
“Roma!” Luke said before muttering something exasperatedly in Russian, but his expression was soft. When he turned back to Scott and Cam, he looked much more composed. “Sorry about that, obviously he’s joking.”
What a weird joke.
“Anyway!” Luke said, looking at Cam. “We’re actually hosting a little party after the race at our villa on Lake Como. We’d love it if both of you could attend.”
“I don’t think—”
“Please consider it.” Luke’s expression turned serious, suddenly making it clear that he wasn’t the twink in his early twenties Scott had initially assumed him to be, but a grown man in his thirties.
“The party is to support the LGBT cause in sports. There will be many athletes and sports personalities there from tennis, football, motorsports, hockey, and more.” Luke looked Cam in the eye.
“I think it’s a disgrace that so many athletes are forced to hide who they are in this day and age.
I want to create a safe place for LGBT people in sports. ”
Cam’s shoulders stiffened, his face turning stony. “I’m not—”
Scott quickly placed a hand on his shoulder.
Cam’s dark eyes flickered to him, and some of the tension eased from his body before he turned back to Luke. “I don’t think I’m a good fit for that,” he said.
Luke’s eyes moved from Cam to Scott and then back again. “I’m not implying anything,” he said slowly, his voice quiet. “Straight allies are welcome too. I just assumed that if you’re friends with an openly gay man, you must be an ally.”
Cam’s eyes flicked to Scott again. His expression was still guarded, but he no longer looked quite as hostile as he had before. “I am. We’re good friends. But that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable being a poster boy for a cause. I want to be known for my achievements, not for anything else.”
“I understand,” Luke said, but his voice was significantly cooler now, his disappointment obvious. “Sorry for wasting your time. It was nice to meet you. Let’s go, Roma—”
“Wait,” Scott said. “Can I come to your party? I know my presence obviously wouldn’t mean as much as a two-time world champion’s, but I think your idea is great, and I’d love to support the cause.”
Luke flashed him a smile. “Sure! Just give me your number, I’ll send you the address.”
They said their goodbyes after exchanging numbers. Scott saved Luke’s contact and sent a quick thumbs-up when Luke sent him the address and time.
Then he headed toward the bar.
A hand on his arm stopped him. “Scotty.”
Scott’s jaw tightened. “Don’t. I’m pretty angry with you right now, and I don’t want to fight with you. Not in public at least.”
“I don’t want to fight, either.” Cam’s voice was lower and much warmer now than it had been when he’d talked to Luke. “I didn’t mean any offense. I just—I don’t want to be a poster boy for anything. I hate PR of any kind, you know that.”
Scott drew in a deep, slow breath. “Come with me,” he said at last. He walked out of the paddock club and headed to the McLaren motorhome, for the first time aware that Cam wasn’t the only one being taken pictures of as they walked together.
Luke seemed to be right: he was a well-known person in the paddock these days. It still seemed so bizarre to him.
“Look,” Scott said once the door to Cam’s driver’s room closed behind them. “I know you hate PR bullshit. I do believe you when you say you didn’t mean any offense by refusing to associate with the LGBT crowd.”
“But?”
Grimacing, Scott met Cam’s dark eyes. “But your support would have meant a lot to young Formula One fans all over the world who are struggling with their sexuality and identity.”
A muscle twitched in Cam’s jaw. “Sorry, I just don’t buy it. How would me attending a party change anything? It just seems like a PR gimmick to me.”
Scott sighed. Taking Cam’s hand, he pulled him toward the armchair, made him sit down, before dropping himself to the floor in front of him.
Propping his cheek on Cam’s knee, he looked at Cam’s hand in his.
“When I was a kid, I was a big football fan. Have I told you that? I actually dreamed of being a professional player.” He gave a wistful smile, stroking Cam’s fingers absently.
“Obviously it was just a stupid childish dream, but. I was a huge Jets fan.”
“Was?” Cam said quietly.
“Yeah,” Scott said. “I stopped being a fan when the Jets captain, my favorite player, called another player a faggot.”
Silence fell over the room.
Scott smiled crookedly. “You can probably imagine what it does to a young boy’s psyche when his idol talks about people like him as if they’re dirt.
I… it sucked.” Looking down at Cam’s fingers in his hand, he played with them absently.
“And I was actually lucky to have supportive enough parents. There are kids who aren’t as lucky as I was, who use sports and pop culture as an escape from the harsh reality of their home lives.
” He pulled a face. “I can’t imagine if—”
“Supportive enough?” Cam cut him off. “I thought your parents didn’t have an issue with your sexuality?”
His brows furrowed, Scott looked up at him and shrugged.
“It… it took them time to accept it. But they were fine with it eventually.” He gave a wry smile.
“I’ve never met anyone whose parents wanted a gay kid.
Some just got used to the idea better. I know my dad was disappointed, but…
” He shrugged again, putting on another smile.
“It could have been much worse, really. I’m lucky.
Anyway, it’s not about me. I know it’s hard to believe, but you attending an LGBT-friendly party would mean a lot to your young fans. ”
Cam’s dark eyes roamed over his face, searching and intent.
“Fine,” he said at last. “I’ll go to that party.”
Scott grinned. “I knew you’d do the right thing,” he said, nuzzling against Cam’s knee. “You’re actually a big softie underneath that tough dudebro exterior.”
Cam’s expression tightened. “I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not agreeing to this because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Aww, are you saying you’re doing it because of little ol’ me?” Scott said, batting his eyelashes dramatically.
Cam just looked at him for a moment, his gaze steady.
“Yes,” he said at last. “You’re probably my closest friend these days, Scotty.”
Scott blinked up at him, his chest suddenly very warm.
He knew he shouldn’t have been so pleased.
Frankly, it wasn’t good that Cam didn’t really feel like doing it for his fans, that he was doing it only for Scott.
But that changed nothing about how he felt.
Selfishly, he was happy that Cam was willing to do it for him. Only for him.
It probably made him a self-absorbed asshole, but he’d never felt so special.
Like he was someone important. Not because of his name or money—Cam didn’t give a fuck about those things—but because he was Scott.
As if he weren’t just an empty-headed rich boy but someone worth changing an opinion for. Someone precious. He felt—he wanted—
Before his mind caught up to him, he leaned forward and mouthed Cam’s cock through the fabric of his pants.
Cam sucked a breath in. “What are you doing?”
I wanna suck your cock, he nearly blurted out. Let me suck your cock, wanna make you feel good, let me, let me suck it, let me.
He had to literally bite his tongue to stop himself from saying that embarrassing nonsense.
“What does it look like, champ?” Scott said lightly, pulling the zipper down.
He paused, realizing that there was no justification for doing it this time.
Cam hardly needed to relieve any tension: qualifying wasn’t until tomorrow, and free practice that day had gone smoothly for him.
There was no real reason to do this. He shouldn’t be doing this after the weirdness of yesterday. “Um, unless you don’t want to?”
Cam seemed to hesitate, his gaze flickering from Scott’s eyes to his mouth.
The cock against Scott’s lips hardened so fast it was actually pretty flattering.
“No, go ahead,” he said hoarsely, his hand burying in Scott’s hair while the other yanked his fly open.
“What man would turn down a free blowjob?” But his intense, transfixed gaze as Scott licked his cockhead contradicted his casual tone.
If he didn’t know better, Scott would think Cam looked obsessed.
That was Scott’s last coherent thought before his world narrowed down to the thick, delicious cock filling his mouth.
God.