Falling in love with your best friend is nothing but easy. But Franco Colapinto doesn't like easy, no matter how much it hurts, and no matter how long it'll take for Adela Kim to realise. But when Adela's 2 year long relationship ends suddenly, she'...
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Franco walks into the media pen, wiping the sweat off his forehead with a towel as he prepares to answer some questions about the race.
He's tired, and really, all he wants to do is go back to his hotel room with Adela, watch some random, trashy movie on Netflix, and have her fall asleep in his arms.
But he puts up a smile — just ten minutes, he thinks. He approaches the group of journalists who have been waiting for him, microphones, cameras and phones surrounding him.
He answers a few questions, and he can't help but notice this one journalist who's got her phone recording every word of his, eyeing him up and down with a look of intrigue. I have a girlfriend, he thinks. But that's not pertinent to discussions about tyre degradation, so he keeps his lips sealed for the time being.
"Thank you, Franco. I hope I'll get to see you next week," she says when Franco finishes answering her question.
"Thank you," he says — he's usually pretty playful with all the journalists — but he can't have her getting the wrong idea, so he keeps it simple this time.
He leaves the media pen, messaging Adela to tell her that he's done with media duties for the day, and to ask her where she is in the paddock.
I'll come to you, Adela replies back. He smiles when he sees her message, quickly typing back an 'okay' before putting his phone in his pocket.
"Hi, Franco?"
The same journalist approaches him, and Franco offers her a curt smile. "Hi." he replies.
"I just wanted to say you did such a brilliant job today," she smiles, and Franco nods. "You're really impressing everyone in the paddock as a rookie."
"I try my best." he says. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome," she says, and she moves to place a hand on his shoulder — and he immediately tenses up. "I did also want to ask... would you happen to be free after the race weekend? To maybe grab some coffee together?"
Wow, very forward, he thinks. How could he let her down gently without jeopardising his image in the media?
Adela arrives just at that moment, and she eyes the scene playing out in front of her suspiciously. She doesn't like how that girl's got her hand on his shoulder. She never liked to admit about being jealous, but she couldn't deny that this was the exact emotion that she felt right now.
Motivated by jealousy, she walks up to the two of them, and when the familiar vanilla scent of Adela's perfume infiltrates Franco's senses, he turns his head to look in her direction. "Fran," Adela says, cutting into the conversation. She links her arm with Franco's before pressing a kiss to his cheek — and the journalist's eyes widen. "You did so good today! Who's your friend?"
"l'm just a journalist — I was congratulating him on his performance today," she says, removing her hand from Franco's shoulder when she notices how close Adela and Franco are. "Everyone in the paddock's very impressed with how he's been doing lately."
"Ah, I see," Adela grins. "I'm glad you all see how great he is like I do!" She turns to look at Franco, and she notices the faint pink colour of her lipstick stained on his cheek.
"Yikes. Sorry, Fran." she tells him, wiping away the stain with the pad of her thumb.
"Well, I better get going." the journalist clears her throat, and she offers the couple a smile. "Enjoy the rest of your day."
She walks off hurriedly, and Franco looks at Adela with an amused smile. "Now what was that, Dela?" he chuckles, and she shrugs.
"I don't know." she mumbles. "I guess I was..."
She doesn't even want to say it.
"Say it, Dela," he coos, and he's got a shit-eating grin on his lips. "You were jealous, weren't you?"
Adela sighs, rolling her eyes and avoiding eye contact with him. "Fine. I guess I was... jealous." Franco shakes his head and laughs, tilting her head up slightly with his finger so she's looking at him.
"No need to be jealous. It's only you. Always." he grins, cupping her cheek with his hand before pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
Adela can't help the wide smile that stretches across her lips. "But I can't lie, you made my heart beat really fast when you swooped in here," Franco adds. "Do that more often?"
"Don't make me jealous more so that I can make you feel all hot and bothered, or something."
"You always make me hot and bothered," he jokes, and Adela rolls her eyes, swatting him lightly on the arm.
"You're ridiculous, Fran," she says, stifling a giggle.
