Can't Help Falling in Love {Ryan Blaney}✔️

| nineteen |

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Lara snuck into the garage, hoping that nobody would see her. She had snuck out of her motorhome, hoping to avoid her grandfather. Lara just needed to make sure her things had been put back into the hauler before it took off. The morning light had not brought her clarity, but instead, she felt like she had a bad hangover.

She nodded at the drivers and the crew that she passed, no doubt the subject of their whispers. But there were no whispers, just looks of respect. Lara knew this was the wrong way to earn respect but she couldn't help but feel good about herself.

Lara stopped dead in her tracks, the good feelings gone, at the sight of Chase pressed against a redhead, lips locked. Her stomach dropped, churning like she was going to vomit. She even found herself fighting tears that were threatening to spill onto her cheeks.

She had no idea why it hurt so much -- she had very clearly ended things last night. But seeing him wrapped around her felt like a knife in her heart, a knife that was being twisted deeper and deeper with every breath she took, every intrusive thought that had started to enter her mind and take over.

Had she ever meant anything to Chase? Had he been seeing this girl the entire time? Why hadn't she been enough to keep him in bed for even a few days because he was heartbroken?

"Lara," Ryan touched her arm, startling her out of her thoughts.

She wiped the tears that had spilled onto her cheeks with the sleeve of her sweatshirt, hoping that Ryan hadn't noticed the tears. She was a racer, she had always prided herself on being just as rough and tumble as the rest of them, never one to show emotion and she wasn't going to let that facade fall now. "Yeah?" She turned to him, offering him a watery smile.

"He's not worth it." Ryan's voice swung low, trying hard to mask his anger.

Lara sniffled, "I just thought I'd be worth a little more to him." She choked down the rest of the self-deprecating thoughts that had continued to swirl around in her head.

Ryan blew out a breath, shoving his hands in his pockets, seemingly searching for the right words, "I'm sorry, Lara. He's just trying to hurt you."

Lara nodded, she knew Ryan was right. She glanced back at Chase, meeting his gaze as he whispered something into the redhead's ear. His dark eyes remained calm, a smirk tugging at the sides of his lips, confirming what Ryan had said.

She turned back towards Ryan, "I'm sorry that you've had to have a front row to my mess."

Ryan gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it, okay?"

Lara nodded slowly, "Okay. Let me check my hauler and then we can get going. We've got a lot to do today." A real smile spread on her face.

Before Ryan could answer, her grandfather's voice boomed through the garage, "Lara Riddick Hendrick."

"Good luck," Ryan mouthed as Lara walked towards her grandfather's voice. She had no idea what she was going to say or if Chase had already confessed to him their relationship. She braced herself for whatever.

"Do you want to explain to me why you shoved your teammate in Victory Lane?" Rick wasted no time getting to the point.

"He spun me out," Lara shrugged it off nonchalantly, "I was angry."

"I expect more from my drivers." Rick shook his head. "I'm disappointed."

Normally hearing that her grandfather was disappointed with her would have killed her but Lara was defiant, "Did you tell Chase that? Did you tell him that when he told reporters that I didn't deserve my ride? I'm sure you didn't. Because let's face it, if it had been anybody else, you wouldn't have batted an eye. It would have just been shrugged off as 'boys will be boys.'"

"What has gotten into you?" Rick roared. "What made you think that shoving Chase was the way to solve whatever problem you have with him? And what makes you think you can talk to me like this?"

Lara shook her head. She knew that the answer to the first question would get her in much more trouble than her defiance would. "Punish me however you want but I am not explaining myself." She spun on her heel, walking away before her grandfather could say anything else.

She stormed through the garage, eyes down, hoping to avoid the gaze of the garage who no doubt had heard their exchange.

"Lara." Chase's voice called from behind her.

She kept her head down, picking up her pace. There was nobody she wanted to talk to less than Chase Elliott.

A strong arm grabbed her and spun her around. "Talk to me." Chase's voice was low, almost desperate.

Lara shook her head, removing his hand from her arm. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to ignore me for a whole week and then demand I talk to you. I meant what I said, Chase."

"Damnit, Lara." Chase hissed, "You are acting like a child. You're blowing everything out of proportion."

"I'm acting like a child? I'm blowing it out of proportion?" She hissed back, struggling to keep her voice low. "I'm not doing this anymore, Chase. You're not going to talk your way out of it this time."

"It's Ryan, isn't it?" Chase asked. "It's always been Ryan, hasn't it? Why did you even bother with me?"

"It's not Ryan. You are so hung up on Ryan and I sneaking around, God. You wanna know what we were doing, Chase? We were buying a business. I wish I knew why I bothered with you, Chase. But you are not who I thought you were." Lara choked out the last part, blinking back tears. She was not going to give Chase the satisfaction of making her cry. "Have fun with that redhead. I hope you treat her better."

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