Page 107 of Ashes
“Oh.” Stella raised a brow, averting her gaze to me and acknowledging me for the first time since we got here. “I would have never guessed.”
Ugh, she’s one of those.
I hated when people assumed that women couldn’t like motorsports. That and when men started drilling you with technical questions when they learned you did.
I kept myself from rolling my eyes and gave her a tight smile instead. “Yup, I’m the fan,” I said, trying to infuse my tone with enthusiasm instead of the bitterness I felt toward her.
She uttered a fake laugh before returning to her explanations. I tuned her out when I felt a shift in the room. A few crew members’ heads snapped toward the garage entrance and I followed their lead to see who had stepped inside.
My eyes landed on her and I held back a squeal of excitement.
Cynara Cruz. Last year’s Champion in Formula Three. And the first female driver to ever join Matrix’s Junior Team.
I’d been following her career since her karting days and to see her now wearing my favorite team’s colors was incredible. Not only was she one of my favorites, if she performed at the Academy this year, she could very well be the first female F1 driver.
What I wouldn’t give to be able to witness that one day.
She was talking with an older Asian woman that I recognized was Matrix’s communications manager, which meant she most likely just came back from some interviews.
Cynara gathered her long brown curly hair on top of her head and secured it with a claw clip before fanning herself.
Compared to the last two rainy days, the sun was beaming today. We couldn’t feel it in the garage, but I wouldn’t want to be outside under the searing temperatures.
Her hazel eyes drifted over to where Isaiah was standing and he immediately turned around. A palpable tension filled the room when their gazes locked, but she quickly looked away, making her way to the back of the garage.
Isaiah then returned his attention back to whatever data his race engineer was showing on the screen.
Interesting.
My attention was pulled back when I heard Stella excusing herself because she had to take care of some things before the race started. We were given headsets and taken to the side of the garage where small TVs were lined up to watch the race.
Matrix’s crew and the other team’s crew were on track, waiting for the drivers to show up with their cars to set them up in their respective positions throughout the grid as the pit lane closed.
After the national anthem, each team’s crew left the circuit to head back into their respective garages. Once the track was cleared, the cars drove around the track once and were now back from their formation lap, waiting for the lights to go out.
After the green flag was waved, one by one, the five lights above the start/finish line flashed before shutting off at the same time. The cars squealed as they sped past the grid and my nerves skyrocketed as the cars bunched together to overtake.
As they rounded the first corner, Jayden Thorn, Matrix’s other driver, locked up and made contact with Nathaniel, a driver from one of the other teams, knocking himself out of the race.
Loud groans reverberated into the garage from Jayden’s crew as we witnessed his car spin around and out of the track. A yellow flag banner appeared on the screen while they brought Jayden’s car back into the pits.
Nathaniel was able to keep racing after a quick front wing change to replace the damaged one, but Jayden had to retire, a disappointing early ending to his home race.
Jayden’s team had tried to work on his car to see if the damages were salvageable, but unfortunately, there were too many to allow him to rejoin the race.
Frustration waved off Jayden as he exited his car, but my eyes remained glued to the TV, my attention focused on the race.
Isaiah’s car was leading by a great margin, like he had been for most of the season. He’d been undefeated for the last five races and I hoped I could see him break a record today by winning his sixth consecutive race, especially since this was also his home race.
Jamal was behind me and I rested my back against his front as I attentively watched the action on the track.
We could hear Isaiah and his engineer communicating as they relayed information on the car back and forth every once in a while. Isaiah eventually rounded the last corner of his final lap and crossed the finish line ahead by ten seconds.
I fisted my hands in excitement, trying to contain myself from letting out a squeal of delight at seeing one of my favorite drivers break a record. I looked up at Jamal, expecting him to be watching the screen, but his eyes were trained on me, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
It meant a lot that he would stay with me and be willing to experience this together even if it wasn’t necessarily something he loved.
Once all the cars crossed the finish line, I spun around to face him, placing my palms over his chest. “He won.”
