Driving Me Crazy

Chapter Twenty-Six

Charles

Sparks fly from the back of my car as I take a corner tightly, scraping my floor panel on the curb. Theres three laps left in the race and I am 6 seconds ahead of Lando, giving me a decent cushion of space between us. As long as there aren't any red flags or safety cars I should be able to defend until the end.

My body is a mix between exhausted and energized, my head is killing me, and I have probably sweat out thirty pounds by now. Gross, but kind of satisfying. I take a drink of my water and go through the motions of turn 16. Rounding the corner, I push my car to the bitter end and test all limits for the straight road ahead of me. My car revs loudly as I extend every gear as much as possible without damaging the gearbox. Pushing my radio button, I ask, "How far off the fastest lap?" The radio remains silent, letting me know that I'm on track for the fastest lap without setting off the other teams. I push my car even harder as I near the speed trap of turn 17. I brake slightly later than I should, nearly sending myself off the track but saving myself at the last second. After recovering, I weave my way through the next three turns and cross the finish line with excess speed.

The silence stretches between me and my helmet as I patiently wait for someone to inform me whether I met my goal or not. After a few more seconds, Xavi speaks, "You have set a new track record and met the fastest lap. Keep it up." Shouting into my helmet, I applaud myself for this new achievement. I press my button once again, "I guess I did find a new good luck charm," before turning it back off and smiling at the track ahead of me. The next few laps go by just as fast as the rest of them, leaving me in P1, with the two McLaren boys behind me.

As I cross the finish line, I weave in and out in celebration of my six-second lead. We do a lap to prepare the podium lineup and I wave to the fans, but all I can think about is the girl waiting in the garages. When we line up, I'm in the middle with Lando on one side of me and Daniel on the other. We each stand on our cars and pose for the cameras while celebrating. After that small celebration, we go directly to the cool-down room to make sure we didn't go under the weight requirement and maintained a healthy bodily standard. I stand there impatiently as we wait to get up on the podium.

After the all-clear, Lando comes up to me and congratulates me on the win. I return the favor and congratulate him on the P2. We wait for Daniel and make our way to the corner of the room while we wait for the rest of the drivers to be cleared.

"I can't wait to see Cam after this," Lando says to me, practically bouncing. He looks into my eyes and smiles his big smile before asking, "Did you hook her up to your team radio? I saw them messing with a headset before handing it to her."

His question brings a smile to my face as I admit that I asked someone to change her radio station. Just as we were about to talk about plans, we got told to finally make our way up the podium stairs.

"Do you think Cam told her where to go for the podium?" I ask Lando, knowing Katana didn't have any idea what to do after the race.

Lando smiles and says, "Oh, definitely," as we both put our hats on and prepare for the entrance. Taking a deep breath, we step out onto the podium and are granted bottles of champagne. The boys at my sides allow me to open mine first, which includes shaking the bottle and spraying the crowd while I look for my girl. That doesn't take long, because when I look down all I can see are her beautiful honey-brown eyes. I point the bottle directly at her and allow the bubbly liquid to flow down onto her and the people surrounding her. She looks away, keeping the liquid from entering her eyes, and then looks back up with a giant, heart-melting smile. I wink at her and return the smile before turning and spraying the McLaren boys.

Lando does his signature move of slamming the bottle into the ground and sticking his tongue out as he sprays champagne into the air and all over the three of us. Daniel and Lando then pour some champagne into their shoe and drink from it messily while I spray them from behind. My bottle runs empty quicker than theirs, but by the end of it, we're all soaked and laughing our asses off. The fans cheer us on as we celebrate a huge win on our end and then make our way to the dressing room to get cleaned up.

When I enter my room, I turn immediately toward the closet and reach for a spare change of clothes. Just as I go to turn and leave for a quick shower, I notice an unfamiliar pair of shoes at my door. A smile floods my face as I spin and face my bed, where a glowing Katana sits with a bright smile of her own.

"Hey Romeo, you did great out there today. I especially loved the little radio trick you pulled," she says in that sweet voice of hers. Her voice is more addicting than adrenaline and I am a pure junky for it.  I walk over to her without saying a word and she doesn't move away, just smiles bigger. I stop a couple of feet away from her before asking, "Did you like my race-win dedication? I knew you would sever my head if I said your name on live TV, but Moose deserves the fame."

She laughs lightly before grabbing my shirt and pulling me two steps closer. "Moose definitely deserves the fame. You, however, owe me a new hat. Mine got a little wet in that wild ceremony of yours." Rolling my eyes and smiling, I turn around to grab one of my personal hats off of the shelf and grab a marker from the cup next to it. Taking both of them to her, I place the hat upside down on her thigh and sign it on the inside of the bill where nobody will see.

After I sign it, I place it on her head and pull her back so that she is standing in front of me. I take her chin and lift it while bringing my head down to eliminate the height difference between us.

"What does it say?" She whispers as my face hovers inches from hers.

I smile and lean in, leaving millimeters between our lips as I whisper back, "To my girl." She smiles back and closes the gap between us, kissing me with more need than I thought possible. Her lips are soft but the kisses are hard as we both give into something that we have been craving ever since we met. I don't believe in love at first sight, but I have no other way to explain the love I have for her.