Friends with Benefits - Daniel Ricciardo

6. My Weakness

SOPHIE

     It was Saturday night and Samantha and I were getting ready at our room in Daniel's apartment. We were going to Jimmy's tonight. A well known night club in the Monte-Carlo area. I was still overwhelmed by my little moment with Daniel. I really wanted him and it was hard to know he didn't feel the same way. He always saw me as his little sister and he just took responsibility for taking care of me. I guess that included taking care of me from himself. 

This morning I woke up really worried about how awkward our relationship was going to become; however, he was still next to me in bed playing with his phone. We had a casual conversation and ended up having breakfast with everybody else on the boat. The season was about to start and he wanted to have as much fun as possible before being jet-lagged for the next six months. I was excited though. The idea of flying around the world with Dan and Max was really fun. I was completely sure I was going to miss Sam though. 

- "So you slept at Daniel's bed last night?" Samantha asked while she was starting to do her make up. We had both chosen black dresses for the night. She was wearing a strapless dress that looked very sexy on her, while I was wearing a one shoulder cut bodycon dress. 

-" I had no other option because SOMEONE had Michael in my bed" I answer emphasizing the word someone. She laughed hard probably remembering how drunk we all were the night before 

"He was nice. He took care of me and we went to bed" I said. I didn't really want to tell anyone about what had happened with the Australian. We were all friends and I just didn't feel like giving explanations and making the situation even more awkward.

-" I see" She smirked "So nothing happened" She finished the sentence while she paused her make up session to look at me with a smirk on her face

- "Girls, it's time to go!" we could hear a male voice with an Australian accent yelling. This time wasn't Daniel though. It was Michael. I could see Samantha's facial expression changing while she showed me her mascara, making sure I understand she wasn't ready yet. 

- "I'll go talk to them while you finish your mascara" I kindly smiled and ran to say hi to Michael. I used to spend all my free time at the RedBull factory not too long ago, with Max and Dan. Michael was always with Dan so we ended up creating a very special bond. I was always happy to see Mikey. He was always positive and very understanding. Partying with him was always fun and I was ready for it. When I got to the living room Daniel was the only one sitting in there. I stopped on both my feet and looked every single inch of him. He was sitting on the couch looking at me with a half smile. He was wearing dark ripped jeans with a black bottom down. The first two buttons of his shirt were open showing a just a little of his chest. He stood up still looking at me and I could feel myself getting nervous the second I smelled his perfume. Baie 19. He still wore it for special occasions. 

"Hey, Dan. I thought I heard Michael" I said offering him a little smile. Daniel and I hadn't talk about what happened the night before. I guess we made a silent agreement of just ignoring the situation so we don't make our relationship unnecessarily awkward, but I wasn't sure this was going to work. 

-" Good night pumpkin. Michael went to get the car. He parked a little far" He replied still staring at me. I decided to ignore the fact that I was feeling nervous and gave my back to him to be able to look at myself in the full body mirror he had in the hall. I could feel him walking behind me. I fixed my hair while I was looking at myself when I saw his image appearing behind. 

"You look..." he said prolonguing the word 'look' probably thinking what to say next to not come off too straight forward. I saw how a grin formed in his face while landing both his hands around my waist. 

"Gorgeous. You look so gorgeous" he finished leaving a kiss on my shoulder that sent goosebumps all over my body. Almost as if it was out of reflex I let my head lean back again his chest. His hands moved from my waist to my arms and he started caressing them. I wondered if he lost control of himself around me the same way I did around him. I didn't want him to have any effect on me, but he did. He left a tender kiss in my neck this time. Goosebumps from head to toes once again. I couldn't help but gasp when I felt him moving away to stand next to me. I was already missing his touch when I felt his palm on my low back while we were still looking at ourselves in the mirror. One next to the other. 

"You've always been gorgeous. Look at us. We would make a good couple" he said and then laugh. We started posing in front of the mirror. Almost as if we were in a Photo Booth. Tongue out, duck face, peace sign, me kissing his cheek. Those were Dan and Soph, Soph and Dan. I got a feeling of nostalgia of what used to be. We started laughing harder and harder. So hard my stomach hurt, I was sure his hurt too. 

-" What did I miss?" Samantha said coming out of the room. She looked so beautiful. I was sure Michael would start drooling when he saw her. Dan walked to her and spin her around.

-"You look beautiful Sam" the Australian said and our friend smiled big. We all headed to the night club where Max and some of their friends were waiting for us. 

Once we arrived Amara and Scott were waiting for us at the door. As soon as the blonde saw Daniel she jumped on him and hugged him yelling his name in a really high pitch tone. I decided to walk pass them completely ignoring her and I greeted Scott with a kiss on his cheek. 

-"Wow Sophia, you look gorgeous" Scott said bringing a smile to my face. He was really handsome and I had fun flirting with him at the boat so it wasn't very hard for me to follow his lead. 

While I was dancing with Scott I could see Daniel letting Amara pretty much grind on him. The thought of somebody capturing that moment and having posted all over the news and media was really disturbing. For a second I thought of kindly asking Daniel to be more discrete but I figured after our make out section he might just think I was doing it for the wrong reasons. Michael touched my arm and that's when I realized I had a frown on my face. I stopped dancing and he smiled at me almost trying to comfort me without saying a word.

- "Hey, Soph. He won't take her seriously" He probably thought I was jealous. I looked to my side to make sure Scott wasn't listening to what we were saying about his sister but he had already disappear and I could see him at the bar. 

-" Mike I would prefer if he would" I said lying to Michael and to myself. Objectively it would have been better if Daniel actually started dating Amara so that I didn't need to cover after him every time he decided to be touchy with a different girl in public. But the reality was that I was jealous to see him giving to another girl what he couldn't give me. 

"I just don't want to clean this mess after him. Is he like this every weekend still?" I asked referring to him taking a different girl out every weekend. 

-" He has changed a lot Soph. He doesn't really see girls that often anymore. Not in private and definitely not in public. I don't know what got into him this weekend" He said looking towards his friend's direction. I did the same as Michael and could see how the driver's tongue was inside the Australian model's mouth. 

-"Well, at least he's having fun" I said giving Michael a weak smile and making my way to the bathroom. I needed a break. It had been a week since Daniel came back into my life, or I came into his. I already needed a break. Coming back to England and accepting Zak's offer I never thought I still cared so much about Daniel. I knew I'd always care for him as a friend but I really thought I was fully over him as a man. I guess Daniel Ricciardo is my weakness. 

After a couple minutes just looking at myself in the ladies restroom's mirror I decided to go back and look for Scott. Maybe having a little fun wouldn't hurt me. As I'm coming out, Daniel was coming in. I could see him smirking before grabbing my arm and dragging me to a corner in the hall. Confirmed. Daniel Joseph Ricciardo is my weakness.