Begin Again // Riley Green

2.

Sophie's POV

Walking with Ryan, Chase, and Bubba towards the garage area the next morning, I feel a rush of nerves flow through my body.

Nerves not only for the race, but for the possibility of running into Riley at some point today. Knowing how big of a fan he is of the sport; I doubt he would just perform and leave.

One could hope he would though.

As soon as we reached the garage entrance, Chase and Bubba split off from us and headed towards their cars, leaving Ryan and I standing by his.

"How much more do I have to do before the race starts?" Ryan asks, leaning against his car.

Taking a look through the tablet in my hands, I scan over the schedule.

"Nothing else actually, you are all good to do what you need to do until driver intros" I respond.

Ryan gives me a nod, pulling out his phone and checking the time.

"Do we have any lunch on our bus? Or should I call someone to bring something in. I know Bubba and Chase mentioned that they needed to eat as well" Ryan asks.

"I made something for all of us, we just need to grab the other two and we can go" I respond.

Ryan gives me a nod and starts leading the way through the garage.

When we reach Chase's car, Ryan stops walking and quickly turns to face me, placing his hands on my shoulders. 

"Let's go get Bubba first" Ryan states, attempting to turn me in my spot.

"We're already here Ryan, let's just grab Chase and go. We don't have time to be running around the garage" I respond.

I push Ryan to the side, before freezing in my spot.

Riley is standing next to Chase, a smile on his face as he talks to Chase. Meanwhile, Chase is standing there stone faced, answering Riley's questions with as little emotion as possible. 

How fucking ironic.

"I'll say it again. Let's go get Bubba first, and then come back to get Chase. Hopefully he will be gone by the time we come back" Ryan suggests, again.

Before I can say anything, Chase looks up, spotting the two of us. His eyes go wide when they lock on mine.

"What's up?" Chase questions.

"Soph made lunch for us, wanted to see if you wanted to grab something with us. We're checking in with Bubba next" Ryan responds.

At the mention of my name, Riley spins around to face the two of us.

"Soph" Riley whispers.

I give him a small nod, before turning my attention to Chase. 

"I've already checked with Heather, you don't have anything else until intros, and Bubba should be almost done with his last sponsor event, at least that's what Hannah said. You guys need to eat at some point before race time. We don't need any of you getting lightheaded in the cars again" I tell him.

"I heard Soph made lunch for us! What did you make?" I hear coming from behind us.

Turning around I see Bubba walking towards us, a smile on his face.

"Grilled chicken, broccoli, and rice, the usual" I tell him, shrugging my shoulders.

I look over at Riley, who is looking between the four of us with a small smile on his face.

" I'm so sorry to bother you Soph, but can you help me with this really quick. Something isn't loading on Joey's schedule, and I can't figure out what it is. Don't you have a copy of his too?" Laila, Joey's PR rep, asks.

I give her a nod, before looking over at Ryan and Bubba.

"Everything is in the fridge, just needs to be heated up. Please eat, I'll be there soon" I tell him, before walking off with Laila. 

Riley's POV

I watch as Sophie walks away with another girl, before looking at the three drivers standing nearby.

"Has she eaten today?" Chase asks, looking over at Ryan.

"Nah, she was too busy to sit down and eat breakfast. I was planning on getting her to eat lunch with us, but there's no telling when she will get to eat now that she was pulled away. Hopefully she has time before we start. " Ryan responds.

"Get her some crackers or chocolate, she won't be able to help herself when she sees them" I throw in.

They all look at me, before looking at each other.

"We know, she has snacks on every hauler, bus, pit stall, and in all of our garage areas. Trust me, we've got her covered" Ryan states.

I give him a small nod, looking down at my boots.

It used to be that I knew all of the little secrets about Sophie, and I was one of the only few people that did. I knew eventually other people would come to learn the small things; I just figured it would be me to tell them, not by them learning it from spending time with Sophie. 

"I think I'm going to go, but it was nice to meet you guys" I tell them.

I get a nod from a few, but Ryan stops me with words.

"Stay away from her while you're here. Don't go seeking her out, you see her, turn the other way. She's busy and doesn't need you messing with her head  today, and I can promise you that the conversation will not go the way you want it to. She take's her job seriously, she doesn't have time for you while you're here" he tells me.

I give him a nod, before walking out of the garage area.

Once the drivers get into their cars and are waiting for the command, I find myself walking down the row of all of the pit boxes searching for a girl I know I shouldn't be looking for. 

I finally spotted her standing next to the 12-pit box, talking to a few of the crew members.

As soon as they walk away from her, I find myself unable to stop myself from walking over to her. When she spots me, the smile on her face instantly drops.

"I'm busy Riley, go bother someone else. I don't have time for this today" she states, looking back down at the tablet in her hands.

"I just wanted to say hey, see how you were doing. It's been a while" I respond, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. 

"I'm doing perfectly fine Riley, great even. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do" she tells me.

I reach out, grabbing her hand before she can walk away.

"I miss you Soph" I tell her.

Sophie snatches her hand back from mine, before giving me a look.

"That's your own damn choice, better learn to live with it. I know I have" she tells me. 

"I didn't mean for things to turn out this way Soph, you have to understand that. Just hear me out, give me five minutes of your time and I won't try to speak to you again" I plead.

Sophie rolls her eyes, before setting her sunglasses on her face.

"Whether you meant for it to happen or not, it happened. You left, broke every promise that came out of your mouth, leaving me and our future that you had planned for us in the dust like I was nothing to you. We have nothing to talk about at this point, and in case you didn't hear me the first time, I'm busy" she responds.

I watch as Sophie climbs up the side of the pit box, before taking a seat in the back row.

Letting out a sigh, I walk towards the box I was invited to sit in, taking one last look at Sophie before she's completely out of sight.