Redline | L.Norris

twenty seven

The smell of coffee hit Isla the moment she stepped into the hotel breakfast area, warm and inviting, cutting through the haze of leftover adrenaline from the day before. She was wearing another stollen hoodie over her pajama shorts, her hair still damp from the quickest shower of her life.

She scanned the tables until she saw Lando already at one of them, hair a tousled mess, plate loaded with waffles and strawberries. He grinned as soon as he saw her and lifted his coffee like a toast.

"Morning, champion."

Isla slid into the seat beside him and leaned over to steal a strawberry off his plate. "Morning, second place."

"Wow." He chuckled. "Already full of sass."

She nudged his shoulder. "You love it."

"Unfortunately, yeah."

Lando handed her a clean fork and pushed half his plate toward her without question. Isla didn't argue. She stabbed another strawberry and popped it in her mouth, eyes already half-closed in bliss.

They sat like that for a while, quietly sharing breakfast and watching the morning shuffle of team members passing through. Nobody paid them much attention, just another pair of exhausted drivers, lingering in the quiet aftermath of race weekend.

Until Max walked in.

He was wearing sunglasses indoors, clearly in full recovery mode, and made a beeline for their table with a croissant in one hand and a to-go coffee in the other. "Mornin'. Mind if I sit?"

"Sure," Lando said, suppressing a grin.

Max plopped into the seat across from them with a sigh. "Felt like a freight train ran me over yesterday. Please tell me someone else's legs feel like concrete."

"Mine are fine," Isla said, biting into a piece of waffle.

"Yeah, that's because you spent most of the race leading." Max pointed a lazy finger at her. "Congrats, by the way. You're disgustingly fast when you're pissed off."

"Thank you."

Max took a sip of his coffee, then looked between them.

Paused.

Frowned.

"Wait." He squinted at Isla's hoodie, then at the way her thigh was touching Lando's under the table. Then at the stupid little smile Lando was trying very hard to hide behind his coffee mug.

Max narrowed his eyes. "No. No way."

Lando arched a brow. "No way what?"

"You two—" Max pointed between them. "You're together now?"

Isla didn't say anything. Just reached for Lando's hand under the table and laced her fingers through his.

Lando, very smugly, added, "Took her long enough."

Max's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? That's it? You just what, woke up in love now?"

Lando shrugged. "Something like that."

"Jesus," Max muttered, sinking further into his chair. "I need stronger coffee."

Before anyone could say anything else, another familiar figure entered the room. Kimi, in a black hoodie and joggers, sunglasses already on despite the early hour. He had a plate in one hand, a mug in the other, and the unmistakable air of someone who had seen it all and didn't care about any of it.

Isla tensed a little as he approached, still half-worried about last night's conversation. But Kimi gave her a short nod and took the empty chair beside Max without a word.