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“Seriously, though. Why stop when we’ve got such a good thing going? It’s obviously beneficial for our team relationship.” asked Jason.
I looked across to Alejandro, who was spooning Jason across from me. “You have no idea what a home race weekend is like. We will be so busy and watched all the time. If we want to keep this between us and not have it in every tabloid across the globe we have to stop now.”
“She is right, sweet,” said Alejandro, stroking Jason’s hair back and pressing a gentle kiss against his temple. “This has been lovely but it is past time we put a stop to it.”
Jason’s eyes filled with sadness as he looked at me. “But I don’t want to. Polyamory is becoming more normalized, can’t we just –”
“No.” Alejandro’s response came out harsh, like it was pulled out of his throat.
I reached up to stroke Jason’s cheek, looking over at Alejandro and then back at him. “We can’t just. This is such a competitive sport and any mistake can get you sidelined. There are only ten teams. Only twenty drivers in the whole world. We cannot risk the wrong person finding out and deciding they need to make a statement. That’s not even taking into account all of the countries where we race that this lifestyle could be viewed as a crime. If you wanted to stop racing that would be one thing, but you are at the beginning of your career. You’re both drivers and F1 has only had one openly gay driver in its history. And that was in the 70s. I know you know all of this, but you need to remember that you might be at the top of the world but there are so many people who’d love to take you down.”
Alejandro reached a hand over to hold mine against Jasons’ face. “We always said this was a one time thing. It’s gone on longer than it should have and now is the natural time for it to end. We stop now, we have our memories, a fun story for a memoir in a few decades perhaps. And no one gets hurt.”
Jason’s eyes closed, his breathing still a little ragged but steady. “You’re right. I don’t like it, but better we stop now than have things blow up later.”
If only it had been that easy.
Chapter Nineteen
The trouble began withthe team banquet earlier in the week. As drivers, both men were expected to have dates, one of those old-fashioned holdovers that leads to unspoken rules of etiquette. Jason elected to bring his sister Sarah, who was an obvious choice and would keep anyone from questioning why he didn’t have a girlfriend. But Alejandro had been publicly single for far too long and there was already debate on social media about why. It was critical he bring a date who could be spun as a romantic attachment, if only for a week or so.
The marketing team brought several high-profile options to him. Women we had already vetted and who had enough social cache to be buzzy without being too notable – actresses, the first wives of tech billionaires, even a newly single global popstar. Yet when presented with the list Alejandro made a face.
“Can I not just take Kat? After all, we have been seen together so often over the season that it would be hardly surprising to have her there.”
I blinked, ready to protest when George spoke up. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. If you really don’t have someone you actually want to take.” He turned to Melissa and continued, “We can spin it as Alejandro is so focused on his career right now that he does not want the distraction of trying to get to know anyone new.”
“But . . .” I spluttered, not really knowing what to say. This would hardly help with the whole trying to not catch feelings thing.
Melissa smiled fondly at me. “I think it’s a splendid idea. And if you are worried about your work, I think we can give you the night off to get ready. Having you circulating as a guest will give you more access to see what is working than if we had you there in a strictly professional capacity.”
“Only if you want to, of course,” said Alejandro. He was being careful how he looked at me, I could tell, yet the heat in his gaze still made my skin hot.
“No, it’s fine. I’d be honored,” I said.
“Perfect!” said Melissa, who then continued the meeting, divvying up my regular duties.
