He's my teammate

29 - Who is she?

November 2024

There was no sound but a light breeze blowing stray leaves across the asphalt track. It still smelt like fuel exhaust and burnt rubber, but the breeze brought a sweet undertone from the lilac fields along the edge of the track. All she could feel, even with the cool night air and the breeze, was him. His heartbeat against her chest, his hands on her.

He had kissed her, kissed her in the way she had always dreamed he would. His lips were tender, and his movements slow and sweet. He kissed her in a way that threatened to consume her. He took his time, unhurriedly memorizing every movement, every sound she made, every breath she took. The way he gripped her was out of desperation, whether not to lose her, or to never let the moment end she didn't know.

Nor did she care, he had kissed her.

Her hands slid up the front of his shirt, sliding between the fabric of his suit jacket and of his shirt. She could feel his heart beating underneath her fingertips. His hand slid up her bare spine, leaving a trail of goosebumps and fire in its wake.

"Why'd you stop?" She had whispered once he had pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. His breathing was heavy, and she could tell his control was hanging by a thread. Her own heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

"I told you," he breathed, his eyes remaining closed, "I don't want to go backwards." His head shook. "I can't go backwards."

It should have felt like he was dumping a bucket of ice on her, should have stopped her in her tracks, terrified her. The plea in his voice, the desperation. A part of her was scared, a part of her wanted to run away, to hide from him. To everything that he was offering her.

Somehow, there was a bigger part of her that was okay with it. That almost welcomed hearing it. His words made her heart skip a beat, made butterflies take off in her stomach. All in the best way. Everything in that moment felt so good, felt so perfect.

Felt so right.

So, instead of running, instead of begging him to kiss her, she just leaned into him. Their foreheads pressed together as their breathing calmed. His hands continued to move up and down her spine. For a few minutes they stayed like that, clinging to each other before Lando leaned back and smiled at her.

"Dance with me." He said, taking a small step back he held his hand out between them. Arabella glanced between his hand and his face.

"There's no music." His smile only broadened, and she felt her heart skip a beat at the sight.

"I know." He gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "I've wanted to dance with you for a long time, but we always seem to leave parties before I get a chance to ask." Her smile broadened and she found herself setting her hand in his.

"Okay." He pulled her hand to his shoulder, before sliding his own along her back. Their other hands found each other, their fingers sliding and dancing against one another as Lando started leading her.

They swayed back and forth, he would spin her, then bring her back against him. All the while his fingers never stopped tracing patterns on her palm or along her spine. At first she was worried she'd step on his foot, or she'd miss a step; she had never been very good at dancing. However, Lando had enough coordination to help her through it all. Soon she relaxed into him, the hand on his shoulder sliding up and across the back of his neck, her fingers playing with the loose curls of his hair.

A ringing pierced through the air, yanking Arabella from her dream. One second she was dancing, the next she was sitting up jolted awake and having a pillow thrown at her head. For a moment she didn't know where she was, or what was happening. All she knew was that her chest ached, her eyes were stinging and that was definitely her snowboard leaning up against the wall next to Katie's.