AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Luca and I made our exit and headed towards the front of the hotel, where Henri and Éliott were waiting for us. The four of us piled into the car and headed to the restaurant, where Oliver and Edward were already seated and waiting.
“Hey! Look what the cat dragged in!” Oliver called out as she walked over to me, giving me one of his signature hugs. We all took a seat at the table as Oliver poured us some glasses of wine from the bottle he and Edward had already ordered.
“Good to see Luca has convinced you to stop this pre-race, no-drinking tradition,” Edward said with a laugh, clinking his glass with mine.
“Well, it seems to be working out for me so far,” I teased back. To be fair, the stress of this season had been immense, and a glass of wine had helped me wind down a bit.
“So, Georgia, I see we’ll be in the press conference together tomorrow.” I turned to Éliott and saw a little hint of mischief in his eyes as he said the words.
“Well, make sure to bring your shield. Georgia is out for blood,” Henri quipped.
“Don’t be silly, Henri. I’ll be as cordial as I always am.” Henri actually choked on his wine at my comment, and I gave him an annoyed look.
“You’re many things, Peaches…. cordial to journalists? Probably doesn’t make the cut.”
“Whatever,” I mumbled under my breath. They could tease me, but I had a plan. Kill them with kindness, as my mother would say.
As we finished up dessert, Luca excused himself to the restroom, and Edward took the opportunity to hop into Luca's seat, grabbing my wrist so he could take a better look at the bracelet.
“Wow, Luca did an amazing job with the design.”
“Well, I’m sure the Aphrodite’s sponsorship team gave him a few pointers,” I joked, but Edward just looked up at me with a serious expression, one I wasn’t used to seeing from the Brit.
“Luca did this all by himself.” I felt a rush of warmth go through me, and butterflies began to fill my stomach.Had Luca actually designed this all by himself?
“I mean, I’m sure he helped, but Aphrodite’s sponsor both of us-” Edward cut me off before I could finish my sentence.
“Georgia… Luca designed these charms by himself and ordered the bracelet without any knowledge from the sponsorship team.” Edward’s voice sounded a bit frustrated, and his face was incredibly smug.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Wh-Why?” I finally muttered out.
“That’s for you to ask him.” Edward put my wrist down and hopped back into his chair, rejoining the conversation with the rest of the group. As soon as Luca came back from the restroom, we got up from the table and made our way outside of the restaurant.
“Want to walk back to the hotel?” I asked Luca, who nodded in response. I said goodbye to the rest of the group, and Luca and I set off on the twenty-minute walk back to the hotel.
“So… Edward, let your secret out,” I teased.
“Edward lets everyone’s secrets out. Which one did he spill this time?”
“He, umm, told me that you made the Aphrodite’s Jewelry bracelet yourself.”
“Do you like it?” I could see a hint of worry in Luca's eyes; it was clear he was unsure of himself and the gift.
“I love it,” I responded honestly, looking up and meeting his gaze.
I stopped the two of us, and I took both of his hands in mine as I stood up on my tippy toes, giving Luca a gentle kiss on the lips. “It’s one of the nicest gifts anyone’s given me.”
Some more silence passed between us, and I finally gained the courage to ask the question I had been wanting to ask. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to think you had to wear it. I wanted you to wear it because you thought it was beautiful.” The look on Luca's face was the most genuine expression I think I had ever seen from the Italian.
“Well, I’ll wear it when I’m beating you on Sunday then.” The sound of Luca's laughter was like music to my ears. I loved seeing Luca laugh – loved the way he threw his head back, the way his brown eyes sparkled. His body language was soft and genuine. It was a different Luca than the one I was used to seeing in the paddock. With this experience, I truly got to see a different side of the Italian driver.
When we approached the hotel, we could see a crowd of people at the front. Henri and Éliott were standing just inside the lobby, signing autographs. When Henri spotted me at the back, he gave me an apologetic look. The crowd looked behind them and started cheering for Luca and me to come forward, most of them begging for autographs and pictures. As Luca and I pushed into the hotel, we took a few selfies and signed a few hats.
Just as I felt like the coast was clear, I heard someone yell at us, “Feeling guilty yet for taking a spot from a driver whodeservesto be here?” I froze as I heard the taunting words, knowing that they were for me. I could see Luca and Henri looking around, trying to spot the man who had said them, but Éliott had beat them to it.
