Chicago Love ✔️

Chapter 16: Embracing Alex's World

Hailey stood by the pit box on pit road, watching him suit up and climb behind the wheel of the Ally Chevrolet. There was something about a sharp dressed man, and he looked mighty fine all ready to go to work.

Blake had given her a headset per Alex's request, allowing her to listen to all the communication on the radio throughout practice. It was interesting in learning there'd be a third voice on there, belonging to Kevin Hamlin. Blake had explained the usage of spotters with the racecars - why they were necessary, and their role. Hailey equated it to the same way in someone watching you undercover from a distance to ensure your safety. 

Truth be told, she got very intrigued in how the entire Ally team worked together. She found herself comparing it to how the Intelligence Unit worked together with several similarities. There was the sharing of information, whether it be data on the computer screen or talking about the handling of the car. There was coming up with the best plan of attack for the next run together. 

She also equated a visit from Alex's teammate - William she thought she read on the waistband of his firesuit - the same way they would sometimes work with other units on cases. 

As much as she was falling into a groove, the simple speed of the cars down the straightaway and the roar of motors certainly did not compare to anything else. She had driven fast down the road to get to a scene, but not to the degree of what she was seeing by Alex and his competitors right now. 

It was certainly an interesting dynamic, and brought a certain amount of butterflies. There was questions her heart and brain battled. He had been injured in a racecar a couple months ago. She had heard he had been injured in a racecar before that. How could he put that behind him and focus right now? How could he not worry about something happening? She felt herself concerned, perhaps butterflies in the stomach each time she watched him pass on by. What if something happened? That was why there were roll bars in the racecar. That was why he was wearing the suit, helmet, gloves, and belts. Her brain repeated that, but yet her heart still worried. 

She thought they were doing everything right. She thought it was going great with the communication she was hearing. However, there must have been too many complaints about how tight (what does that even mean?) the car was as he would only qualify 23rd out of the 40 cars entered. Ouch.

It only stung more when she heard Blake relay that his teammates had all qualified in the top-10 - Kyle would start second with Chase fourth and William ninth. She just hoped the conversation they were having in the team hauler lounge would result in Alex being as fast as they were, perhaps faster, tomorrow when it mattered. 

She had walked back to the hauler with him, awaiting outside with a spot picked out in one of the chairs. Alex had wanted to allow her to be with him and fully introduce everything, but no other driver had brought their girlfriend or wife to a meeting. "I don't want to test the waters with the performance right now, and the playoff focus for Kyle and William," was what he told her. 

He had offered to lead her back to the motorcoach, but yet she stated she would rather wait and head back together. Let's face it - she'd never been in a NASCAR garage area before. Was it really a good idea to be wandering around somewhere without anybody? 

Then again, did she really want to go back to his motorcoach? They both knew what happened when he wound up at her condo. Was that the main and only reason behind the invite? She wasn't about to be a random hook-up buddy for a superstar racecar driver.

Then again, she wouldn't mind putting her hands all of his body and tasting those lips once again. She could only imagine what it would be like with all the sweat pouring off his body, and those eyes sparkling back at hers in return. 

Also, a booty call wouldn't have embraced a month of text messages so easily. They wouldn't had connected with the easy conversation. They wouldn't had been able to help each other through the rough patches unlike anyone else in their lives. He was different than everybody else....

She then pulls out her phone, opening her chat messages to Kim as she takes a deep breath. She felt so conflicted that she wanted to ask her friend for advice. But yet, that brought its own reservations. Did she want Kim really knowing what she was thinking about Alex right now? Did she really want to be having these conversations when she returned to Chicago on Monday. 

Let's face it - this was just a weekend trip and a way to see a friend she hadn't seen, a really good friend at that. Long distance relationships never worked. They caused strain. They missed elements of what made love what it was. It just brought more headaches to follow. She had gone through that already - hence being divorced. Did she want to do that again? 

It was why she closed the messages instead, knowing she would just save conversation about the weekend with Kim for Monday. She would choose which details to share, from what happened to her feelings. She just hoped she did not read through it as Kim had been able to do so many times before. That was the hardest part of a friendship with a fellow officer - they always read through your lies due to experience with witnesses. It was how she knew Kim and Adam were together before Kim would admit it. It was how everybody knew she and Jay were dating before they told everyone, too. 

What if everyone figured out her feelings for Alex? Speaking of those, what did he mean to her?