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I had forgotten that Luca was sitting on the sofa –shirtless– wearing some skimpy soft Puma shorts as pajamas, which became evident at the reddening on Lily’s face.
“Oh, sorry if I am interrupting something!” Lily chuckled, a slight smirk forming on her face. I gave her a look that told hernot to even think about it, and she took a seat in the armchair across from the couch. I went back to the kitchen and began making a second round of coffee.
“I was, uh… just on a run and thought I would stop by. I listened to the podcast last night; really funny, Luca,” she giggled. I could see Lily’s eyes give him one more once over as she blushed a bit. Luca grinned, clearly pleased that Lily wasn’t quite as good as I was at hiding her ogling. As I watched their interaction, I felt a slight twinge of jealousy form in the pit of my stomach. Luca might be a fake boyfriend, but Lily could at least not silently flirt with him in front of me. I couldn’t blame her, though. Luca was incredibly attractive and a shirtless Luca? Well, he was justhot.
“The podcast was a good time,” Luca agreed, finishing his cup of coffee. Once the first round of coffee was finished, I poured everyone a second cup and sat back down on the couch, this time slightly closer to Luca than before, as if to remind Lily who he was actually fake dating.
The internal battle within me had lost – jealousy had won.
“I mean, I appreciate you dropping by, Lil, but 7:30 is a little early, even for you.” Lily was a notorious early riser. She had a weird thing about watching sunrises before race weekends; she claimed it gave her peace and serenity before she entered the race car.
“I know, I’m sorry. I just feel like the last few weeks haven’t gone well in the car, and I’m just so nervous for today. I mean, the upgrades are going to be great, but I just can’t seem to get ahold of the car. Feel like I’m working against the car.”I nodded, understanding where she was coming from. Lily was a great driver, but getting ahold of a Formula 1 car was difficult, and she was so young.
“I know you know this, but I’ll say it again. It’s your first year, Lil. It takes time to get used to a car of that quality. I have a lot more years than you, and while this isn’t Indy Car, the cars are very similar to Formula 1. There’s a lot of learning that comes with age. Isabelle picked you for a reason. All you need to do this weekend is put your head down and drive like the incredible driver the team believes you are.”
I could see a smile form on Lily’s lips, her eyes perking up a bit.If my job as a driver didn’t succeed, there was potential in a job as a therapist.
“Wisdom comes with age, as my father always says,” Luca added. “I have no doubt you’ll have some championships ahead of you, Lily – probably more than this one will get,” he added, ruffling my hair as he gave me his favorite, Cheshire cat grin.
“Anddefinitelymore than Luca will get,” I retorted as Luca showed me his middle finger.
Lily stayed for another twenty minutes, finishing her cup of coffee, before returning back to her room to get ready for the day. As soon as she left, I heard a ding on my phone, a text from Lily lighting up the screen.
Lily: Why have you not had some angry hate sex with this fine man yet? Or was that what I was interrupting this morning?
Georgia: A classy lady never tells.
I couldn’t help but slightly laugh at her text. Lily had interrupted something, but I had no idea whatitwas, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to find out.
Luca and I spent the rest of the morning in silence, and as soon as nine a.m. rolled around, we left the room – together this time – and headed towards the valet to pick up his Lamborghini.
The drive to the paddock was quiet. Luca and I exchanged a few comments on the weather but nothing further on the morning’s earlier conversation. Once we arrived, we did the same routine as yesterday. Luca handed me my bag, took my hand in his, and we walked through the paddock as a united front.
As soon as I walked into the Valkyrie garage, I was dragged by Lizzie into what felt like the world’s biggest hug.
“Georgie, incredibly good to see you. How was the podcast taping last night?” she asked cheerfully, and I gave her a look that said, ‘As you if you didn’t listen to it and spend all night checking social media?’ Before Lizzie could answer, Isabelle called us both into her office. There was no smile on her face, but I could tell that she was pleased.
“Good morning. Georgia, looks like you had a productive evening last night. I just got off the phone with Maison de Klotho, and they have asked for us to meet them the week of Monaco.” As soon as the words left Isabelle’s mouth, I felt a huge sigh of relief ripple through me.
“Oh! My! God!” Lizzie screamed. “This is amazing!”
“It’s just a meeting, but still, it’s a step in the right direction for us. Keep it up, and we should have a sponsorship deal scored before the summer break.” Isabelle turned directly to me and squinted her eyes a bit. “That means no Sassy Dubois to the cameras, got it, Georgia?”I wanted to give her a piece of my mind about the toddler treatment, but I knew it wouldn’t be fruitful, so I opted for a sweeter approach.
“Yes, yes, I’ll do my best to quell the beast inside of me.”
“Good to hear. Now, remember, we have the Italian Drivers Association event tonight. You will be attending with Luca, and you and Luca will be seated at a table with me and Francesco, Henri, and Lily. A car will pick you up at 7 p.m.Donotbe late. I took the liberty of having a dress sent to your room.”
“I’ll be there with bells on,” I whistled back. “Now, if you don’t mind, I have a free practice to top!” And with that, I trotted out of Isabelle’s office, feeling quite undeservedly pleased with myself.
Free Practice 1 and 2 had gone great for the team. I had topped the first Free Practice, but Henri and Eric had beaten me in the second. I knew Luca wouldn’t be happy that he hadn’t managed to top the tables in either of those sessions.
As soon as the day ended, I headed back to Luca's car and plopped down into the passenger seat. I could see the look of disappointment on Luca's face. The calm and teasing nature that he usually had was now replaced by anxiety and discomfort.As we drove back to the hotel, I considered approaching him about the issue again, but the coward within me won.
When I opened the door to our suite, I saw the dress Isabelle had sent me lying across my bed. As I opened the dress bag, I was slightly horrified to see what lay waiting for me. There, inside the bag, was what I could only describe as the sexiest black dress I had ever laid my eyes on. I immediately knew this had Lizzie all over it, and I opened my phone to give her a piece of my mind. It was as if Lizzie knew I would be calling because she answered the phone after just one ringtone.
“Ummm, care to explain the dress Isabelle sent to my room?”
“Isn’t it just so gorgeous? You are going to look stunning.” Lizzie had her sickly sweet voice on, the one that told me she was loving this far too much.
