VIPER || Oscar Piastri

Chapter 79

Oscar drove them back. The streets were mostly quiet by then, late enough that even Monaco had started to slow down.

Neither of them spoke a word to each other.

Andi sat curled slightly toward the passenger side window of her car, her head resting in her hand, eyes on the dark blur of passing buildings.

She'd clung to Oscar's side since they left the party. Now, though, her hands were folded up in her lap, and Oscar had both of his on the wheel.

She didn't know what he was thinking.

She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

As they arrived at her apartment building, and when she got out of the car without a word, she didn't reach for his hand again. She didn't look at him, either, and they walked in silence up the stairs and along the hallway.

In her chest, something twisted.

It had started during the drive. The heat in her stomach had begun to cool a little, and the fog in her brain that had driven her to practically beg him to take her home was beginning to lift.

And what it left behind was uncertainty.

What am I doing?

The question came quietly, unwelcome but persistent.

Oscar had been the one she wanted all night. She'd spent hours trying to find him, only to now partly wish she hadn't. With him silently beside her, something faltered. Maybe it was the time. Maybe it was the air. Maybe it was just the fact that she'd finally gotten space to think, really think — and in the calm, it all started to feel less like a want and more like a mistake waiting to happen.

And perhaps worst of all was the fact he had taken her home.

He had done what she wanted, and he'd done it without a second thought. He wasn't even nervous; no second-guessing or hesitation, no careful pauses like the night before.

He knew exactly what this was. And he was fine with it.

And that scared her.

By the time she unlocked the door and stepped inside, her heart was thudding unevenly.

The door clicked shut.

Andi stood still, one hand on the handle, forehead nearly touching the wood. Her chest rose and fell fast, like she'd sprinted there.

What the hell am I doing.

Her fingers twitched against the door. She didn't turn around yet.

Behind her, she could feel him. Oscar. Quiet. Waiting. He hadn't said a word.

She bit her lip.

He'd looked too good tonight. That was the problem. All sharp-edged and confident; the dark suit, undone collar; all of it.

And Andi—God—she'd already dragged him out of the party like it was urgent. Like she couldn't wait. And now...

She wasn't sure she could go along with it.

Still, she turned.

He was already coming toward her. His eyes—dark, focused—fixed on hers. He reached for her face, eyes flicking to her mouth like he already knew how this would end.