Away We Go • 2 • Formula One

Chapter 87

Max threw his head back and groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Yes," I folded my arms across my chest, "or else."

"Or else what?" he challenged, but quickly backed down when he noticed my glare. "Okay, okay, fine. I'll be on my best behaviour. Can I at least have you all to myself at lunch?"

"Sure," I agreed with a shrug of my shoulders, walking around to press a kiss to his cheek, "but you have to come to my media session with me. It's just after first practice, and I have no idea what sort of shit the F-One YouTube channel has planned for me."

"Deal, as long as you don't try and drag me into it."

***

My innocent smile did nothing to budge the frown that had settled on Max's face as the tech crew fitted him with a mic pack. Standing just to the left the small taped 'X' on the floor in front of the bright background display, my hands smoothed the material of my Mercedes shirt to look as presentable as possible for the cameras. My persuasive tactics gave Max no choice but to agree when they asked if he'd like to join me for the interview. He was less than happy, taking pride in the fact he had managed to avoid it until now, and every dagger he sent me with his glare showed this. The fact that his Red Bull didn't show as much pace as my Mercedes after first practice probably didn't help the situation.

"Alright, we're all set," a woman announced, ushering Max go take his spot beside me. We ran through a few quick checks before the premise of the video was explained. "So it's going to be very easy-going today, I'm sure it's a nice break from other interviews you've had recently." Her eyes flicked to me as she handed us a set of paddles each. "Are you both familiar with 'never have I ever'?"

Max held up his white panel with 'I have' written on it, "So this one if I have done the thing?", he then held up the red panel with 'I have never' written in all caps, "and this one if I haven't?"

"Pretty much!" she beamed in reply. "It's all just a bit of fun, not supposed to be too serious. So just enjoy yourself and answer honestly."

As the first set of questions were being prepared, I turned to Max and gave him a reassuring smile. "See? All a bit of fun."

"You owe me." I went onto my toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "You owe me less." I smirked in satisfaction, and even he couldn't keep his frown going any longer. "Let's just get this over with; I'm hungry."

"Should've finished your cereal this morning, then."

"Okay!" a cheery voice spoke from behind the camera. God, I wish I could remember her name but my mind had gone completely blank. Her brown hair was secured in a tight ponytail, and she wore a smart shirt with an F1 logo on the breast. "Never have I ever had an embarrassing nickname?"

"Lys has so many," Max said with a chuckle, nudging me go hold up the white panel as he did so, too.

"It's true," I laughed, "a lot of drivers have silly nicknames for me because a lot of them knew me before they knew I was a driver. 'Steban calls me 'culotté', Pierre calls me 'mon petit navet' - don't ask - Charles had 'chamallow' for me, and my old teammate in F-Two called me 'krolik' because I accidentally killed a bunny rabbit in a session. Uh, I can't think of any more at the top of my head." My eyes drifted to Max's 'I have' panel and my brow furrowed. "What nicknames do you have that are embarrassing?"

"If you don't know them, I am not sharing. It's too embarrassing," Max replied with a shrug. "They were more childhood nicknames, I don't get called them anymore."

"Do you have any nicknames for each other?" the interviewer asked.

"She has boring nicknames for me, like 'love' or 'babe' - I feel like 'schatje' is much nicer, which is what I call Lys." Max told her, wrapping his arm around me so I could lean into his side. "I'm just cute like that."