𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞; oscar piastri

PART FOURTEEN

I loved writing this chapter sm

Word count; 2,513

Tomás

— March 20th, 2023. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Lando was more than happy to accept my offer to go clubbing, especially since I said I'd pay. From that alone, he knew he could get as wasted as he wanted, treating my bank account as if it was an endless fund, not his problem. If only I cared; all I could focus on was drowning out the ache in the centre of my chest, the tight grasp on my heart ever since the night before, when I'd left Pierre's hotel room. Most of which had worked, though I couldn't completely tell, the tolerance I had built over the years seeming to be a sizable obstacle, always keeping my instincts alive when I specifically wanted the opposite.

"You know," Lando's words slurred together, a consequence of too much sambuca. "I can put a word in for you at McLaren."

"And why would I want that?" I contended, taking a deep gulp from my dry martini.

"This." He slapped his hand on the counter. "Because we're friends. And we hang out."

I shook my head, "If you say-"

"I can't help it!" Another thud of his fist on the bar. "He's so boring..."

"I don't want to talk about him."

"Come on, you're the only person I can talk to about him." Lando whined. "Everyone else says I'm ungrateful."

"You are."

"No I'm not! Do you even know what it's like to have someone like that as a teammate?"

"You forget who my current teammate is."

"No - that's different!" He hiccuped. "Liam's actually likable. Or, he became likable. You two are still in the honeymoon phase."

"The what?" I frowned, genuinely unsure what he meant.

"Oscar and I, we don't..." He intertwined his fingers to indicate some sort of gesture. "That's just not us. We're not even married."

My confusion deepened, "What?"

"Is it too hard to ask for?"

"For you two to marry?" I questioned, completely confused.

"No, stupid, for a teammate that will go drinking with me."

"Why don't you put in a word for Carlos?"

"Been there done that."

"You put a word in for him?" I raised a brow.

"No, silly. We were teammates before."

"You're giving me a headache, Lando."

"What? No I'm not!"

"I'm so confused."

"There's nothing to be confused about. It's simple maths. Carlos and I were teammates before, now we barely see each other."

"Hotel rooms excluded." I teased.

"I'm still offended that you wouldn't fuck me."

My eyes widened, hearing the words with much more sobriety. Then, I recollected, he was bringing up a point from the past, where I told him he wasn't my type.

"Do you think Carlos wants to fuck me?"

I spat out my drink, frantically wiping my mouth from the mess I'd made.