The Finish Line Kiss - Lando Norris

✦˚₊‧⁺˖ chapter 9 ˖⁺‧₊˚✦

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Zoe groaned, her arm flopping over to her nightstand as her phone buzzed insistently. Squinting at the screen, she saw Lando's name flashing.

"What could you possibly want at this hour?" she muttered, swiping to answer and holding the phone to her ear.

"Morning, superstar," Lando's voice came through, way too chipper for her groggy state.

"Why are you awake, and more importantly, why are you waking me up?" Zoe mumbled, flopping back into the pillows.

"Breakfast. Come on, let's go."

"Lando," she said, her voice muffled against the pillow. "It's way too early for your nonsense."

"It's 9 a.m., Zoe. That's not early. Plus, we've got stuff to do today, remember?"

"What stuff?" she asked, voice thick with sleep.

"Uh, the paddock? The whole reason you flew here?"

"Oh, right," she said, blinking up at the ceiling. "Still, you could've let me sleep longer."

"You'd have slept till noon, admit it."

She sighed dramatically. "Fine. Give me twenty minutes."

"Fifteen," he said.

"Twenty," she snapped back, already dragging herself out of bed.

"Deal. See you in the lobby," he said before hanging up.

Zoe dropped her phone onto the bed and rubbed her eyes. "How is he always this energetic?" she muttered to herself, shuffling toward the bathroom to freshen up.

Zoe stared at her reflection in the mirror as she splashed cold water on her face, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. Her hair was a mess, a mix of tangles and last night's curls, and her eyes looked a little puffy from the late night.

She grabbed her skincare bag and started her routine, thinking about how Lando had the audacity to sound so alive at this hour. "I swear, that boy runs on chaos," she muttered under her breath, patting moisturizer onto her face.

By the time she was brushing out her hair, she felt more awake, though her brain still wasn't fully operational. She rummaged through her suitcase for something to wear, finally pulling out a casual yet stylish outfit, simple but enough to make it look like she'd actually put in effort.

As she slipped on her shoes, her mind wandered back to the night before. Lando had seemed distracted when they'd gotten back to the hotel. He didn't say much after dinner, and she couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with Magui's texts.

"Not my business," she reminded herself as she grabbed her bag and phone. "He'll figure it out."

She stepped out of her room, adjusting her jacket as she walked toward the elevator. The hotel was quiet, the kind of serene silence that made her footsteps feel louder than they were.

When the elevator doors opened, Lando was already waiting in the lobby, leaning casually against a pillar with his phone in hand. He looked up and grinned when he saw her.

"Took you long enough," he teased.

"Yeah, yeah," she said, rolling her eyes. "Some of us need more than five minutes to look human."

"Noted," he said, holding the door open for her as they stepped outside into the crisp morning air.

"So, where are we eating?" she asked, tucking her hands into her jacket pockets.