SO AMERICAN | max verstappen

ten.

I couldn't help but wince when Max entered the garage and threw his gloves against the wall in frustration. He'd DNFed on lap 38 due to a fuel-system issue and I can't blame him for being upset, but the action still startled me.

Thinking quickly, I turned Lili's body away from her Dad, hoping she wouldn't see any more of the outburst. "Why did Daddy throw his gloves?" She questioned from her spot on the counter I had her on.

"He's upset because he couldn't finish the race, that's all." I shrugged, trying to not make it seem too big of a deal.

"Is it because of his fight with Opa?"

I furrowed my eyebrows.

When had Max fought with Jos? "When did he fight with Opa, Lil?"

Lili shrugged in response, I wonder if she wasn't supposed to tell me this. "It was when Daddy took me here without you. He looked really mad and then I heard him yelling at Opa."

That would've been shortly after my interaction with the elder Verstappen.

"Does he know you heard him?"

Lili shook her head, letting me know that he hadn't. "He also said some bad words, I think you should yell at him."

"I'm not going to yell at him." I chuckled, brushing the fallen strands out of Lili's face.

The small girl pouted at me. "Why? He yells when people say bad words around me." I'm not surprised at that, also impressed by her logic. She thought that anyone who said bad words around her was to be yelled at, even if it was her father.

"Did you hear what your Daddy said when he was yelling at Opa?" I tried to steer our conversation in a different direction.

Lili's brows knitted together as she thought, almost as if she were trying to recall the conversation she had overheard.

"I think he said your name."

"Yeah?" I probably shouldn't be grilling a 5-year-old for information, but I wanted to know why Max was sticking up for me.

"Then he said some bad words and told Opa he is not allowed to talk to you."

Why was Max defending me? It didn't make sense for his reputation.

I dropped the topic shortly after, figuring that Max would probably show up eventually and I didn't need him hearing me asking his daughter for information on a conversation he'd had.

Sure enough, Max showed up a little while later, about 5 laps before the race concluded. Wet hair and his clothes from this morning, he'd showered while he calmed himself from the race.

"Ready to go?" He queried, stopping just behind me.

I glanced back at him, a slight frown pulling on my lips. "Uh, Charlie's leading, I was hoping we could stay?" I gestured to the large screen I had been watching.

His eyes drifted up toward it, his gaze focusing. A sigh fell from his lips a couple of seconds later, "If it were anyone else I'd say no."

The smallest smile played on my lips at his words, he'd given in.

Max slid Lili off of the countertop and into his arms, sitting her in his hip. Lili giggled at his action, wrapping her arms happily around his neck and dropping her head on his shoulder. Oh, how she adored him.

I peeled my gaze from them, returning it to the screen in front of me. Charles was still leading, Lando only a few places behind. This one looked promising.

A startled gasp left my mouth at the sudden feeling of someone hooking their arm around my middle. I glanced down just as the arm tugged me backward, my back meeting a firm chest. The overwhelming scent of the man I've been 'dating' filling my nose.