Page 49 of Narrow Margins
“No way, I couldn’t give a shit. I let my racing do the talking, I don’t care what people say or think, that’s up to them. I know that what we have is real and the rest is just a job.”
“Okay then, let’s forget about that for now. You need to call Reynolds and I’m going to start reading through any correspondence that you’ve had since this went viral. Are you okay with me looking through your emails? Then I want to update your Facebook fan page and Twitter feed.”
“Have at it, there’s nothing in there that you can’t see.” Griff frowns as he pulls out his cell phone and scrolls through his contact list, searching for Austin Reynolds’ number. As I walk towards the office, Griff calls out to me, “Corrie, hold up.”
I turn and walk back to him, “What’s up?”
“You sure about this? About me racing again?” I can see the alarm etched on his face so I do the first thing that springs to mind.
My mouth captures his and I charge the kiss with every feeling I have. My tongue dips and delves in his mouth, lazily tangling with his. My hands slide into his hair and grip tightly, holding him still. When the moan builds up in his throat, I swallow it down before copying it. Pulling away, my teeth tug on his bottom lip, I watch his eyes dilate and refocus. His tongue darts out and glides over his damp bottom lip.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I whisper against his lips. Righting myself, I smile, wink, and saunter off to the computer in the office. The first thing I do is check out the teams and the gossip; Twitter feeds and forums are always a good place to find out if there’s any discord or squabbles. I start building lists and find certain names being repeated by disgruntled fans. Casey Winters is not well-liked and has lost the last three races, causing rumors of team differences and arguments. I know there is no love lost between Winters and Griff. I wonder if his team would be interested in replacing Winters in next year’s line-up? I make a note to find out more.
I hit up Griff’s fan page and gauge the reaction of his coming out. I’m surprised by the amount of support being shown, but this is for the people who like him. What’s being said on other pages is as important, if not more so. I work through the comments, laughing at some of the requests from gay men asking him out.
Noticing movement at the door, I look up from the screen to find Griff standing with two mugs of coffee in his hand. Smiling, he enters the room.
“Ready for a break?” He asks and places the mugs on the desk.
Catching the time in the corner of the computer screen, I’m amazed by how long I’ve been sitting here. Rubbing my eyes, I smile at Griff. “I hadn’t realized the time, sorry, sweetheart.” I reach out for my mug. “How did you get on with Reynolds?”
“Yeah, good. He’s going to get this rolling and sue the bastard’s ass off. How about you, found anything? Any death threats yet?” Griff asks nonchalantly but I mark the tightness around his eyes; he is concerned about this.
“Nope, to be honest, you’re still good. You’ve had a few offers for dates but no one is really slamming you. One interesting thing though, Casey Winters is in trouble with his team and there’s talk he may not be with them next year. It seems they expected him to win the championship easily without you there but that’s not the case. He’s thrown away three very easy wins in succession.”
Griff grins, “I’m not surprised, his money can only buy so much. His team wants wins, they want the sponsors satisfied and ready to hand over their cash again next season.”
“Would you race for them? This could be an easy switch if you’re interested.” I think he’d like to take his enemy’s spot and win.
“Yeah, I’m open to negotiations with them.” Griff smile is lazy, I see him mulling the idea over and liking it.
“Okay, that’s good to know. Now, sit here with me and we can go through your emails.” I watch as Griff saunters around the desk and leans against my chair.
“Go on then, open them up.” Griff’s arms are tight around his chest but he doesn’t hold back the bark of laughter when he sees how many there are waiting for him. I stand to let him take my place at the desk.
“Shit!” I laugh when I see the number: five-hundred and eighty-two new emails. “Okay, let’s sort out the ones we don’t even want to bother reading.”
Ten minutes later, we have cleared all the spam and have laughed over the lewd suggestions from total strangers, perfectly happy to send pictures of their genitals.
“Oh my god! I can’t breathe! Seriously, why would anyone do that to themselves?” Griff holds on to his sides as he cries with laughter.
“Oh, I don’t know, I think declaring his love to you by writing your name on his hard dick with a Sharpie is kinda cute.” I throw Griff a wink and he sniggers again.
But the next one stops his laughter dead.
“Who’s Pipes?” I ask softly, my hand caressing Griff’s back, I feel the tension rippling through his muscles.
“He’s my best friend, was my best friend. He’s my chief mechanic and we have spent years together. I haven’t seen or heard from him since the court case. He only showed up because he was subpoenaed. He had nothing to do with me after that one appearance to say that he had seen that dreadful woman all over me and led her away to Casey Winters. He never said anything to help or hinder me, he didn’t even make eye contact with me.”
“Okay, sugar. We don’t have to open it, let’s just move on. We’ve nearly finished.” I go to delete the message but Griff puts his hand over mine and stops me from clicking delete.
“No, I want to read it.” His hand stays fixed over mine, his eyes flicking between the screen and me, looking indecisive.
“Do you want to read it in private? Shall I go and grab a couple of beers?” I’m uncertain of what’s going to go down here.
“No. God, no! I can’t make up my mind if I want to read it or if I want you to read it first. I’m worried. No, that’s wrong. I’m cautious as to what he has to say that he hasn’t said in, what? Ten months, maybe longer?”
“Okay, take your time. Let’s look at the others.” I keep my hand on the nape of Griff’s neck, gently stroking through his soft hair, letting him know I’m here for him. But Griff keeps staring at this one.