𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝 | 𝟏𝟖+

Chapter Thirty-Three

                                    ~Blake~
The smell of rubber burning filled my nostrils. My fire retardant suit kept me safe but that didn't satisfy my fear. My heart was beating loud, being able to hear it in my ears.

"Blake safety car is on the way stay calm." David's voice bounced inside my head. I couldn't move. I was stuck in place. The smoke around me made me lose consciousness for a moment.

Suddenly I was flipped back over, waking myself. I quickly unbuckled my belt and jumped out of the car. Workers tamed the fire but the damage from the burn broke my heart. The blue and orange paint was left black in the front, with scratches and pieces scattered across the track. The only good thing was I placed P3 before the crash, but that still doesn't make me feel any better.

I felt a body hit my back, making me lose my balance for a second. "You scared me you sh*t!" Lilias frightened voice made me turn around. Her arms were wrapped around my waist, her face hidden behind her hair. I pushed back her hair to reveal her face to me. Her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were rosy red, and each sniffle she took made my heart ache. "This isn't my first collision." "But it could've been your last."

Her words hit me heavy in my chest. The thought of losing everything in that one crash was soul shaking. It was more than I can handle, and definitely too much for Lilia.

I reassured her, pulling her into my chest and patting her head. "I'm fine, just a little shaken up." I heard her sobs and I was tempted to kiss her tears away. David walked up to us. "Blake, any damage?" "On me or the car?" He gave me a sarcastic look. "You dumbas*." I chuckled. "I'm fine. The fire barely touched me." He nodded. "The damage on the car is disappointing. We'll try to fix it before the race tomorrow." I nodded in agreement. "Congrats on P3. Lilia take care of him please." David walked to the car, catching Lilias attention.

"Who's that?" "David, the CEO of McLaren." She nodded. "He handed me the headset actually. Peter was being a d*ck and wouldn't let me listen to your radio." I rolled my eyes. "We won't have to worry about him soon."

Heals clicked against the track floor as we both saw Claire running to us. "Oh my god are you okay? Hurt, bruised, burned?" She touched my bicep, searching for any way to touch me. "I'm fine Claire. I'm gonna go get ready for the press conference." I nudged her hand away. "Of course, let's go." She tried to grab my hand but I pulled back. "I said I'm fine. I can take care of myself." Truth is I actually can't. The whole situation and close to death was still shaking my insides.

I took Lilias hand, dragging her away from the smoke and car, back to the garage pit. Everyone around made sure I was okay, simply giving small handshakes and saying thank you for their concern. The whole way back to the hotel was quite. Me or Lilia didn't say a word, keeping our thoughts to ourselves.

We made it to the hotel. "What floor is your room?" She looked around, not wanting to face me. "Just follow me." She led the way to the elevators, I follow behind. Finally we reach her hotel room, her opening the door and pushing it aside to let me enter.

I sat on the couch, placing my head in my hands. The sound of ice being shaken in a glass cup made me look up. Lilia held water in front of me. "Take it." I didn't put up a fight, grabbing the glass and taking a sip. She sat next to me, leaning her head against the couch.

"How are you feeling?" "Still disappointed but calmer." Her hand started stroking my back, taking off any tense feeling I had left. "I have a question." I turned to face her, giving her a slight nod to continue. "Why did you only respond to me on the radio? Everyone was calling you and you were scaring us." Honestly, I didn't know the answer to her question. My mind was foggy when the crash happened and hearing her voice made me connect to reality again. "I don't know." That's all I could say at the moment.

I placed the glass on the coffee table, facing back to her. Our eyes locking. Again, we didn't dare move or speak. We stood still, and I saw a shine hit her eyes. Maybe it was the sunlight from the window or the light from the room but I took it as a sign. F*ck temptation. F*ck boundaries, I want it all.

I connected my lips to her. The sweet taste of her filled my mouth, craving more by the second. Her kissing me back satisfied my need. I placed my hand on her back, bringing her closer to me. Her hand roamed inside my hair. Sh*t I need it all now.

Lilia pushed at my chest, us detaching ourselves from each other. "No. We can't." She tried catching her breath, but I was on high adrenaline. "Why?" "You and Claire, everything about this is wrong." Mentioning Claire's name pushed a nerve inside me. "She isn't anything to me. She'll be gone soon but I want this." She didn't lift her head, keeping her eyes down on her knees. I grabbed her hand, placing it above my heart. "F*ck our wrongs, I feel right with you." She finally looked up at me. A small smile appeared on her lips, disappearing back to a frown.

"You need to go get ready for your press conference." She yanked her hand back. "And you need to get ready for our date." I got up from the couch, making my way to the door. "You just had a life threatening crash Blake. You should rest after." I shook my head. "After this stupid conference, I'm all yours." With that, I left the room.

I sat beside Tyler, with him winning pole position and Isaac coming out second. Cameras and reporters filled the room, ready with notepads to ask us the most boring questions we hear every time.

"Blake what's your strategy after your horrible collision today?" A man asked me. "What happened today was unexpected and not exactly how I wanted it to go, but that doesn't change my mindset for tomorrow's race. As for strategy's, I like to keep those to myself. Don't want any competition getting ideas." The man wrote in his notepad, the usual sh*t. I leaned against my chair, wanting this to be over. The thought of my date after came to mind, making me more excited to leave.

Finally we concluded the press conference. I raced out, finding Lilia in the hallway wearing a yellow sundress. "You did well for the questions they asked, especially about today." I smiled at her. She patted her hand against my chest. "I love the color." Her hand slid across my light blue button up, her walking away to the door. I couldn't move for a minute, watching the beauty slowly walking away from me.

"Are we not having a date or not?" She yelled. I ran towards her. I'm not messing this up.