Midnight, The Stars & You

15.

"Only if you say please." Pierre raised one of his thick eyebrows.

Ginny placed a hand on her hip, rolling her coffee colored eyes. "Please."

"Good girl." The skin around his nose crinkled. "C'est Bien."

Ginny stared, dumbfounded for a moment, feeling her heart race and thud against her chest. She knew he was teasing her... she could hear the faintest sneer at the end of his sentence... but oh, how she'd felt a herd of butterflies erupt in her gut. She shook her head once Pierre had turned his back to her, trying to rid those thoughts... thoughts of what it might sound like if Pierre ever said-

"Mon Chéri." Charles finished her own sentence, without even knowing. He'd popped up beside her- probably while she'd been daydreaming. She was already spraying Pierre's back while Charles continued. "I can spray you after."

"Okay." Ginny couldn't help but smile in his direction. "Thanks."

Pierre whirled around and snatched the sunscreen from her grip. "I can spray her, Charles. Why don't you check on the water temperature? I'm not trying to swim in a bath tub."

"Why don't you check then?" Charles countered with a grimace.

Pierre opened his mouth to speak, but Chloe interrupted. "Look! It's Max!"

"Verstappen?" Charles and Pierre asked in unison, both sounding perplexed.

They all followed Chloe's line of sight, including the adults, finding Max Verstappen and his father jogging along the beach. Max was really red in the face. They'd probably been running for awhile. He was shirtless, like Pierre and Charles, but his presence didn't cause any stir in Ginny.

But it did in Chloe.

She turned a little more pink in the cheeks. Her eyes traced over Max's pale abdomen. Beads of sweat dripped from his chocolate hair. He had been in town for the OK-Junior Karting Ceremony, but it had been a week. They must've been vacationing.

Max patted his dad on the arm, pointing in their direction. The pair of them slowed to a walk, though his dad did not look pleased. Ginny couldn't say she was really pleased either- Max was like Pierre and that was mean.

"I'll spray myself." Chloe grabbed the bottle from Pierre. She shot Charles an appreciative grin. "You should say hi to your friend."

Charles hesitated, but once Pierre shuffled over to Max, he did the same. Ginny listened to Max greeting everyone. His dad wiped some sweat from his hands and shook the hands of all the adults... and Lorenzo.

Ginny sprayed herself down, awkwardly reaching over her shoulder to spray her back. When she was finished, she squeezed through the tent and jogged over to stand between Charles and Chloe.

"So you've been in Monaco the whole time?" Chloe crossed her arms over her chest, and Ginny couldn't help but notice how Max's eyes darted to her exposed breasts. They were covered, obviously, but Chloe had picked out a neon pink bikini that didn't leave much for the imagination. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Max clenched his jaw, glancing back into her yellowish-green eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging. "My father and I have been training. We've been really busy."

"Oh." Chloe sounded hurt. "Right. Wouldn't want you to waste a single second."

Pierre glanced between them, looking just as confused as everyone else. "Why don't you hangout with us for a bit, Mad Max?"

"Yeah, Mad Max." Timothée patted him on the back. "Stay awhile. Relax."

Max chuckled, showing off one of his rare smiles. "I'm not sure my father will want me too."