Before you

14.

Lando's POV

Riley stayed in the hotel room a little longer, she got a call early in the morning and seemed a bit distracted by it.

She said she really needed to do some work before she would come to the paddock. Which was honestly fine by me.

I didn't really need her here.

Max walked in my driver's room, alone. Xanthi probably stayed behind as well.

"Your girlfriend isn't here?" He asked as he closed the door behind him. "No she's coming later"

"Honestly mate, who is she?"

"Riley. I met her in the supermarket"

"Yeah I don't care where you met her" he shrugged. "Where did she come from? You never mentioned her once"

"Oh I didn't know you had to approve the girls I date?" I chuckled.

"That's not what I meant" he rolled his eyes. "I just don't get how you can jump into another relationship after-"

"After what? After Francesca?"

He sighed, walked around the room and turned to me.

"Honestly yeah, how long do you know her for?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" I tried to avoid his question, because honestly I knew her for a couple of weeks.

But I also wasn't dating her for real.

"Because you never mentioned this girl and now she's at the paddock, in the hospitality, in your room" he frowned a little. "What's going on?"

"Nothing is going on Max!" I raised my voice. "Mind your own damn business and relationship"

He put his hands up. "Fine fine, do your own thing then, mess it up again yeah?"

He didn't wait for my answer, just walked out of my driver's room.

Yes Max, I was messing this up already, don't worry.

I walked out of my driver's room a bit later. Xanthi was sitting alone, so Max was probably talking to someone else.

She looked beautiful, as always.

But Riley was right, how could I be in love with my best friend's girlfriend? I wish I wasn't, wish I could control it.

I couldn't.

We spend months together, she saved me, she just got me. Got in trouble because of me, not because she wanted something, she did it for me.

And after she left to go to Italy, before Francesca came back, we had something beautiful.

Something effortless.

No one knows about that time, no one knows what we shared those couple of months.

I flew over to Italy so many times, every free minute, I would spend with her.

Kissing, talking, looking at the stars, watching movies together, making love to each other.

She was exactly my type, she could match my banter, wasn't offended when I said something stupid, motivated me to do better, funny.

And extremely beautiful.

Unfortunately, I couldn't keep up. I couldn't fly to her all the time anymore, I was exhausted and jetlagged all the time.

Our jobs and lives just didn't match up at that point.

It was the right girl at the wrong time.

"Do you have a minute?" I asked as I walked up to her. "Ice cream?"

"I never say no to ice cream" she smiled, got up and nudged me. "But you're paying"

"Obviously" I snorted.

We took a walk around the paddock, avoiding the cameras, the fans. I just wanted to be with her, alone.

"Are you happy?" I asked, after all the small talk, I needed the conversation to turn serious.

She nodded. "Yeah, are you?"

"I am getting there" I lied. "I just wish we could've worked it out"

That definitely wasn't a lie, but it did caught her off guard.

"Lando.." she sighed. "That's not fair, we are both dating other people now"

"Right" I nodded. I wasn't though. I was fucking another girl.

She tilted her head. "What's wrong Lando? Are you still thinking about Francesca?"

"No, not at all" I shook my head.

How could I explain that I was still thinking about her? That I couldn't forget her?

That I thought about her every single minute of every fucking day.

I couldn't. I just couldn't.

I couldn't mess Max's relationship up. He loves her and that feeling is clearly mutual.

"You're dating Riley now" she said softly, as if she needed to remind me. "So try to focus on that"

"Yeah, I will" I mumbled.

Great Lando, you were supposed to tell her how you were feeling.

Maybe she didn't want to hear it anyways.