Teach Me Something // LH44

Chapter Fourteen

"You look nice," I hear a voice from behind me say as I stand near the door of the fanciest building I have ever been in. When I turned around I was not surprised that it wasn't the person I was hoping for but I put a smile on my face nonetheless as I saw the Austrian I had yet to lose a game to. "And you're so lucky I'm starting to wonder if it would be worth putting you in the car," he muses, a teasing smile on his face as he comes to stand next to me and look further into the venue.

"I wouldn't recommend that," I tell him softly, once more regretting the part of my brain that was in control whenever Lewis came around. Without him here right now, I was sane once more and seriously questioning my decision-making processes. "I feel like there's maybe something you want to say to me?" I prompt him politely after a few more moments, tilting my head to the side and his smirk grows when I do.

"You're perceptive," he comments but pauses before he says what is on his mind. "Lewis is special. He's a champion driver, a star athlete and so much more but underneath all of that he is human. I just want you to know he is human," he says, emphasising his words by turning so his eyes met mine and he could tell his point was getting across effectively.

"You're saying this like you're warning me not to hurt him," I say with a light smile, trying to break the tension but the serious look doesn't disappear from his face like I'd expected it to. Instead, he fiddled with his cuffs before looking back at me, all softness gone from his face.

"I am," he said firmly before the door to our right opened and Susie walked in with a strained smile, clearly feeling the effects of being here while things were awkward with the FIA. Sensing this he is quick to move forward and stand by her side, his mood switching quickly from protective over Lewis to comforting Susie. It's so intimate between them that I have to look away to rid myself of the feeling that I'm intruding on them, the sight in front of me feeling very much as though it's something I don't have the right to see.

Fortunately, a few moments later, Lewis reappears from another door where he had disappeared earlier, now in a full suit rather than the more casual (though very expensive) tracksuit he was wearing previously. He looked just as good if not better in a proper suit and it took everything in me not to swoon the moment his eyes met mine and a smile exploded across his face when he saw me.

"You look like you saw a ghost," Lewis says when he stops in front of me and I blink rapidly. I try to bring my thoughts away from what Toto just said and back to him at this moment, which is made easier when his hands slip to my hips and my head naturally tips backward so his lips can meet mine. It's a dance I had immediately fallen back into the moment we'd disembarked the jet and his hand was in mine. I wanted to say that it was because I was scared with no one else that I knew around but most of it was because of him. It was because I just couldn't help but fall back into him.

"Hah, no but wow you look amazing," I tell him, eyes drinking up his figure in the suit and I swear that I can see a blush come up on his cheeks although it's difficult to tell through the dark in the side hallway we have begun to gather in, staying away from the main event. "You looked good before but this is just... wow," I tell him with a grin, stepping in closer as I wrap my arms around his waist. This small private room filled with dim lighting and Lewis in that suit was enough to make me forget that we weren't alone.

"Well, I have you to compete with... I knew you would look good in red," he says proudly, a smirk clear to see even through the darkness as his hands go to my hips and I feel the return of the butterflies when he rests his forehead against mine. For a few minutes, the world keeps turning but we stand still, just breathing and all of my anxiety at being here slowly dips away. "Whew... okay, thank you, I can do the rest of this now. Shall we go in?" He asks as he stands up straight and I nod, picking up the red silk of the dress and walking alongside him through the building, separate but by his side.