Drifting Deception

Chapter Six

SYDNEY

"Absolutely not." I watched as my brother nervously paced around the hospitality suite of the Santoro motorhome. "Is it serious? Oh, you can't be serious."

"I am," I said." It's seriously serious. That's even more serious than serious." I'd waited until after the race to tell my brother the news of my latest romantic affair. I figured that way, he'd be too tired to react.

I could not have been more wrong.

"Syd, you do realise what you're getting into?" Theo said. "I mean, the man's my best friend but he's not the best contender for the number one boyfriend award."

I shrugged. "I know, and I understand why you're worried, but we want to give this a go." I should've known my brother would make this difficult.

Theo ran a hand through his sweaty hair. "Why him, though?"

Because he made Jeremy retract like a little dog, and that made me extremely pleased.

"Because he's nice," I said firmly.

Theo shook his head and scoffed. "He's nice." He ran his hands through his hair again. "He's nice, but he's not boyfriend material. Syd, you know I'm just trying to look after you. I wanted to draw the line with Jeremy after everything that happened with his work, but I kept my mouth shut. I'm not sure I can do the same here."

Ugh, I was contemplating telling Theo the truth since he thought this was such a bad idea. But then again, the truth was an even worse idea. It was immature, morally wrong, and just plain stupid.

"You just met three days ago," Theo sighed. "How can you think this is a smart decision?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes you just know."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's said that to all the women he's had in his bed."

"Hey!" I snapped.

"Sorry," Theo began. "I just...didn't think he wanted a relationship. And are you sure you want to get into another one so quickly on from your last?"

He had a right to doubt both of those assumptions, and I was shocked he was even believing me in the first place. I mean, it was ridiculous. I fly over for a weekend, make eye contact with the biggest player in Formula One, and all of a sudden, we're dating. It seemed as unlikely as Haas winning a world championship.

"And how are you going to get to know each other when the team is halfway across the world from you for most of the year?" Theo asked.

Shit. I didn't think about that part. But I guess we could pretend to play a long-distance game. In fact, there was a chance it would make our case easier.

"Listen, if you want a rebound after Jeremy just choose anyone but Henry," Theo continued. "He's a player and God knows what he'll get up to this year, especially when you're not around all of the time. Being with him will lead to heartbreak."

I laughed. "Don't worry about that, T. We're just two people who experienced some initial attraction, and now we want to explore that."

Theo frowned. "You're not going to listen, no matter what I say, are you?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

My brother rolled his eyes as he threw his hat onto the table. "God, I don't know what else to say. Please...please, just be careful."

I nodded. "You know I will. If I wasn't careful, I would've said yes to Jeremy's proposal."

Theo sighed. "I guess so—"