We both nod.
“Good.” One of the staffers hands her a clipboard. “Any objections?”
We look at each other, then shake our heads.
“They’re all acceptable to me.”
“Yeah,” Grady agrees. “Nothing we can’t handle.”
“Then let’s get started.”
She motions to her producer, who counts us down, starting at three and pointing to Leah when she hits one.
“I’m here with the circuit’s newest driver, LaRue Motorsport’s Grady Lewis, and his race engineer, veteran Ben Cunningham.” Leah looks from the camera to Grady then to me. “Thank you both for joining us today.”
I smile, trying my hardest to look cool and composed even though I hate these things with the fire of a thousand suns. It’s a good thing race engineers aren’t the press magnets drivers are. I’d have to change careers. “Thanks for having us.”
“I know you two got off to a rocky start—”
“I don’t know if I’d call it rocky,” Grady interrupts. “Like any new partnership, it just took a little time for us to get used to each other.”
“But now, rumor has it you’re Formula One’s newest bromance.”
There’s that word again. She’s obviously been talking to Elodie. No big surprise. Elodie’s not the kind of woman to leave anything—especially anything to do with LaRue Motorsports—to chance. I wouldn’t be surprised if Leah’s list of questions came directly from her.
“Well, I don’t know about that.” Grady rests an arm on the back of the sofa, his fingers dangling inches from my shoulder. “It’s awfully hard to compete with Cristian and Jasper.”
Leah laughs, and I groan. He’s fucking incorrigible, I swear. And as much as I shouldn’t, I love it.
“They’re more of a couple than a bromance,” I chime in.
He glances at me out of the corner of one eye, his lips quivering with barely suppressed amusement. I know exactly what he’s thinking, and I mentally will him not to go there. After a pause that feels like an eternity but is probably more like ten seconds, he shrugs and smiles. “Then I guess we are the F1 bromance of the day.”
Leah tilts her head to one side quizzically. “So you’d say you two are close off the track as well as on?”
“Absolutely,” Grady answers without hesitation.
“Ben, would you agree?” Leah asks.
“The relationship between a race engineer and driver is unique in this sport,” I say diplomatically. One of us has to take the high road, and it’s clearly not going to be Grady. “To function properly, it requires a great deal of trust, respect, and understanding. And I have all of that for Grady. He’s the most talented young driver I’ve ever worked with, and I look forward to our partnership continuing well past this season.”
I’m not sure where that last part came from, but now that it’s out there, I’m not mad about it. I came into this thinking I’d stick it out long enough to get Stefan the money for his nonprofit. But now, only a few races into my contract with LaRue, here I am already envisioning staying with the team indefinitely. Or at least as long as Jacques—and Grady—will have me. Maybe not as his race engineer. I can’t see myself doing that long-term. It’s too hard, the memories of Stefan’s accident too strong when I’m wearing that headset. But maybe in another, less driver-intensive engineering role.
Fuck. I ought to have my damn head examined.
Grady blushes fiercely, something I’ve never thought of as a turn-on before and sure as hell wish I hadn’t now with the cameras rolling. “The feeling is mutual.”
“What about off the track?” Leah asks again because yeah, I totally ducked that question. “You two were hanging out together on a megayacht in Monaco. And at the Amber Lounge. Do you have any plans for your downtime here in Austin?”
“Nothing specific, but we talked about getting some barbecue.” Grady looks over at me. “Maybe hitting up a bar or a coffeehouse and listening to some live music.”
We did? That’s news to me. The only off-track plans I remember us discussing involved a bottle of lube, a generous supply of condoms, and a definite lack of clothing. None of which is an appropriate topic of conversation for this interview.
“It’s Ben’s call,” he continues. “I dragged him out on the town in Monaco. I’m the party boy. He’s more of a homebody.”
“Uh, yeah,” I say, playing along. He’s way better at the interview game than I am. Not only because he’s had more experience but because he’s more of an extrovert. Might as well follow his lead. At a minimum, it will make Elodie happy. “That’s why we balance each other out so well. He gets me to loosen up, and I make sure he’s focused when he needs to be. But I never say no to good barbecue.”
The rest of the interview goes pretty smoothly, and in less than half an hour it’s all wrapped up. Kip congratulates us on a job well done and takes off, presumably to report back to Elodie. Grady and I say our thank-yous and goodbyes to Leah and her crew and head back to my office in Recharge Garage, finding ourselves alone for the first time since we’ve gotten to Austin.
