Rivalry

Chapter XVI

                      Lando's POV

After i walked Malia back to her hotel room, i headed back to mine. I pressed my floor number and leaned on the wall, closing my eyes, overwhelming thoughts flushing through my head. I already knew my brain wouldn't shut off for the night.

I take my cap off and run my hands through my hair. She's right. Her dad will make this so much harder than it needs to be. She still believed most of the things he drilled into her head. I don't blame her, though, it's what made her the athlete that she is now. I hope this won't affect her racing. I still want to win, but she's tough to beat.

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I barely slept. This race alone was stressing me out. The car wasn't as fast as the Ferarri. Although Charles didn't qualify well, it was still going to be rough keeping up. I was still thinking about Malia, i hoped she was okay, not stressed about her father. I told her i'd come see her before we had to leave to go the track.

I put my team kit on, brushed my teeth, and messed with my hair before heading out. As i was walking to her room, Max walked out of his. He gave me a questioning look as i tried to move past him. "Mate." He said in a playful tone, putting his arm out to stop me. "What are you doing here? No one on your team is on this floor. Malia and i are the only drivers here." he said, putting the numbers together. Why does this man know everything like he's the hotel concierge.

I felt my cheeks burn, he raised his brows with an unbelievably annoying grin across his face, "and you're not here to see me." He paused."I saw you two leave the club together last weekend." I avoided his gaze, just wanting to see Malia. He knew exactly why i was here, we was doing it on purpose. "Right, and im not allowed to speak with the girl i like?"i said irritated. "Right, and she likes you?" He said, punching me playfully. I smirked at that. Yes, she does like me, actually. "Maybe a little." i mumbled, moving to the side so i could knock in her door.

"Finally mate, I've had enough of both you you talking my ea-" He starts as Malia opened the door. She gives me the cutest smile i have ever seen and snaps her head towards Max, who just stopped speaking. Her cheeks flushed red as she shifted her gaze back to me. "Awe, how sweet," Max said sarcastically, letting out a chuckle. "Piss off, mate," i snapped back, my gaze locked into hers as I took a few steps towards her and into her room.

Shit. I didn't even ask her if that was okay. She just looked really scared when she saw Max. i wanted to remove her from the situation.

The door shut behind us as I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. All the worries i had left my body as she hugged me tightly. "Sorry, i didn't mean to overstep coming into your room like that." i said quietly, my hands on her waist as we parted. "It's okay, Max kind of freaked me out, thank you for doing that." she said shyly.

She untangled herself from me and said, "Sorry, im not quite ready yet. I've still got to do my hair for the race. " She grabbed my hand and pulled me to the bathroom. She was wearing her team sweater and blue jeans. She started to brush her hair and parted it in half. She usually did two braids for the races. her hair always looked perfect to me. "You're beautiful." i whispered, leaning on the doorframe, watching her. Her gaze turned to me through the mirror, and her cheeks reddened again as she gave me a warm smile while scrunching her nose.

When she was ready, we wished each other good luck for the race, and she reminded me that whatever happens on the track stays there, reassuring me that she won't hate me anymore. Before we went down to the lobby to leave separately, i pulled her in a tight hug. I couldn't resist kissing her. She looked up at me, and i quickly locked our lips together. I wished we could do that all day for a moment. We then made our way to the lobby of the hotel.