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After I heard a slight clearing of a throat, I looked up and came face to face with Michael. He gave me a small smile and quirked his eyebrows – clearly, he had heard my muttering.
Great, Georgia, just great, I cursed to myself.You have managed to ruin the entire thing before it began – absolute moron.
I knew I had to save face and fast, so before I could properly think of a reasonable thing to say, I blurted out, “Boys… am I right?” I winked at Michael and gave him a small, devilish smile as if to imply Luca had simply gotten up my sleeve about something andnot to worry world, we were still real–fake –dating.
Michael just quietly chuckled to himself, nodding at me in agreement. Fortunately, the female journalist behind me let out a louder chuckle, making me feel a little less on edge.
“You have your hands full with that one, Georgia.”She had no idea.
“Hermes must have a requirement that their drivers be devilishly handsome but ridiculously obtuse,” I grinned in response, earning a genuine laugh from all four journalists.
Nice one, Georgia.
Georgia: 1 Journalists: 356,876
The elevator doors opened soon after that, and I nodded to the group before quickly running to the front of the hotel, trying to get as far away from the elevator as possible. At the front of the hotel was Henri, waiting for me in his Lamborghini. In my personal opinion, I felt like I had been getting into too many Lamborghinis recently, but the idea of parking in Monza gave me more anxiety than being in an elevator full of journalists – well,almost.
“About time, Peaches,” Henri remarked as I hopped into the passenger seat.
“Sorry, there was a bit of a mishap back at the hotel, so getting ready took longer than expected.”Henri put on a small, sympathetic smile. He had clearly been told of my predicament.
“So I heard. I’m very annoyed with them. They shouldn’t have done that to you – or Luca.”
“Or Luca? Forget Luca, he’s enjoying it,” I blurted out. I didn’t want to tell my brother about the incident between Luca and me back in the hotel room – how I had been caught staring at his half-naked teammate. It was much too embarrassing, but I also was annoyed that Henri seemed to feel bad for Luca, who, I would say, seemed to be enjoying this – or was at least making the most of it.
“I’m sure that’s not true, Peaches. I mean, back at HQ, Luca made a big stink about not wanting to share a room. He’s much more of a private person than you might expect.”
“If he is such aprivateperson, why does he need all of this ‘good’media attention to overwrite all of hispublicblunders?” I bit back.
Private person my ass.Henri just chuckled.
“Fine, fine, so Luca needs a little help. All I am trying to say is don’t judge a book by its cover, all right. You might find you like the story after all.”
Henri was good at giving these little ‘pump you up’ speeches. He had been giving them to me since I was a little girl. He was a lot cheesier than people realized, and I loved him for it – most of the time. I grumbled lightly in response, signaling that this wasn’t a conversation I intended to continue.
“I mean, it’s not like you have to kiss him or anything. Plus, you have separate rooms, right?” Henri kept his eyes on the road, but I could tell from his demeanor he was trying to balance the line of protective brother and teammate to Luca.
“We might have to share a bathroom, but I at least get my own bed and a room to hide from the ghost of Luca,” I grinned back to Henri, who let out a chuckle.
The rest of the car ride was fairly uneventful. It was obvious that Henri wanted to keep discussing the Luca piece of the conversation, but he was at least able to take a hint this time. We discussed the track and my upcoming visit to the Hermes garage on qualifying day. Luca and I were to arrive each day together, hand in hand, at the track starting Thursday. Fortunately, the next time I would directly interact with him would be at a small press dinner on Friday evening that the drivers had all been invited to. Just a small reception from the Monza committee. Luca was expected to say a few words, and I was expected to sit next to him and smile like a pretty little flower that the sponsors could prune and then sell.
As Henri and I pulled up to the restaurant, I spotted Oliver already at the host desk. He was no doubt wearing some newly launched designer, and he looked delightful, as always. I hopped out of the car and ran over to my longtime friend and mentor, giving him a hug fit for a king.
“Well, if it isn’t Edward’s new archenemy,” Oliver chuckled.
“Who..? Moi…?” I said casually, although the grin on my face gave me away. “I have no idea why Edward Davis would harbor any resentment towards me.”
Oliver just snickered and pulled out his phone, showing me what was probably one of the best photos I had ever seen. It was a picture of Edward, a huge frown on his face, his brows furrowed, holding a Krispy Kreme donut box, which was inconveniently filled with just peaches, not a donut in sight. I knew they occasionally sent him boxes of donuts during race weekends to share with the team. He was always posting about them on his live stories.
“Of course, the muppet didn’t even think to look at the contents inside the box before sharing the box on his social media feed, so needless to say, he was flabbergasted when he opened the box to show his fans, and all he saw was fruit – peaches, no less.” At this point, Henri had parked the car and rejoined the group, peering over Oliver’s shoulder to look at the photo of an annoyed Edward.
“You better watch out, Peaches; he’s going to get you back for that one," Henri chuckled, and I just grinned in response. I had no doubt that Edward would wreak havoc on me at some point over the next few race weekends, but this prank felt pretty glorious, and I intended to bask in my success.
Georgia: 3 Edward: 2
Truthfully, it was Georgia: 4, but we decided not to count the hamster incident in Arthur’s office.
“Well, whoever sent those to Edward has great taste in fruit,” I replied simply, patting Oliver on the back as he let out another booming laugh.
