Driving Me Crazy

Chapter Five

Charles

On my way back to the car I had parked behind Target, I get a call from my teammate, Carlos.

"Hey, what's going on?" I ask. He normally never calls, but Miami is one of his favorite cities so I can't imagine what he has planned for this week. I reach for my keys to unlock the doors to my Ferarri 488 Pista and work my way inside the car. You can feel the vibrations of the engine as it roars to life.

He yells into the line, "Charles! When will you come back to the hotel? You agreed we would host the party!" Shit. I completely forgot that he mentioned something about hosting a party with the other drivers tonight. It sounds like he already invited some of them over based on the background noise flowing through the speakers as the Bluetooth connects.

"I will be back shortly, but I might take a rain check tonight. I am not feeling very well today." Let's hope he buys that lie because I've already mentioned plans with Katana. She seemed very open to getting to know each other more over a bottle of tequila and a show that I swore she could choose. She immediately asked me if I had Hulu, so I imagine she already has something in mind.

"No fun. Do you hear this, guys? Charles is bailing on us tonight!" Carlos yells to the rest of the people in the room. There are audible groans in the background before Lando yells, "He better have a hot date or we won't excuse this behavior!" Lando is one of the McLaren drivers, while Carlos and I drive for Ferrari.

Laughing, I exclaim, "Sorry guys, you will see me at tomorrow's party because I know Carlos will come up with something new every night. It's Miami!" Without fail, that caused many inaudible comments from other drivers and Carlos himself before he mumbles into the phone, "Shit, Fred's gonna kill me. Gotta go!" He gets into trouble about once a week with Fred, but that's just Carlos. They never know when to stop messing with each other, it's cute really. The whole team gets along like family but the three of us — Carlos, Fred, and I — are inseparable.

As soon as the phone call ended, I kept thinking about what to say to Katana. Is it even smart for me to bring her over to the hotel? What if someone sees us and says my name? I don't even know why I lied to her, there is literally no hope for a friendship between us after she finds out. StupidStupidStupid. Should I even message her after quite literally lying about my identity?

While contemplating my entire life's decisions right there, I hit the gas and drove back to the hotel. After about 15 drafts of a text I should have sent 15 minutes ago, I decided to just say "Fuck it," and press send.

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Anxious, I sit in the carport waiting for Katana to make her way to the car. When I look up, I see her dressed in gray sweats and a black hoodie. For something so casual, she looks amazing. Her long hair is flowing at her sides and the shorter pieces in the front frame her face perfectly. After admiring the way she so nervously, but confidently walks to my car, I realize that my mouth has been agape the entire time. Snapping out of my trance, I pull my hood up and get out of the car to open the door for her. Not only because I want to be a gentleman, but also because I don't want her to slam my doors.

When she sees me get out, she blushes before asking, "Why thank you, Romeo. Buttering me up before you get me killed?" Her own question has her laughing lightly as she crawls into the passenger side of my car. I have never met someone who laughs at their own jokes like that, well other than Lando but he is one of a kind.

"You're really dead set on the fact that I can't drive, aren't you?" I ask, laughing slightly. Her eyes widen in shock as she says, "Absolutely dead certain that you cannot drive. I am thoroughly terrified right now." Katana grips the door handle and pushes herself back in her seat, pretending that I'm driving entirely too fast. Her reaction has me laughing before revving the car just to see her get startled.

"Jesus dude, don't do that! Okay maybe do it again, that was cool." Her face is glowing with amusement as I rev the car again. That reaction has me wanting to-

"Are you ready to go?" I ask, attempting to be rid of whatever thoughts were running through my mind. Smiling, she grips the door handle again before saying, "Oh god, okay."

I hit the gas to accelerate, probably a little too hard but what can I say? She lets out a startled squeak in response to the car jumping forward and I know that this is going to be a fun drive back to the hotel.

She swears I'm a bad driver but she has no idea. "Hold on tight," I say with a giant grin on my face before launching the car when the light turns green.