COMPLETED: Love in the Fast Lane // Max Verstappen

Chapter 8

Max's POV

'Why did she have to call me that?' I thought as I left the room. By the time I got out of the building an even bigger problem loomed over me. I asked myself over and over again, 'why did you invite her to the Grand Prix?' This by far had to be one of the stupidest decisions I had ever made. I had a gym session with my personal trainer Brad in a couple hours so I had to go get ready for that. I usually need a distraction for the gym, but I was hoping the workout would prove a nice distraction for what I had just done.

I showed up to the gym ready to workout, but not ready to walk through the maze to get there. The gym had so many different rooms and none of them were labeled, so I was just opening every door until I found the weight room. "Do you need help?" I heard a familiar voice ask me from behind. I turned around and saw Y/N standing there. "What are you-?" I asked, surprised to see her here. "Did you follow me?" I asked, now suspicious. "You really have to stop assuming everything is about you." She quickly covered her mouth as soon as the words came out. I laughed at her frankness. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that. It's just back when we bumped into each other and you thought I was a fan and now thinking I followed you... But, I know this time it was a joke! I promise I'm not an idiot I just-" I cut her off. "It's fine!" I said, grabbing her hands which had begun explaining her reasoning and returning them to her sides. "What are you really doing here?" I asked. She tilted her head and furrowed her brows as if I asked her what 2 plus 2 is. "You're here to work out!" I deduced. "Yeah... I am." She said, smiling. I forgot where I had to be at that moment, but her question pulled me out of my daze. "Are you also here to workout?" She asked. "Ah- Yeah, I am. If I can find the weight room. I don't know how you manage to get around in this place." I told her honestly. "How you manage on a twisting race track, but not a gym is truly a mystery." She said, jokingly. "I'm headed there too. I'll walk you over." She said now leading me in the opposite direction of where I was going.

"I can't wait to see you working out in my clothes." She said from in front of me. She quickly spun around realizing how her words sounded. "That is not what I meant I swear! I meant Polytech's clothes. And photos for promotions, not me. I don't want photos of you working out! I mean I'm sure you look great- I'm doing it again aren't I?" She said after her stream of word vomit. It was cute how nervous she got talking to me. "Just a little." I said, putting my thumb and forefinger together. She pushed my hand away. "Ok, that's enough of that." She said now walking next to me. "How did you get into f1?" She asked. "So, you really know nothing about me at all?" I asked. "Would you rather I tell you I stalked you before the meeting and know it was your dad who got you into the sport, you made your debut at 17, you skipped f2, you have been with Red Bull ever since you started at f1, and you are currently a contender for the Formula 1 World Championship titled?" She asked. Her eyebrows were raised and a smile was printed on her face waiting for me to respond. "Wow I'm impressed" I said, especially since she seemed to have no idea who I was 3 days prior. "Don't flatter yourself, I was merely getting to know my sponsee." She said, "Is that a word? Sponsee?" I teased. "It is now." She said matter of factly.

We continued walking a few more steps and a pair of glass doors showed me the countless machines that were going to be used to torture me for the next hour. "We made it!" She said her arms outstretched as if the weight room was the ocean and she was King of the World. "I better go talk to my trainer. I'm a bit late after my stroll earlier." I told her. "Yeah, I'm going to have to make this up to my friend too." She said, and nodded to a girl whose eyes were nearly all white with how wide they were. "She hates waiting." She told me. "Well then I guess we should part ways." I said, knowing I did not want to. "Goodbye Max." The way my name sounded on her lips made me feel like I had already worked out. "Bye... Y/N" She looked back and shot me another smile before returning to her friend whose eyes darted between her and me. Her words were just barely muffled by the distance between us. Maybe Y/N didn't know who I was, but her friend surely did.

The hour and a half of training we did flew by. My mind replaying the conversation we had over and over again. I was wiping my face when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I saw the girl who Y/N labeled as her friend standing in front of me. I glanced across the room to see Y/N shaking her head in disapproval. I couldn't help but entertain this now. "Max Verstappen. Wow I can't believe I'm saying that." She took a deep breath. "Max Verstappen, I'm Maeve and I'm Y/N's friend." She told me. "She told me!" I said. "Oh great! Well, she was wondering if you would like to accompany me and her to dinner tonight?" I smiled looking up at Y/N who was now mouthing "I'm sorry" from across the room. "I would love to-" I cut myself off remebering the plans I had made with Kelly. "-But, I can't. I'm having dinner with my girlfriend tonight." Maeve's face dropped, but she quickly replaced it with a smile. "No problem! It was great meeting you!" She began to turn away and join Y/N. I felt so bad I couldn't bring myself to look in her direction. Why did I care so much? And why did I blame Kelly?