sunshine, ALEX ALBON

xii

EVERYONE AGREED ON A BEACH day, though Carlos was the one to tell the group that him and Sophie wouldn't be there, which earned the two a few curious glances and raised eyebrows, but no one questioned it - Daniel would have had Lando not winded him with an elbow to the stomach.

After breakfast at Evelyn and Sophie's, they packed their bags with towels, sun cream, and snacks, and headed to the beach, while Carlos and Sophie split from the group as soon as everyone exited the house.

The sun was shining brightly as they arrived, the water clear. They quickly set up their spot, spreading out towels and setting up umbrellas for some shade.

"It's a bit hot," George said, and everyone replied with sarcastic responses. He was the first of the men to remove his shirt, to no one's surprise, and stretched out on his towel, not bothered about going straight into the water, unlike Lando, Daniel, Max, and Charles who wasted no time in running towards the water.

Evelyn and Alex followed more leisurely, but ended up racing each other as they got near, Alex getting their first. However, his celebration didn't last for long because Evelyn took no hesitation in pushing him further into the water, making him lose his balance and fall in.

Lewis set up his towel next to George, under the shelter of the shade made by the umbrellas. He didn't speak, instead lay down and closed his eyes, sunglasses covering them.

After a while, when all of them had been in the sea, they gathered back on the beach for a game of beach volleyball. They split into two teams of four, with Evelyn, Alex, Lewis and Lando on one - Charles, Daniel, Max and George on the other.

"Nice serve, George!" Lando called out mockingly, the entirety of the first team watching as George tried and failed to get the ball over the net.

"You want to try?" George asked challengingly, raising his eyebrows, offering the ball to Lando, who shook his head immediately, not wanting to embarrass himself.

They grew bored of the game pretty quickly, none of them actually able to play properly, so when they saw the paddleboard hire, Daniel was quick to suggest it.

Evelyn and Charles were the only two of the eight that had actually stand-up paddle boarded before, so it was no surprise when Max knelt on his and tried to stand, only to fall straight in. They all laughed at him, but had the action thrown straight back at them when they did the exact same thing.

Everyone got the hang of it after a while, Lewis turning his in wide circles around the rest of them to avoid getting into water fights with any of the younger drivers. Daniel steered his towards Lando, pointing out something in the distance to him before jumping into the water, arms wrapped around Lando as he took the McLaren driver with him. Everyone turned as they heard Lando's childish shriek of surprise, noticing the two stranded paddleboards floating in the water, the two drivers popping up from under the water just a moment later.

Lando coughed as he floated in the water with his elbows propped up on his paddleboard, having swallowed some salt water accidentally.

"You okay?" Daniel asked, already stood back on his board, not sure if he should laugh or be concerned at the sight of his former McLaren teammate.

"You're a fucking idiot," he said, laughing, as he climbed back on.

Once the attention was off the two, everyone was more aware of the others creeping up on them to push them in, paddling away faster whenever they saw even the smallest hint of an attack. However, Evelyn hadn't heard Alex slide off his paddleboard into the water, swimming over to hers and dragging his board along with him by the strap attached to his ankle. It all came as a surprise when he lifted her board and turned it at an angle, sending her crashing into the water, splashing Alex, Max and Charles who were the closest.

"What the fuck was that for?" Was the first thing that Evelyn said when she resurfaced, treading water as she looked at Alex, who was making no attempt to hide his grin.

Alex shrugged. "You're an easy target."