Page 13 of Rush
‘Hi.’ She kissed him again. ‘I missed you.’
‘I missed you more. Trust me.’ He gazed into her eyes and she admired the ocean-blue hues of his own. There was nothing like this. Sometimes the weeks and months apart were worth it just for the feeling she got when they saw each other again. But if she told him that, he might not do crazy things like fly her halfway across the world in the middle of his insanely busy tour just to lie tangled up in bedsheets for two weeks.
‘Ahem.’ Her driver coughed, subtly gesturing to Savi’s suitcases which he was waiting to put in the trunk of Jesse’s truck for them.
‘Sorry, man. Here, I’ll do it.’ Jesse grabbed them and did it himself, tipping the driver generously. So generously, in fact, that Savi’s eyes nearly fell out of her head.
‘Thank you, sir. Let me know if you need me at all over the next two weeks.’
Just like that, they were alone at last. He held the passenger door open for her, ever the gentleman, and snuck in an extra kiss as he buckled her in. ‘Will never get tired of doing that.’
‘Well, then I’m in for a treat.’
Jesse’s truck was one of Savi’s favourite things about him. It wasn’t flashy or over-the-top, it was a beat-up old Chevy that he’d had since high school and it belonged to the same guy she’d fallen for, before fame got in the way. Not that there was anything wrong with him being famous, she just sometimes missed that tiny snippet of a summer when it was them against the world. Now it felt like it was the world against them.
‘So, tell me about the race.’ He removed one hand from the steering wheel and placed it on her knee, causing goosebumps to rise. ‘What was your personal highlight?’
‘Overtaking Marco,’ she laughed.
‘No shit, I bet that felt good.’
‘I’m no stranger to the fact that he’s a better driver than me, all the guys on the team are. For now, at least. Us girls are new to this level of endurance racing, with a car as fast and as high spec as this. But knowing I’m capable of that so early on in my career with the IEC? Makes me wonder where this will take me.’
‘Formula One, baby.’
‘I don’t want to race in that championship,’ she laughed. ‘Endurance racing has my heart, you know that. I like the unpredictability, the challenge. The longer a race is, the more chance that things can go wrong or they can change. It feels like more of a fight.’
‘Wouldn’t you give it a try?’ Jesse eyed her and squeezed her upper thigh. ‘Would be a hell of a legacy to leave behind one day.’
‘I’d consider a season. Or a spot as a reserve driver, maybe. But if it meant sacrificing my place on the team or dropping out of the IEC and risking not getting back into it, absolutely not. Besides, F1 is a whole different ball game. What if I failed?’ Savi had never really suffered from a fear of failure, but endurance racing was what she was good at.
So many drivers switched between the two and were great at one and not so great at the other. She knew of F1 drivers who had come across to the IEC, stolen the spotlight and had all the fanfare, and then flopped so badly that they’d either gone back to what they knew or retired from racing entirely. It was just different. And as much as Jesse always encouraged her to shoot for the stars,thiswas her dream. She was right where she wanted to be.
‘Enough said,’ he smiled. ‘There are snacks in the glove box, by the way. I stocked up on your favourites.’
She dived straight in, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. She was lucky that they were easy to find in Europe. ‘Tell me about the tour, then. What’s the latest?’
‘Uhm, well, my manager is pregnant. So that’s a real pain in the ass.’
‘Sapphire’s having a baby?!’ Savi gasped. Sapphire was one of very few people who knew about Jesse’s relationship status, and that was only because she along with his PR team were responsible for helping to keep it under wraps. Savi had met her a few times.
‘Yep,’ he replied, popping the ‘p’. He didn’t seem happy about it at all.
‘Let me guess, you’re sulking because she’ll have to go on maternity leave?’ She ripped open the packet and bit into chocolatey, nutty heaven.
‘Yeah! She’s been my manager since day dot. So I’m gonna have to find someone else while she’s raising a kid, and then what if she doesn’t come back?’ He seemed genuinely stressed out, but Savi couldn’t help but find it amusing.
‘That’s just life, Jess. People move on. But I’m sure Sapph will come back to you, she’s the one who got you to where you are.’
‘Exactly! I can’t do it without her.’ He put his other hand back on the wheel and Savi missed the warmth of his touch.
‘You can. But anyway, you’re stressing over something that might not even happen.’ She held out the rest of her peanut butter cup for him to take. More to shut him up and get him back into cheerful-boyfriend mode. The boyfriend who was focused on living in the moment.
‘Sorry, this trip is supposed to be about us and I’m already complaining,’ he sighed, stopping at a red light. Savi silently leaned over the centre console, forcing him to look at her.
‘Hey, I love you.’ She traced his jaw with her fingertips and was met with a kiss. It started out slow, and then it became a race against the traffic light system. How long did they have before he had to hit the accelerator?
Approximately thirty seconds, apparently, as a car pulledup behind them and hit the horn. It was typical that on such a quiet road, they would still be interrupted. ‘Shit. Quit distracting me, Sav, you know I can’t resist you when you get all cute on me.’
