Lap 16

midnight

The next race weekend, Devlin did her best to avoid the Ferrari garage completely. What the hell was Charles thinking!

She had a chance to corner Mick before practice.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Mick just cocked his head to the side, confused. His puppy dog appearance wasn't going to work on her.

"I know you left it in my room."

Mick's cheeks went upwards slightly, scrunching his eyes for a second.

Devlin set her eyes upon him in a glare.

"How do you know I did it?"

"Because Lewis told me."

Mick just shrugged his shoulders and gestured in Lewis direction. He returned with a wink. Even across the garage, Lewis always knew what was going on.

"Im seriously going to hurt both of you two."

She rolled her eyes before storming towards her driver room.

Kaden met her one the way.

"Hey, V. Do you wanna get some food?"

"Maybe later."

"You need to eat before practice-"

"I said maybe later."

He took a step in front of her and became a wall of green in front of her. She hated when he wore his Aston Martin shirt on race weekends. He had never asked for any Mercedes merch at all. So much for being a good supporter.

"Dont drag me into whatever the fuck is going on between you and your teammates."

Ugh there was so much he didn't know. He had no knowledge of the fact in the next garage over there was a man swooning for her. It would never work anyway. She took a breath.

"I'm sorry. Just stressed I guess. Can we get food between the practice sessions?"

Kaden looked at her face and softened his eyes. He didnt mean for his words to come out so harshly.

"Of course sweetheart."

She walked with him to the exit of the Mercedes garage. He pulled her in and hugged her tightly. He whispered in her ear,

"I didn't mean to say it like that."

Her lips brushed his ear.

"I know."

He parted from her but planted a kiss on her lips before walking away. She crossed her arms and watched him walk through the paddock to the Aston Martin garage.

She turned her back before she could see who walked past her. The sleeves of her race suit beating at her sides as she walked back into the garage.

Not even 30 feet away from her, strode Charles through the paddock. He hated seeing her with him. He didn't understand how she was with him.

They were polar opposites and not in a good way. All he cared about was success on the track. Whether it was Lance earning points or Devlin on the podium. He made it so blatantly clear after just one race weekend, but Charles had seen him previous seasons as well do the same thing with Lance. Mick had told him that Dev had left shortly after him, she had made it very clear she hadn't wanted to go out that night but Kaden and Lance insisted.

Devlin was so much more than a top driver in a top team. She was the best kept secret of the racing world. She was the first female on the grid. She was a good racer, she deserved her due credit. Her ability to deal with the media was immaculate. Her manager rarely had to jump in and save her.