Lies || Ryan Blaney

1.7 - Never Letting Go

//Picture is of the outfit. Couldn't find one I liked and looked like the right size.//

Courtney

I had been talking with William and Erin on pit road while I waited for Ryan. I had figured that the meeting would be over by now, but I still had yet to see him. I tried to not worry about it because we know it was not good for the baby. I had been busying my mind with little things, like the crowd's semi-loud chatter and the loud clanks from the pit guys getting their tools ready.

The air had been a bit warm for early October despite the rain the previous night. I had opted to put on a stretchy white dress and a cream-colored knitted shrug, going with a pair of white tennis shoes that had been scuffed up from previous wear and tear. I always had a rule of thumb that white at a racetrack wasn't the best attire because you'd get that dirty in minutes but most of my cool and comfy dresses (that fit) were white or a light color. I just had to suck it up and make sure to be careful.

Erin had mentioned what she and William would be doing after the race. Hopefully with it being an elimination race both Ryan and William would make it through but you never know about this place. I always had my woes about the Roval since it's always a toss-up and being the cut-off race had me jittering. I had been thinking that Ryan would be fine, but I remembered the Busch Clash at the Daytona Road course and how that went. Brakes going out with just a couple of laps to go and then Chase running into him and spinning him out, and then Kyle going off to win it. I did not want a repeat like that for him.

An announcement went over the loudspeakers for drivers to head to their cars, I looked around, to see if Ryan was around. "Go ahead and stand by his car, he should be there soon. Can't miss prerace." Erin told me when she saw me looking a little lost.

"I'll talk to you all later. Good luck, William." He thanked me before I gave them a final glance. Ryan's car was five cars up from William's, I acknowledged and said hi to Kyle Busch and Samantha who was busy with Brexton, Kyle Larson stood with his daughter as Katelyn had been trying to wrangle Owen up from running around. Chase's car was in front of Larson's. While he had been busy talking with his crew chief, I didn't bother him, knowing that they were focusing on today. Kevin Harvick was placed ahead of him, and I could feel the tension there. Bristol hadn't been the best for the two drivers so I'm sure everyone wanted to keep as far away from that drama as possible.

That being said, Ryan just had to be placed before that mess. As I got to the car, Todd looked at me with confusion. "Where's Ryan? We haven't got to go over anything yet." He looked behind me, seeing if he was coming that way. I had just started to answer when off to the side a blur of white and red came rushing in.

"Sorry, I'm late. I had to talk with Roger and then I was pulled into one interview right after another." Ryan shoved his arms through the top part of his fire suit, his glasses had been shoved on top of his hat letting me see the sparkle in his eyes. Just from that, I could tell that his meeting went well. Taking a relaxing sigh of relief, I stepped closer to him; knowing that he wouldn't be in trouble for it.

Going through some things, Todd and Ryan talked before getting in line. Ryan's hand found mine, grabbing it and intertwining our fingers. He gave it a small squeeze while smiling down at me.

"I assume the meeting went well," I asked, just above a whisper so we were the only ones to hear. With a tiny nod, he said, "I'll tell you about it after the race."

I sat inside the hauler for some of the race, messaging Erin and Brittany. The Nascar side of Twitter had imploded with pictures of Ryan and me. I had been used to photos of myself around Ryan before our relationship became known to the public and getting mixed comments on it, but now with everything that's happened, most of the replies were happy. I had noticed a lot of fans didn't particularly like Gianna, coming spot on that she had spilled us up, and at that time I had been right there with them.

A lot of the fans were just happy to see us together again, especially since right after our relationship was announced he was spotted with Gianna. Some fans were even connecting the dots that the baby had to be Ryan's; even though I'm sure he will post something on it soon.

Brittany had asked me if I was okay with this much spotlight being on myself while trying to keep me rested. I had messaged her back, telling her that I didn't pay much attention to the comments on social media; just too much other stuff to worry about. And it was true, at the beginning of my pregnancy I would pay a lot of attention to Twitter and how people seemed to take the fake relationship, now I just scroll on by the comments section.

Unfortunately, William didn't make it through to the next round, and I hated that for him, especially after being knocked out by a Chevy-affiliated teammate. Ryan finished ninth and was able to move to the next round. He was fine with that over the radio, especially being so high in points. That had him even more excited to move on. When the cars finished coming down the pit road, I made sure to wait until all the craze was finished before thinking of climbing down off the pit box. I had come back out to sit alongside Todd when it came to single-digit laps to go, and I was happy I did.

Standing off to the side by the pit wall, I watched Ryan talk with the reporter, giving his accounts of the race. Every second or so his gaze would drift to me, and another smile would come onto his face. When he parted ways with the camera, giving them a smile and a drink of body armor before waving me over. When I got to him, he wrapped me up in a hug, not even letting me get a word out before his lips were on mine. The taste of his drink lingered on them. Off in the distant, I could hear the cheers of fans and even some well-known voices even closer. Pulling away slightly, Ryan's gaze fell on me.

"I'm never letting you go again." He whispered before giving me another kiss.

Holy crap, I am so sorry that it has taken me well over months to upload. Just haven't been in the funk to write, had football on my mind but now we are coming back into the 2022 season and The Clash is just around the corner. Do you have a pick on who you think will get it this year? I honestly believe that this will be complete mayhem, and it'll be someone coming out of nowhere. I hope you like the small chapter. Will hopefully be updating more in the coming weeks. :)

-Stay Beautiful

Courtney S