Page 78 of Rush
‘What I’m hearing is the feeling is mutual.’
‘Maybe,’ she shrugged, trying to pretend she hadn’t been overthinking it.
‘I’d like to have him as a brother-in-law.’
‘Jesus, Weston. I’m not marrying him. I’m just contemplating whether we might be more than friends, if I want to try taking that leap.’
‘Savi, I would give anything to get my time back, relive those years I spent on the rodeo circuit but make the most out of other areas in my life, too. Go on more dates, let love in. I’m definitely gonna call her, you know? Monica, that old high-school friend who keeps fighting to stay in my life. Sure, I might fuck it up, she might get scared of being with someone with my issues and trauma, but life’s too short not to try. It’s why I encouraged you to chase this IEC dream of yours, why I finally got a grip and left Mustang Ridge to come here.’
‘So basically, I need to get a grip.’ She raised an eyebrow.
‘Yes,’ he laughed.
‘Thanks for the input, I will take your opinion into consideration.’
She snuggled down in her camping chair, taking a cornerof Weston’s blanket and throwing it over her knees. She needed to sleep; she’d only squeezed in an hour here and there when she wasn’t in the car. But they were so close to the end of the race, and she wanted to watch Marco and Miko take both cars over the finish.
It was in the final hour that things started to go wrong for the team. Miko was complaining over the radio that she felt unwell, and she didn’t think she was going to make it. When you were in such a confined space, your senses were heightened, and you could start to feel overwhelmed very quickly. Savi headed over to Jasper’s side, listening intently to the radio conversation between her teammate and her boss.
Jasper took his headphones off and turned to her, ‘Savi, do you think you’ve got a few more laps in you? She needs to get out of that car, but we can’t surrender the race in the final moments.’
‘Yep,’ Savi nodded with zero hesitation, ‘bring her in.’
She rushed to collect her balaclava and helmet, ignoring the cameras being shoved in her face as she moved around the garage. The only thing that mattered was getting that car across the finish line. ‘She’s coming, Sav!’ Kodie yelled out, and then the car was in the pits and Savi was all but yanking Miko out of the car so she could switch out in record time. Drinking tube connected, seatbelts on.
This was what drove her to victory time and time again. High stakes, adrenaline coursing through her veins. She checked her mirrors for cars coming out of the pits behind her and pushed on ahead, her grit and determination spilling out onto the track along with the car.
Marco was right there in front of her, a reminder of what this meant. She was getting to finish arguably the most iconic race in motorsport history with her teammate by her side, her family watching from the garage. It wasn’t just special, it was magical. A feeling nobody could possibly understand unless they were in this industry and succeeded in such an incredible feat.
‘How are you feeling, Savi?’ Her engineer’s voice filled the car.
‘Stressed, but getting into the groove.’
‘Just relax, you’ve only got three laps to go. Marco is there with you, keep close to him. We want you over the line together, it’ll look good for the cameras and give us some fantastic photographs for the history books.’
‘Who goes first?’ She grinned behind her helmet, knowing Marco would never willingly let her overtake even by mere millimetres.
Her engineer laughed, ‘That’s up to you to decide. Just don’t do anything stupid.’
Savi breathed out deeply, gripping the steering wheel with more determination than ever before. Crossing the finish line with Mars by her side was a dream she didn’t know she had until it was here. It was happening. To be able to do the thing she loved most in the world with one of the people she… well, she might not quite be ready to admit that out loud but in her head? Marco De Luca was easily levelling with her love for racing.
She did as her engineer instructed, keeping Marco within touching distance. They shot past grandstands full of fans from all over the world, streaks of evergreen trees and carswho were more than fifteen laps behind them but still winners in their own classes.
But then, just as they were about to cross the finish, one of those drivers, who was in a car that was nowhere near as high-tech as Revolution’s and had half the experience of most drivers on the grid, locked up at the worst possible moment in the race. Thelastsecond.
The car jerked to the right, careening into Savi, who in turn went sailing towards Marco. Debris went flying, right there on the pit straight. She spun three hundred and sixty degrees, feeling like she was suspended in time.Marco.
His car was crushed up against the pit wall, the whole team on the other side unable to do a damn thing about it. ‘Marco!’ she yelled, no sound coming out. Her car had come to a stop in the gravel but she couldn’t see him, couldn’t see much of anything except black dots in her vision. But she wasn’t injured, she wasn’t in pain. Her inability to see straight was the shock, the fear that Marco hadn’t been so lucky. She needed him to be safe, needed to be able to hold him in her arms while she let herself feel everything she’d been shoving down. She neededhim.
There was a knock on her window, and she looked to her left to see a white-gloved hand. It was him. Out of the car, standing on his own two feet, trying to yank her door open while she sat there too stunned to move.
‘Cowgirl, are you okay?!’ he shouted through the door. ‘Can you open the door?’
But she could barely muster up the energy to reach for the handle, instead bursting into tears at the sight of him. Crashing was one thing, but bringing your teammate intoit was a whole other level of stress and guilt. The other driver was already out, slamming his fist down on the roof of his car in frustration while Marco continued screaming at Savi.
She threw the door open, knocking him back in the process. ‘I’m sorry, I’m–’
‘Hi, Cowgirl.’ He helped her out of the car and gripped her tightly, arms wrapped around her waist like he was just as afraid to let go as she was. ‘Don’t fucking scare me like that.’
