Off the Track Series Book 2
Elsa has been alone nearly all her life. Thrown into a career she didn't choose out of sheer need. But now, for the first time in nearly a decade life has given her the chance to take up her dreams and join the Ferrari te...
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"Morning," Daniel awakes me, shocking me so much I sit straight up.
Oh my god.
I spent the night in his room.
Glimpses of the evening come flooding back to me. Sex that led to dancing in the moonlight. Dancing that led to skinny dipping. Ocean water that led to showering, which led to more sex. We were awake until the sun rose.
I can't remember the last time I had so much fun.
Daniel hands me a coffee mug, signature smile on his face. "Do you still only take it with sugar?"
He remembers how I take my coffee...
"Impressive memory." I take a massive gulp of the much needed sustenance.
"Me and the elephants." He cracks a joke I can't help but giggle at.
He's covered in a layer of sweat, clad in only workout shorts. Fuck me, has he already been up and working out today? I can't imagine what time it is. "Don't tell me you've already been to the gym."
"How do you think I maintain this god like physique?" He's on an actual roll today. "I brought you something."
A present?
Did I wake up in an actual alternate reality today?
I don't know what the hell is happening but I can't wipe the dumb smile off my face.
"Food?" I guess optimistically for the rumble in my tummy.
He pulls out my black bikini from his hands, revealing my incorrect guess. "Did you go through my room?"
"Mhmm, lots of interesting things in those top drawers."
He winks.
I blush.
Daniel tosses me my swimsuit and starts to dig in his own drawers, so I take the chance to slip it on at lightning speed. Sucking my coffee down, it's time to face the day.
Before I can take step, Daniel swings me over his shoulder and sprints out of the room.
Full on running.
I'm bouncing around like crazy, now covered in his sweat. Unable to speak for laughing so hard, we pass our friends out on the deck in at lightening speed much to their heckling. And before I know it, we're in the water again.
There's a lot worse ways to wake up.
The day flies by and before I know it dinner has passed, and the sky streaks orange promises of a beautiful sunset. Daniel goes to the loo, and Max to take a call. As the couples start to pair off, my phone rings with impeccable timing.
Pierre.
Deciding to take it, I move slowly up the stairs to the top deck.
"Hello," I greet, only to hear background noise. The faint sounds of laughter and music with no greeting back tells me it's okay to hang up.
The top deck is occupied already, Max lounging on the bench in the shade.
"Can I join you Maxy?" I ask, and he nods the okay.
"You seem happy." Max comments, eyes to the sky.
An unexpected overwhelming edge to cry washes over me.
I am happy. Happy in a way I haven't been since well, him.
Happy in a way that I am absolutely terrified of ending.
"I think I am." My voice gives me away, cracking at the words.
His eyebrow shoots up, "Think?"
How to answer this... "There's history... Not the good kind" I say sheepishly.
"Last year?" He keeps it short and sweet like always, hitting the nail on the head.
I nod, glancing at him over my sunglasses. "Scale of one to ten?"
Interesting he'd ask.
Considering I both got pregnant with our child, carried her for months only to bury her alone, and he has absolutely no idea the rating can only be bad.
Worse than a ten. "Thirteen?" I shrug, prompting a sharp whistle from him.
"Have you talked about it?"
The question everyone wants to know. "Nope." I punctuate the p, trying to play it off as casually as I can.
He gives a disapproving sigh, "Why does nobody ever talk about it?"
Because dear Max, that would require hard chats. And when its your hard chat, it's always dreadfully terrifying.
Answering for the world, "Most people are too scared?"
"Are you?"
Hell of a question.
Am I too scared?
Could I really do it?
Hey Daniel, I forgot to mention I got pregnant...
Yeah, no, doesn't really roll off the tongue.
"It's not that simple."
To say the fucking least.
His phone starts ringing so Max rises to his feet, taking a long hard look at me. "You can't win without a little risk."
Well well well, when did he have time to become a philosopher?
A little risk.
Why does it feel like such a big one then?
Max disappears down the stairs just as my favorite aussie pokes his head up. I can't help but grin at his arrival, "Miss me?" I tease, knowing we can't have been apart more than fifteen minutes from dinner.
"Horribly," He grabs his chest as if he's wounded, getting yet another laugh from me. It's contagious around him.
Daniel turns his back to me, looking out into the water. Max's words are still playing on my mind so I take my chances "Can I ask you something?"
"I think you will either way, so proceed." He grants.
"Do you think to win you always have to risk something?"
Awaiting his answer, each second feels like an eternity as he ponders. "Of course. That's why the courageous come out on top."
Interesting.
I don't really think of myself as courageous.
Daniel is certainly courageous though, just look what he does for a living.
He watches the water and I watch him, drinking in him like a glass of water. I really really love his tattoos. Makes me want to get one.
I don't know what spawned this sudden shift between us today, but I'm not mad about it. It feels nice. I'd really missed this. Just having fun together.
"Want to go for a swim?" He asks, a total change of subject.
