PARTNERS || MAX VERSTAPPEN

XXV

"Why are you pretending to be bad?"

Scarlett POV:

I don't know why I had to ask that. The moment was over. I noticed how his gaze hardened, and his grip loosened. 

None of us said anything for a while. We only stared at each other. I was very aware of the surroundings right now. It was colder than before and my wet clothes were uncomfortable and sticky. 

I couldn't stay silent forever. So, I cleared my throat and decided to ask him.

"Can you answer me?" 

He took a step back, so the space between us got even bigger. 

"Why I'm pretending to be bad? What do you expect me to say?"

"All these things that happened between us. Sabotaging, making out, Lydia, and what not. You didn't do that because you wanted to." 

Yeah, I know that he didn't do it because he wanted to. Yuki told me all of it. But I want to hear it from him.  

He stayed quiet for a moment before he started talking. "I did it because I was told to. You're right. I never wanted to sabotage you, hurt you or use you in any way."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Am I a criminal that you have to ask me that?" 

"No. But I want us to talk openly. About everything. Somehow, we always end up together."

"You want to talk openly? Fine." 

Then he stopped talking, grabbed me by my hand and dragged me out of the pool. 

"What are you doing?" 

"You can catch a cold like that. And if you want to talk, we're doing that in the room. It could take a while." 

So, I followed him out of the pool. I did catch myself staring at his body. But this wasn't the right moment to do so. Focus, Scarlett. 

Right before we went back into the room, I slipped on the wet floor and tripped. To my luck, he was holding my hand and caught me right before I fell. 

"You okay?"

I stared at him with widened eyes. This happened too fast. Also, I felt my ankle hurting. 

"Uhm, I...I don't know. My ankle hurts." 

"Your ankle?"

He looked down but there was not much to see. I tried to walk by myself but then felt a stabbing pain which made me bite my lip not to scream out. 

"Scarlett? Can you walk?"

I nodded, not saying anything because if I did, my voice wouldn't be stable. But he noticed that something wasn't right. 

"Hey. Look at me. Does it hurt?" 

"I'm fine. But I'm getting cold now, so let's go inside, please." 

He nodded and opened the door to the room. Then he took my hand again and led us inside. I tried hard not to make any sound and walk normally. This can't be true. My ankle is fine. I can drive. It's okay.

We went to the bathroom, where he grabbed a few towels and put one around my shoulders. "So, you know one thing. I didn't do it because I wanted to. I did it because I was told to. And you probably know who told me to do that." 

I sat down by the edge of the bathtub, drying my body as much as possible. 

"Your dad?"

He nodded. "Since you showed up on the track, he had something against you. But he didn't do anything until you signed for Red Bull."