Short Track Lovin' ✅

Chapter 2: Playing Cupid

Summer 2015

"Do I want to know what you two have been up to?" Chase questions as he watches the pair walk in the hauler.

He had seen them walking through the pits, followed by their conversation with Sarina. He knew that meant the pair were up to no good, which was to be expected when they hung out together.

It made him question whether it had been a good idea to bring them both along this weekend, as it may just spell more trouble. However, he also knew he couldn't just keep playing the stare and do nothing about this crush – and perhaps some friendly influence would push him over the edge.

"We were just sharing conversation with Sarina," Ryan offers with a smile, hoping Bubba keeps on his best behavior. However, he knew that was like asking for a miracle.

"Please tell me that you didn't tell her that I had a crush." Bubba looks over at Ryan with a smile, which Ryan could only begin to curse under his breath about. He also could already tell that Chase probably wouldn't be happy about what they were going to say, if the truth was spread.

"Don't worry," Bubba starts. "It seems as though Sarina thinks that Ryan is the crushing one." Too late as Ryan kenw by the look on Chase's face that he was in deep water. What had he done to deserve this? "It's easy to assume as he has a girlfriend so the only option would be me, since who would believe that you would have a crush on someone, racerboy? Besides, she seems like a really nice girl. I have to warn you that she can be a little sassy, though."

"Sassy?" Chase questions as he looks between them. He defiantly had made the wrong choice in allowing them to accompany him this weekend based on what he was hearing. "What did you two do?"

"She may have caught us spying on her thanks to Bubba's great idea," Ryan answers as Chase's jaw drops in shock as he looks over at Bubba. He was almost on the verge of punching him.

"I brought you both along to help me, not embarrass me. Can't you two ever go out in public and behave?" Ryan and Bubba shrug their shoulders. Considering the usual antics the three of them got into, they were both shocked by the comment – to a degree.

"There'd be nothing to worry about if you'd just grow some balls and go ask her out," Bubba states as Chase rolls his eyes.

Chase knew that was the truth, though. He probably could've done this on his own, however his own shyness got the best of him. So rather than dealing with life by himself, he was stuck with these two nuts. Was this really a better alternative?

"You should go see her and spark up some conversation, perhaps leading to that offer," Bubba then suggests. "She's gone to the grandstands to watch the practice session." Chase had been thinking of going to watch the session himself, wanting to see whether the groove was expanding as they laid more rubber down. Besides, it sometimes helped to watch the faster cars in other divisions to see the line that needed to be run.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," he offers as he grabs a bottle of water. "Just promise to behave the rest of the day, please?" Chase then shakes his head, knowing that was a bad offer. "Nevermind. That's impossible. Pretend I never asked that question." He then heads off to meet up with Sarina in the grandstands.

"Are we really that bad of friends?" Ryan questions as Bubba shrugs his shoulders. To him, he had seen nothing wrong with the exchange. He had laid the groundwork for conversation between the pair, and convinced Chase to grow some balls and go see her. Wasn't that why they were there?

"He's just nervous that she won't accept him so he wants everything to go perfect," Bubba answers. "He should know by now that this is how we act together." Ryan crosses his arms as he watches Chase walk off. While the antics did not surprise him, he actually felt bad as he could see in the conversation just how sincere and deep this crush truly went. He didn't want to be the reason things did not work out for them.