Glitter: A Pierre Gasly Story

Chapter 29

ELLIE'S POV

The weeks since my birthday had been a whirlwind.

After a few more days in Milan with Pierre and our friends, we'd all continued to Qatar for the next Grand Prix. It had been an insanely difficult race for all the drivers, but Pierre had managed another podium finish, catapulting him up the driver's standings.

Pierre had performed well in the first half of the season, but since the summer break, he had won or finished on podium for every race and was currently sitting in third. Everyone expected Lewis Hamilton to take his eighth World Championship this year, but just 20 points currently separated Max and Pierre for second.

And as well as things were going on track, our life off the track was even better.

From Qatar, Pierre and I had flown back to LA. The US Grand Prix in Austin was next on the calendar and with a two week break between races, we'd decided to spend it at my house. Our teams had been hounding us for public appearances and we'd gone on a series of dates to trendy bars and restaurants, anywhere we could count on there being paparazzi.

It seemed so unnecessary to me given that Pierre and I had nothing to prove, but I had to remind myself that most of the world didn't know we were only recently doing this for real.

As usual, all the appearances exhausted me, even with Pierre at my side, and I'd been thrilled when Sadie told us that we could have the weekend off. We'd be leaving for Austin on Monday morning, and I was looking forward to some quality time alone with Pierre.

"Ma moitié! Can you bring the cheese when you come back? The burgers are almost ready," Pierre called in to me from his position on the patio.

It was Saturday night, and we were enjoying a quiet night in. The weather was unseasonably warm, and Pierre had insisted we take advantage of the outdoor kitchen in my backyard. Truthfully, I had never used it, but Pierre seemed to have it all under control. He'd gone to the grocery store to collect everything we needed for "an American BBQ" and had been giving me instructions from his spot in front of the grill while I moved between making us drinks and admiring him from a lounge chair.

I grabbed the requested cheese, along with the plates and silverware I'd grabbed to set the patio table and joined Pierre back outside.

"Here you go," I dropped the cheese next to him and went to sit back down. But before I could get too far, he'd wrapped a spare arm around my waist and pulled me into his side.

Pierre dropped a kiss to my head and continued to hold me close. "I wish we could stay here forever," he commented lowly.

I hummed in agreement. "It's nice. But I think I'd prefer Paris. Or Portugal."

He released me as he nodded with a smile and went back to tending to the burgers. "I'll go anywhere as long as I'm with you, ma moitié," he said as he winked, and I laughed.

"Are you ever not flirting?" I asked him teasingly and he laughed along with me.

"You're the only one I flirt with now," he replied seriously, and I smiled wide at his words, my heart fluttering at his declaration.

He'd been saying things like that more often. Reassurances that I was the only one for him, that we were in this long-term. My feelings for him were growing more with every promise and sweet word.

"I know," I assured him as I settled back at the table and watched him work. "Are you excited for Austin?"

"Absolutely," Pierre replied brightly and took the burgers off the grill. "It's an awesome track. One of my favorites."