Page 62 of Game on, Love
She groaned, shaking her head. “Please let me be there if you ever say that to Vedant.”
“Deal,” I grinned.
The screen was back to qualifying, but by now, I knew I had a couple more minutes in hand before I lost her attention. “How come you’re not at the track this weekend?”
She shrugged. “There are a couple of us who travel to the track, but we like to rotate between us. This way, we each get to travel, and it keeps the content and perspective fresh. Too much of the same can be a bit boring sometimes. Plus, even though I get first dibs on a lot of the decisions with both my role level and my contract, I like to give them the option to go for the ones closer to us so it’s not that expensive for them, and well, it’s not like I need to factor in that.”
“But you do it, anyway. Even if it’s not for you, you do it for them.”
Her gaze was distant, but it still lingered on me before she turned back to the screen.
“Are there still any you’re going to?”
“Yeah, I’m going to Austin in two weeks, and then the season Finale in Abu Dhabi, which is the first week of December.”
“That’s not too bad.”
“Yeah…”
I couldn’t tell if she trailed off because I’d lost her to Formula One or to the thought of actuallylosingthe sport. The impulse to bring it up waved over me, but something about how rigid she’d gotten stopped me.
I barely focused on the stream in front of me. Vedant had qualified P3, and by Raina’s reaction, it wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t ideal either. However, I saw a small flicker in her eyes when Axel got given the pole position award, and this time, when the urge to ask came over me, I didn’t stop myself.
But I also knew I didn’t want another meeting with the pillow next to her, so I waited until she finished her notes.
“Done for the night?” I asked, trying to find a way to ease my question into the conversation.
“I wish. I’ve got to write all of these notes into something legible and publish it as soon as possible, and afterthat,there’s a wine glass with my name on it.” She sighed as though that was the thing getting her through the idea of working late at night before she met my eyes. “Why?”
My lips were formed in a thin line, but I knew being honest about this was the only option with her. “I had a question, and I was wondering when it would be the right time to ask it.”
Her back straightened in awareness. “Oh? What about?”
“It’s not about your brothers.” Although, something told me she wouldn’t be pleased with the alternative either. “It’s about Axel.”
“Oh.” She blinked before her face scrunched up in an adorable way. “WhataboutAxel?”
“Just wondering how you two are so close, considering they are rivals,” I pointed to the screen with my eyes, and she hesitated as if unsure what to say.
“I know, but they used to be best friends growing up, and I spent a lot of time with them.” Her fingers played with the edge of her hair, and I noticed the anxiety straight away. “When I moved back and started working at NexGen on F1, he was the first one to really help me settle back properly, and he never asked why I went away or why we stopped talking. He didn’t let the sourness of their relationship affect ours. From my first media day, he has helped me with showing a lot of behind the scenes—for my vlogs but also for work—which has impacted my journey in such a positive way that it felt like we’d never really stopped being friends.”
I couldn’t decide if I was jealous of the bond they shared or thankful that he had helped her make her own space in the world she loved so deeply, so I stayed silent. But she must’ve seen it on my face, because her eyes glimmered with mischievousness—like she was deciding on teasing me. “Why? Are you jealous, King?”
The way she’d said it, like it rolled off her lips perfectly, made me still. I wasn’t sure if she even realised it, but she’d yet to say my name, at least to my face. I could tell in the beginning it was a way to keep the distance between us, but somewhere along the lines, I knew she’d started to enjoy it, so I decided to have some fun of my own.
“Yes,” I replied, my eyes falling to her parting lips before meeting her eyes again. “He got to have a part of you that I probably never will.”
Her breath hitched as though trying to find something to anchor herself to, but I wasn’t done. “Is he your best friend?”
She looked away at that, her eyes clouded with something strong. “My mum was my best friend, the one person I could go for anything. After she passed away, for a while, I just couldn’t bring myself to turn to someone that way. Now, I just have certain friends I go to for certain things. Not someone I could just tell all the random details of my life to… I don’t know if that makes sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.” It did. Even though Rihaan was my best friend, he wasn’t the person I could go for everysinglething. For me, that was always my dad, and when I lost the chance to turn to him whenever I wanted to, it turned me into a different person. “It’s like you know you haven’t just lost your best friend, but lost a piece of yourself too. And every time you experience something—a new moment, a new milestone, or even discover a song that you think they would like, the crashingfeeling of constantly chasing a tide comes to you, and you’re grieving them all over again.”
Her eyes shot to mine, and I cursed under my breath. I didn’t mean to upset her, but her grief was mixed with understanding, and my chest tightened.
“How?” She bit her lip, and it took everything in me not to look away, but instead, I got up and made my way to her. Her body instantly relaxing at the proximity.
“My Dad,” I replied, and her expression shifted, surprise flickering through her eyes. “He’s been sick for a while now.”