Forever and Always | Max Verstappen *ੈ✩‧₊˚

Ease up

Present day
Emma
Qualifying had wrapped up, and somehow, I still hadn't crossed paths with Max.

He was either glued to his engineers or still out on the track, doing whatever it is that required so much attention.

Normally, I'd take that as a blessing—the less we bumped into each other, the easier it was to keep up this whole "pretend marriage" thing.

But after last night? The way he handled things? I don't know.

It's weird, but it feels like I can't help wanting to see him.

And I'm not saying I'm swooning or something; it's more like I'm realizing he's not as terrible as I'd painted him in my head.

"Come on, Kika," I said, nudging her as we walked through the rows of food stalls at the track. "Stay with me for a bit? I don't want to get cornered by Rebecca alone. She's nice and all, but she's... a lot of work."

"Rebecca's got that vibe, huh? She can be intense. Don't worry, I've got your back." She linked her arm with mine, and we kept walking. "Besides, I could use a distraction before Pierre shows up and decides to 'casually' analyze his entire qualifying session with me."

"Oh, sounds thrilling," I teased, "And here I thought Max was intense with his race talk."

"Oh, trust me, Pierre takes it to a whole new level." She grinned, then tilted her head toward me. "But, seriously, you and Max seem... okay. It's not the first time I've seen that little look in your eye."

I felt my face warm a bit.

"It's nothing, really," I said quickly, trying to brush it off. "He's just... I don't know. Sometimes he's decent."

Kika gave me a playful nudge. "You say that, but I can tell you don't completely want to avoid him anymore. Admit it."

I huffed, "Fine. But that's as far as I'm willing to go. I mean, after everything that happened, he's... different than I expected."

"Look at you, with the grudging respect," Kika teased. "But hey, if he's finally breaking down that wall of yours, I'd say it's progress."

I couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, well, let's not go giving him too much credit yet."

As we wandered around the Red Bull garage, Kika kept me in the loop with the who's who of Max's team.

I honestly would've been completely lost without her.

"That's Dani over there," Kika continued, pointing at a young woman who was monitoring a bunch of screens with a focused look. "She's in charge of analyzing all the data during practice and qualifying sessions. If Max wants to know why he was a millisecond slower on a turn, Dani's got the breakdown ready before he even asks."

"Oh wow. So she's, like, the data wizard," I murmured, impressed.

Kika laughed. "Exactly. And she's terrifyingly good at it. Don't let the friendly face fool you; she'll call Max out if he messes up."

I raised an eyebrow, "Good to know he's got people keeping him in line."

Kika nodded, then pointed to a guy with a bit of a scruffy beard and a huge grin who was giving high-fives to everyone. "That's Benji, one of the mechanics. He's sort of the 'team cheerleader.' He's the one hyping everyone up before a big race, always telling Max he's going to 'crush it' or calling him the 'Dutch Lion.' Kind of cheesy, but he means well."

I snickered. "The Dutch Lion?"

"Yes, he's trying to get people to start saying it more often." Kika laughed, nudging me playfully.