Dopamine | Adrenaline Book Two

13 - After Party

After his maiden Monaco win, Max knew that getting even a minute from the Monegasque driver that evening would be almost impossible. Winning a home race meant the spotlight would be on you for the rest of the day, with everyone fighting to get a piece of your time. So Max settled with the fact that they would both meet at the after-party organized by Fernando Alonso that night, and maybe then he'd get more than a second with the brunette.

When Max arrived at the party later that day, he was greeted by a lady who informed him of the party's unique rule. "Welcome, this is a phone-less party," she explained. "We'll collect any phones or cameras you have and store them in a locker. You'll receive a key and can retrieve your belongings whenever you like, but phones are not allowed inside the club." Max found the concept intriguing as he handed over his phone to be stored in one of the lockers.

It didn't take him long to be stopped mid-way; his presence was always eye-catching. Expecting to turn around to face a stranger, Max was surprised to see It was Fernando himself, welcoming the blond to the party as he began dragging him to the drinks bar.

"You did pretty well today. I'm assuming you and Charles made amends?" Fernando asked.

"Yeah, but why the fuck did you say that was your yacht?" Max questioned him, referring to the events of the last party they had attended.

"Well, I thought it was a funny little prank," Fernando shrugged.

"Tell that to Sebastian," Max retorted.

"You think he's all wise and nice, but I think he'd have done the same to prank me," Fernando debated.

"That's between you two; don't bring your centuries old hate of Red Bull to me," Max teased, chuckling as he took a sip of the gin tonic he had ordered.

"Hate?" Fernando laughed along. "I only hate the fact I'm not in it."

On his peripheral vision, Max caught a glimpse of Charles, and immediately, he had his undivided attention. Observant, Fernando followed his gaze to see the center of the other man's attention. The realization brought a malicious smirk to his face that revealed all of his teeth.

"The man of the night!" Alonso shouted out, leaving Max at the bar to head towards Charles before anyone else could catch the winner's attention.

"Today was amazing," Fernando said, a slight lisp to the end of the phrase, characteristic of his accent.

Left alone, Max was so caught up in watching the conversation between Charles and Fernando that he didn't notice when two girls approached him, only noticing their presence when one of them mentioned his name.

"Max Verstappen, isn't it?" One of them looked up at him, blond and tanned—the very opposite of what he liked.

"No, but everyone tells me we look alike," Max retorted smartly, turning to face her.

The two girls erupted into laughter as if he had just told the joke of the century. "That's so funny, are you a comedian then?" She played along.

Had the news of his break up with Kelly gotten out already?

"Close," he scoffed, taking a sip of his drink. "What I have in my bank account makes people laugh like idiots at whatever I say."

One of the girls looked away embarrassedly, but the blond boldly maintained her eye contact with the taller man, biting onto her lip. "What I have in between my legs has those wallets opening up at whatever I say. I guess we got something in common."