Page 71 of Happy Hour

“Jameson, what do you think your chances are here for a win?” A reporter with SPEED asked him as we stood alongside his car prior the start of the race.

“I think we have a shot at it but it’s hard to say. I didn’t get a lot of practice time in this car since we crashed in practice yesterday. This Simplex Ford ran great in happy hour though. I think we could easily pull off a top five today.” Jameson answered mechanically continuing to sign autographs for the swarm of fans huddled around his car on the grid.

I couldn’t believehowmany people were gathered around his car compared to the other drivers, yeah most of them were under twenty-fiveandfemale, but Christ almighty this boy was popular.

You could barely move an inch without bumping into someone. I almost felt out of place, like I should have been asking for his autograph but really, he gave me something better not more than an hour ago.

Jameson rarely looked up, just signed autograph after autograph.

I wonder if his hand ever got tired? I know something that never gets tired.

The thought had me giggling next to him. With his head still down, his eyes darted over at me to see what I was giggling about.

Quickly, I looked away like I wasn’t doing anything so he went back to signing his autographs.

One brave garage groupie was standing considerably closer than the rest and kept glancing at the way Jameson and I are standing together, I assumed. Either that or there was actually something wrong with her, no one stares that much.

But then when I thought about it, we are both leaned up against the side of his car but what was evenmoreobvious, the lack of space separating us.

The girl smiled looking at me. “Are you Jameson’s girlfriend?” she asked diffidently, the corners of her mouth twitching into a wide smile.

Both Jameson and me looked up at her.

I choked on my own spit. Embarrassing I know, and Jameson just chuckled at the shy girl’s brashness.

Neither one of us answered, so the she eventually left.

As I thought about what we were, what would I even say? Fuck buddies? The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with Jameson. It wasn’t anyone’s business what we were doing.

I found humor in another older gentleman hovering around for a good ten minutes asking random questions about the engine and what not. He had this hand held video camera with him, taping everything Jameson was doing.

It was actually a little creepy.

Eventually he said, “Say hi to the camera, Jameson.”

Jameson finally looked up for a brief moment and then went back to signing autographs, his dark sunglasses covering his expression. “Hi camera,” Was his response, earning a chuckle from all the fans.

The strange man never left just continued to try to ask questions. “Hey, so can I ask you a question? I need to ask you a question.”

Jameson looked up. “Ask the question then—I’m standing here.” He snapped.

The guy never did ask adirectquestion just stood there astounded by the fact that Jameson actually spoke to him.

It was entertaining to me that here were people that were star-struck by my best friend, someone I’ve known nearly my entire life. It was a strange concept to grasp when you witnessed the rise to fame first hand.

Reporter after reporter, fan after fan, hounded him prior to the race for autographs, handshakes, pictures, anything to take a piece of him away with them.

He handled it well. I could tell he was irritated but he did...good.

I don’t think it was ever the fans that aggravated him—it was the publicity of it all. Jameson was still a small town boy at heart who just wanted to race. All this media attention and fans hanging on his every word was sometimes overwhelming for him. I honestly believe he handled it theonlyway he knew how.

Today was a little different though. When I say he handled it the only way he knew how, this usually involved his short temper getting the best of him.

Alley even noticed the change in his demeanor. “What’s got him so calm? Usually he’s told a reporter or fan to fuck off by now.”

I shrugged while a heated blush crept up my neck to my cheeks.

Alley pushed me. “You’re unbelievable.” she looked down at her Blackberry. “I heard Spencer got a good look at your...” her eyes raked down my body. “parts. I’ve never seen him scared of Jameson before.”

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