What Is Love? ∞ Max Verstappen

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 9

♪ Through the wind
Down to the place we used to lay when we were kids
Memories of a stolen place ♪

Claire Leclerc POV

Saudi Arabia has been a bit awkward. I avoided Lando for a few days until I finally told him it wouldn't work, he was bummed but was nice about it. He said I could call him or text him if I changed my mind. Max has been very obviously avoiding me and I don't know why. Was it because of Lando? Did he think we were together and decided to be respectful of him? A lot of possibilities came up but no answer whatsoever.

I saw Olivia every day for a few minutes. I like her, she is very fun to be with, she seems happy with any little thing you might do for her. Max won and I was getting irritated with the cold shoulder he was giving me. So I decided to go to his room on the motorhome and wait for him to come here after everything ended.

"Claire, what are you doing?" He asks surprised and confused while looking around for Olivia.

"I wanted to talk. She is sleeping in Checo's room, he won't need it, I checked with him" I say and he nods sitting down in front of me.

"Talk about what?" He asks and I wanted to slap him, why is he playing dumb?

"I want to know why you've been avoiding me for 4 days now"

"I'm not avoiding you. As you can notice, I'm quite busy and I need to take a shower. Races are hard" He says getting up.

"I'm not finished. I am talking to you so you better not go into that bathroom" I say forcefully and he is surprised. He turns around and finally looks at me.

"What do you want to hear? I can tell you and get this finished with" He asks clearly pissed off.

"Why are you mad at me? I can't seem to understand" I say raising my voice slightly.

"If you have Lando why are you here? Is he not enough? Do you want to see who you like better?" He asks and only now did I notice how close we were getting.

"Lando? I knew this was about him. What the fuck has Lando got to do with this? He accompanied me to my hotel room because his room was close to mine. That is all"

"I saw you two kissing. I am not dumb, you don't need to hide it from me. I would see him anyways, you are my neighbor" He says rolling his eyes.

"He gave me a hug, don't assume things you didn't see. Fucking moron" I say pushing him with all my strength and he didn't even move a muscle.

"You should be with him, you would be perfect for each other and he clearly likes you" He says and I saw how he clenched his own jaw after saying it.

"You don't even believe that. I don't want to be with him" I say letting out a laugh.

"Are all your doubts taken care of? Can I go take a shower?" He asks pointing to the bathroom door.

"Are you going to keep avoiding me?" I ask crossing my arms and he looks down, quickly looking away. I think he can see more than he wanted from his height.

"I am not. I was stupid. Can we talk about this after the shower?" He asks and I nod.

"I will leave now" I say and both of us turn away.

Is it bad that I wanted to kiss him? Fuck. The sexual tension could've been cut with a knife. I knew it was mutual, I saw how he looked at me. How his eyes traveled between mine and my lips. What am I doing? He would've kissed me if he wanted to. I went to check Olivia in Checo's room and she still slept like an angel. I gave her food and kept her busy while Max was at interviews, celebrating and doing whatever he has to do.

"Are you two talking again?" I hear Sergio's voice and I turn around, closing the door to the room so she wouldn't wake up.

"Yeah, can you watch her for 10 minutes? I should get going, he is just in the shower, he must be finishing" I say and Sergio nods.

"Or you could just wait and you can go back to the hotel together" He suggests but I shake my head.

"See you in Australia" I say and he shrugs.

"I guess, see you there" He says and I start to walk to the stairs so I could leave once and for all.

"Where are you going?" I hear Max's voice asking, I turn around and see him leaning against the door frame with his arms closed.

"Leaving. I said I would be leaving and Sergio is with her"

"And I asked if we could talk after the shower" He says walking towards me.

"There is nothing more to talk about Max. I am greatly enlightened" I say a bit sarcastically.

"Don't you want to know more?"

"Like what?" I ask curiously.

"You don't want to know why I avoided you after seeing you with Lando?" He asks and I am now wondering that. I knew there was something missing but my brain wasn't even thinking straight with him so close and his perfume invading my nostrils. I was only going to think about this when I went to bed and it would be another badly slept night.

"Tell me why then" I demand and he laughs shaking his head.

"Yeah. That is not going to happen, you didn't even think about it. You are not as smart as you think love" He says with a slightly closed smile and I am shocked by his smugness.

"That is not fair. I could barely think inside that room. Give me some slack Verstappen" I say and quickly realize the mistake I made when I see the smirk he had on his face. Asshole.

"What was making it so difficult there? Did I put pressure on you? Sorry about it" His irony and smugness infuriated me. Oh, are we really doing this? Fine by me. I can play this game.

"Yeah, I think you intimidate me a little too much for my taste. Maybe I got inside the wrong motorhome and the wrong room. Where is McLaren's motorhome? Can you tell me?" I ask this time getting closer to him and he took a few steps back, his smirk was gone and we were just focused on maintaining eye contact.

"You know where is it. Go ahead" He says and I saw his jaw clench once again. Is he jealous?