Page 76 of Rush
‘Run, we won’t tell anyone.’ Miko shooed them away and Marco hastily grabbed Savi’s hand, moving her through the crowd with confidence but not in such a rush that people paid them any attention.
‘Mars,’ she cried out from behind him, forcing him to stop as soon as they made it to the back of the garage. ‘Wait, I can’t…’
‘You want to stay here?’ he asked. ‘Sit down quick, nobody can see.’
They were hidden from view behind a temporary wall, near the drivers’ bedrooms, and Savi sank to the floor, doing her best to fight the full-blown anxiety attack. Marco lowered himself to the ground next to her and didn’t say anything, instead taking her hand in his and raising it to his lips. She breathed in and out with a purpose, desperately attempting to pay attention to anything except how she was feeling. Marco’s thigh pressed against hers, his lips on her skin, his shoulder brushing her own. He was grounding her without even realising. Savi let her head rest against the wall behind her and closed her eyes, staying put for a few minutes. It worked. She felt human again, and when she opened her eyes, Marco was looking at her, his brow etched with a mixture of concern and something else she couldn’t quite place.
‘I’m ready,’ she smiled.
‘Are you sure?’ He placed one final kiss across her knuckles and waited patiently for her go-ahead. Savi nodded, standing up and holding her hands out to him. He took them and joined her, grabbing her for a quick hug before they made their way back out to the grid. They bypassed questioning glances from other drivers and reunited with their team, where Jasper shot them a quick thumbs up. Savi returned it, glad to have his support.
‘Hey, Savi.’ Lucie joined them, her camera pointing down at the ground, but they could tell she was itching to raise it and aim it at them. ‘Are you up to some quick-fire questions? Both of you, ideally. It’s just a fun little segment we’re doing for the channel.’
‘Go for it,’ she smiled, pulling Marco to one side so they could film somewhere a little quieter, which was hard given the environment they were in. Their new backdrop was the wire fencing next to the track, that faced the grandstands and the thousands of fans who were watching the grid activity from their orange and white plastic seats.
‘Okay. Before we start, it’s a “who’s most likely to” so I’m going to ask you a question, and then I want you to tell me which of the two of you is most likely to do the thing I’m talking about. It won’t all be motorsport related, either. This is a fun one.’ Lucie waited for them to agree. ‘Cool, first up, who is more likely to regret a tattoo?’
‘Savannah.’ Marco blurted out with zero hesitation, earning himself a whack on the arm. ‘What?! I know you have one and you hate it!’
‘Who is most likely to miss a flight?’
‘Marco!’ Savi yelled out. ‘He’s hopeless, honestly. He dillydallies too much, or he stops for food and forgets he’s still got to get to the gate.’
Lucie snorted with laughter because she knew Savi was right, then she continued, ‘Who is most likely to oversleep during race week?’
‘Savannah again. Not just during race week, either. That girl can be out like a light for a month straight, given half the chance.’
‘Shut up, I was up early for a run every day in Monaco,’ Savi scowled. ‘You were the one making a fuss about it, Mr “I go for a run every morning”, didn’t see you run once in Wyoming except for when you were running away from the cows.’
Marco feigned shock at her unapologetic exposure of his secret fear of the massive creatures her family kept on the ranch. ‘They were making weird noises, I didn’t trust them.’
‘Speaking of big scary animals, who is most likely to survive in the wild?’ Lucie smiled at them, and Savi knew she and Mars were in the middle of creating some stellar content for the Revolution Racing social platforms.
‘Me,’ Savi cut in before Marco could even say her name. ‘I think that has been established. Mars got himself all the cowboy attire while he was in Wyoming with me and hiked and rode a horse, but he wouldn’t last an hour in the actual wilderness.’
‘She’s not wrong,’ Marco huffed. ‘Next one, and try to make it a question that works in my favour, yeah Luce? She’s brutal.’
‘Most likely to–’ Lucie stopped to laugh. ‘Marco, I’msorry and I love you, but most likely get the drunkest at a post-race celebration?’
‘Lucie, why would you put that in there?!’ Marco cried out. ‘I hate this game.’
‘Easy, the answer is Marco,’ Savi grinned. ‘Witnessed it first-hand. In fact, that was the first time we hung out properly, at Faith and Julien’s house in Belgium.’
‘Yeah and now look at us, you’re bullying me live on camera.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Wow, I’m a lucky fella. It’s just as well I like you, Cowgirl.’
‘That brings me to the final question actually… Who is the most likely to give the other person a nickname?’ Lucie smiled warmly at them, going all gooey-eyed as she glanced between them and waited for an answer.
Savi couldn’t stop smiling as she looked up at Marco, who was already grinning down at her with adoration. ‘That would be both of us. He calls me Cowgirl or Savannah, never Savi.’
‘And Savannah calls me Monaco, or she uses Mars like my friends do. Sometimes De Luca, just depends on our moods.’
‘Perfect, thanks guys. I doubt that video will take much editing, but I’ll get it out on socials at some point during the race.’ Lucie flounced off to find Faith, leaving Marco and Savi in their own little bubble, away from the rest of the team.
‘I think Monaco might be my favourite nickname anyone’s ever given me.’
‘Really? I like Mars, it’s cute. Suits you.’
‘I’m not cute, Savannah. Trust me, and you know that. You’ve seen what I can do in the bedroom.’
