Chapter 20
Peter
“All ready, baby?” I ask Molly.
We’re heading out for a celebratory dinner with her parents, ourselves, Ryan, and a few more people from our team.
Being the new Championship leader calls for a good celebration.
Whereas before I would go out to a club to try and dim the noise inside my head, I’m now celebrating with a small group of people who mean a great deal to me.
We’re not that far into the season, but it’s looking very different from last year already.
Molly emerges from the bathroom, and I drink her in.
God.
She’s breathtaking.
She’s wearing a dark purple dress that is tight around her chest before flowing out from her waist.
It’s sophisticated and beautiful, just like her.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her as she steps into my arms.
“You look beautiful too,” she tells me and I snort.
It’s definitely the first time I’ve ever been called beautiful.
Handsome, yes.
But not beautiful.
“I’m a bad boy, I’m not beautiful,” I tell her, kissing her nose.
She pulls me harder against her.
“Oh, casanova. You’re beautiful alright, bad boy or not. And it all comes from here.” She gently pokes my chest, and I swallow.
When I first started dealing with my feelings for this woman, she terrified me.
In moments like this, I experience similar feelings. The difference is even though it’s still foreign and I can have a hard time believing it myself, the woman in front of me wipes away any doubt.
I may have wanted to run before, but that stopped after I tasted life with her.
Now, I still want to run…but straight into her arms.
～
Two weeks later, I curse as I pull my car to the side of the track after being told over the radio that we have to retire it due to technical issues.
We’re currently in Asia, more specifically Japan before we have upcoming races in China and Singapore.
Luckily for me, there have been some surprises this weekend, with my biggest competitors further down the list alongside me.
Not finishing the race isn’t ideal as I’ll get no points, but hopefully, things will be better in the next few races.
Technical issues are part of this sport, frustrating or not, it happens.
At least I have something exciting coming up. I will be meeting with Molly’s parents tomorrow to plan a gathering after I’ve made her my girlfriend.
Meeting with Arthur isn’t weird or unusual, but I’ll need to be a bit more discreet as her mom is coming as well.
Wouldn’t want Molly to show up and suspect I’m planning anything.
Hopefully, she’ll have me when I ask her.
I consider her my woman in every way already, and I’m confident she would say yes, no matter how I asked her.
I want to make it special for her.
She’s been such a rock for me; the least I can do is make it memorable for her.
I make it back to our garage and watch the rest of the race on the TV.
The Suzuka GP always provides a show for the fans. It’s a track that a lot of us drivers enjoy racing at, and the Japanese fans always show up.
As the drivers cross the finish line, I let out a breath of relief.
Luckily, the result means I’m still the one in the lead.
～
The day after a race weekend is always rather quiet compared to the show of the weekend.
I’ve just finished my workout and shower when I spot Molly having lunch with Jessica. I guess with Jessica dating her own driver, the two women spend more time in the paddock than most.
I make my way over to the girls, dropping down in the seat beside Molly and kissing her cheek. “Hello, ladies.”
Jessica stares at me, like she’s looking at me for the first time ever, which I guess she kind of is.
I’m a very different man from last year.
That’s at least how I feel myself.
Last year, I was all play and no work.
This year, I’ve turned it around, and the woman beside me has been the greatest motivation of all, trying to become worthy of her.
“I still kind of can’t believe what I’m seeing here, but at the same time, it all makes sense,” Jessica says.
I don’t have too much time until I have a team meeting, then I’m meeting with Molly’s parents.
I would like to get to know more people in Molly’s life who are important to her.
Her best friend and colleague in the paddock seems like a good place to start.
“It’s good to meet you, Jessica. We don’t talk about last year’s Peter.”
Molly chuckles beside me, rolling her eyes at my dramatics.
Last year, I used every opportunity to mess with my competitors, more specifically, Luke Hastings.
Everyone could see he was down bad for Jessica and I tried to take advantage of that, messing with his head the best I could.
Asking for her number when I knew he was watching. Asking her for a dance when they had broken up for a while.
I never really had any interest in her, but messing with him was my ultimate goal.
I see competition in a different light now.
Instead of sabotaging other drivers and trying to mess with their heads, I’m focusing on my own performance and looking inward.
I think that has been the toughest part, but with Molly’s support, it’s getting easier every day.
The girls tell me all about their plans to go shopping later today before they get their nails done.
I do enjoy it when Molly’s nails are new and sharp, and it’s even more satisfying when she drags them down my back during sex.
“You can’t tell Luke I’ve had lunch with you. I feel like I’m cheating on him,” Jessica says, and now I’m the one shaking my head.
Women.
I guess I can understand why Luke isn’t my biggest fan after the stunts I pulled last year, but I have nothing against him.
I respect him a lot, and he’s one of the best drivers on the grid.
Thinking back to how I reacted when I saw Jeremy and Miles with Molly, I guess I can relate to Luke and his dislike of me.
This year, the atmosphere has been less tense.
He doesn’t strike me as the type to hold a grudge.
I don’t see why it would be a problem for Jessica to be having lunch with her best friend and her man, but I guess I’ll never fully understand how women work.
It’s really only one that matters for me to understand fully, and that is Molly. I turn to her, my phone notifying me that it’s soon time for the meeting.
I lean in, kissing her hard, not caring about us having an audience. “I have to go, baby. I’ll see you later.”
Then I stand up, say goodbye to both of them, and jog back to our bus.
When our team meeting is all done, Arthur and I move into his office.
I’m grateful that my relationship with him hasn’t changed due to my feelings for his daughter. In any case, it’s only gotten better as he feels more like family by each day.
“I’ve been thinking about updating our staff,” Arthur says before he starts explaining how the first two months in the paddock have given him a bit of clarity on whom he’d like to keep on board going forward.
If it were up to me, we would get rid of most of the suits, but I realise that might be a bit drastic.
Having Arthur here has helped a lot, and ever since they understood that he’s not easily manipulated, they’ve gotten off my back as well.
“I think our team would benefit from some new people. You already made such a difference, Arthur,” I tell him, and he nods in gratitude.
“I’ll go over contracts and see how the situation is looking. Then we’ll go from there.”
We start a round of cards before his wife comes into the office.
She gives me a hug and a warm smile. “I must say, Peter. I’m very intrigued to hear about your plans.”
It may be intimidating to sit in front of the parents of the woman I love, explaining to them what I want to do when I ask her to be my girlfriend, but their blatant support is everything I need to be sure that this is the right move.