Chasing You

Prologue

Kelsie's POV

@mason_o'connor
Wishing a happy birthday to the worlds greatest mom @ko12. She's had a rough time since my dad passed away last year, so I know it would mean the world to her if her favorite driver @Blaney would wish her a happy birthday.

I couldn't help but chuckle as I read the Twitter notification from my son Mason. It was a sweet gesture from an equally sweet kid, but there was no way Ryan Blaney would take time out of his day to wish a fan happy birthday.

I clicked like on his tweet, and went about finishing my coffee before getting ready for work when a notification from Twitter popped up. I clicked on it and I almost choked on my coffee when I saw the words on my screen

Ryan Blaney liked a tweet you were mentioned in.

Holy shit! Ryan Blaney liked Mason's tweet!

There was a blue check mark next to the name. It was the real Ryan Blaney, not one of those stupid, annoying fake accounts I get all the time.

Then another notification popped up.

Ryan Blaney commented on a tweet you were mentioned in.

@Blaney: Happy Birthday @ko12. I hope you have a great day.

This time, I actually did choke on my coffee. I could feel my face flush and I couldn't stop smiling. I felt giddy and actually let out a small squeal before I could catch myself. I was way too old to be 'fangirling', but I couldn't help myself. My favorite driver, the very hot, sexy, and very young Ryan Blaney had just tweeted a happy birthday to me.

"Mom, mom. Check your Twitter." The excited voice and footsteps of my fourteen year old son Mason could be heard from the stairs.

Mason came bounding into the living room, a sparkle that I had not seen in a while dancing in his bright blue eyes.

"I saw it." I laughed, giving him a hug. "It really made my day. Thank you so much for doing that. Best birthday ever!!!"

His smile was bright, beaming, almost blinding. He might have made my day, but doing so also made his day.

Ryan's POV

My fingers hovered for a moment in hesitation as I reread my tweet. I had gotten requests all the time from girls wanting me to wish them happy birthday. Some I answered, some I just couldn't get to. This one was different though. This was a kid asking for him mom. His recently widowed mom, based on the tweet. If a simple reply from me would make her day, then why not. I hit the send button, and was about to close the app, but I was curious.

I clicked on her name and looked at her profile. The first thing I noticed, was that she was absolutely stunning. I didn't know how much faith I could put in her profile picture since so many women these days used filters, or pictures of some random attractive person, but the face staring back at me was gorgeous.

I read through her bio.

Kelsie O'Connor
@ko12

LEO widow. Mom to an amazing kid. Nurse. Dog lover. NASCAR fanatic (Go Blaney Go)
#BackTheBlue

Mooresville, NC

Out of curiosity, and frankly, I was a bit bored. I scrolled through her tweets. There were several pictures of her and a boy, who looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, who was a carbon copy of his beautiful mother. There were pictures of them at a race, touring race shops, meeting various drivers. In each picture, she was naturally stunning.

All of the photos so far were of her and her son, she looked like a very devoted mother. It wasn't until I got to June of the previous year that I learned her husband was a Mooresville police officer killed in the line of duty. Damn. I remember that. It was a sad time for everyone in the area.

I found myself more and more drawn to her, so I kept scrolling. I saw the obituary for her husband. I remembered hearing his name, Kyle O'Connor. He had only been thirty four when he died. I guessed she was probably about the same age, since her son was a teenager, although in her pictures, she appeared to be mid to late twenties.

Something in me wanted to reach out to her, and her son. Her husband had lost his life, her son lost his father, while serving and protecting the city.

I clicked on the message icon and began typing.

A/N: This is something I've had an idea doing for a while, and it's starting to come together.

I'm going to try sticking to a schedule this time, not sure what day it's actually going to be just yet, but I'll let y'all know.

XOXO Layla