Page 144 of Overtake
“What if I’m not?”
“Wrong question.” She grins. “What if you are?”
We haven’t really talked about this. Everything’s been such a whirlwind and the races have been back to back. I’ve hardly had time to think, let alone talk with my cousin about shit like love and fear. “He said he’s loved me since we were kids.”
Jacintha laughs. “Well, duh. You’re the only person who refused to see it.” She shakes her head. “That’s not a man who wants to control you or wants you to stand behind him. Right? I mean, he knows exactly what kind of wild horse he’s grabbed hold of, Tonka.”
I look at her again. “Did you know he was the one who told Dad I was purging?”
Her eyes widen. “Did he really?” Cin nods. “That totally tracks. It’s pure Nico Belmonte, right?”
She’s amused, but I still don’t know how to feel about it. “Is it a warning sign though? Like trailing me into the gent’s room in Singapore? Does he think it’s his job to save me from myself?”
“No. He’s always been looking out for you.”
I sit up. “Which is infuriating.”
“Why? He doesn’t do it because he thinks you can’t take care of yourself. He does it because he cares in the same way Coy and I and Bowie and Reece and this whole team care about you.”
I think about that while putting on my trainers. Nico cares, probably more than he should, about more people and things than he should.
“Everyone thinks he’s this super-controlled, single-minded bloke who’s collecting trophies like a kid collects American baseball cards, and maybe they think I’m just another one.” She opens her mouth to argue, but I raise my hand. “But he’s not. And I know I’m not that to him. But… Cin, I don’t know what Nico is tome. I don’t want to be like Kelley. I don’t want to just use him and shove him off to the side for the next great prospect that comes along. Or worse, do that, hurt him, then that other person like she did with Dad, then think I can just go back to Nico and pick up where we left off without considering the wreckage I’ve left in my wake.”
“Which proves every point I’ve stated.” Cin hugs me. “You don’t want to use him, Petra. You want tobewith him. There’s a world of difference.”
An alarm buzzes and she checks her watch. “Now. You’ll have to overthink your feelings later. It’s time to nail a hot lap and outshine a world champion.”
I look at my race helmet, still sitting exactly where she moved it. The asymmetry still makes my teeth itch, but it’s not so bad that I can’t ignore it.
I reach for the doorknob. “Right. I’m ready.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Jacinthaand I stride out to the paddock, through the garage, and across the pit lane to an opening in the barrier and onto the track.
Nico’s there already, looking unfairly good in WolfBett blue and gold. He’s wearing the same FuegoFrío trackies I have on. He holds out a black visorless helmet. The production lot are providing them with all the other kit. No visors so the in-car cameras can capture our expressions. The jerks.
He smiles as we walk toward the car and crew. “Ready to lose,corazón?”
“In your dreams, Bunny Boy.”
The producer, Sarah, hands both of us a set of spiral-bound cue cards. Each has a question printed in a large font. “Right then, drivers! These are your trivia questions. Some you suggested, some our writers created, all pre-approved by both of you. We’ll flip a coin to see who drives first. The driver asks questions about themselves from their cards, the passenger has to guess. Get it right, you swap positions. Wrong answer means the driver keeps going. Whichever driver crosses the finish line at the end of the second lap gets to do victory donuts.”
I flip through my cards. There are questions about my childhood fears, my hospitalization, my secret indulgences. Nico does the same with his.
She steps between us, the coin in her palm. “Heads or tails?”
Nico nods at me. “Your call.”
I smirk. “Tails.”
Sarah tosses an American quarter and catches it, then turns it onto the back of her hand. “Tails it is.”
I punch the air. “Yes! I drive first.” I snatch the car key from her hand.
“This will be terrifying,” Nico mutters, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling in. But he’s grinning.
I settle behind the wheel and start the car, then rev the engine and launch us toward the turn 1 hairpin with enough force to pin us back in our seats.
