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

| thirteen |

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Lara's phone buzzed in the back pocket of her jeans as she walked into the garage. She didn't even bother to check and see who it was, she knew it was either Ryan or Chase. Both of them had been trying to get ahold of her all week and she had ignored them both. Instead, she had spent her free time with Hank, working on the books and getting the course ready for the upcoming tourist season.

She hadn't told anybody that she had planned to buy it from Hank besides Ryan, she hadn't even told her grandfather. But based on her conversations with Hank over the week, it was something that she would need to do soon. Hank was tiring and yearning to see more of the world like he had planned to do with his late wife. They had had a great love, a pure and unshakeable love that had spanned decades. Their love was the type of love that Lara had always dreamed about, yearned for, the type of love she was sure she would probably never have.

Which brings her to her present-day issue. She was still upset with Chase and it didn't help that he had had a few interviews that week, nothing he said sounded remotely like an apology -- she had checked. As for Ryan, she didn't even know what to say to him but she knew that by answering one of his calls or texts, she would bring on a conversation that she didn't really want to have, at least not yet.

Ryan was a good guy, there was no doubt about it, and after their kiss or whatever that was, it hadn't taken much brainpower to connect the dots and figure out that she was probably the girl he had been talking about. But as confused as that night had made her about everything, she wasn't sure that it was the best idea to drop Chase and start dating his best friend.

Lara wouldn't put it past Chase to go to her grandfather in a quest to punish her. As much as she hated the idea of hurting Ryan which seemed inevitable at this point -- her career came first, it had to. She didn't care what Chase had said, she had worked her ass off to prove to her grandfather that she was the person who had deserved that ride -- no easy feat. Her grandfather was her biggest fan but he had always taken the prospect of her driving for him in the Cup series seriously.

"You're avoiding me." Ryan leaned against a toolbox, almost as if he had been waiting for her.

She looked up in surprise -- he had startled her from her thoughts. "I..." her voice trailed off. "I was really busy this week," She offered half-heartedly, knowing full well that Ryan would see through that bullshit excuse.

He nodded slowly, moving towards her, "Has anybody ever told you that you're a shit liar, Lara?" A small smirk played on his lips.

She stifled a smile, "I may have been told that once or twice."

"Then why would you lie? Unless you really were avoiding me?" He studied her, his eyes clouded in a way that she didn't recognize.

She shrugged, "I don't know..." Lara whispered.

He shook his head, "We don't have to talk about it. I don't want something that happened in the heat of the moment to ruin our friendship, okay?"

Lara nodded, letting out a breath of relief. "Okay. For the record, I really was busy."

Ryan laughed, "Sure you were. I'll see you around, Lara."

"Bye, Ryan." She called as Ryan strolled off.

Lara turned to head off in the opposite direction when somebody grabbed her wrist. She turned, coming face to face with Chase.

  "Hey," His voice was soft, his chocolate brown eyes looked almost sad. "Can we talk?"

Lara found herself nodding slowly. She didn't want to but she knew that it was time to bite the bullet and hear him out.

Chase shoved his hands in his pockets, "I don't know what else to say but I'm sorry. I am an entirely different person once I climb into that racecar and I was hot when I gave that interview. But I'm sorry, Lara. This week was hell without you."

She shook her head, "All things aside, Chase, I am your teammate. You should know to hold your tongue way better than that." She stepped closer to him, making sure that he would be the only person to hear what she said next. "And as your girlfriend, Chase, I am extremely hurt that those thoughts would even cross your mind, especially when you said the exact opposite to me before the race. I don't think sorry is going to cut it."

Lara hadn't realized how upset she was with him until she had started talking. Her anger and hurt were two-fold-- she was angry that her teammate would say that she didn't deserve her ride and she was taking a ride away from somebody who deserved it more. She was hurt that her boyfriend would say one thing and then tell the whole world another.

"C'mon Lara, do you think if your last name wasn't Hendricks, that you would've honestly been considered for a ride this season? You're barely twenty." Chase asked, his brown eyes aflame.

Lara shot daggers at Chase, anger welling up in her stomach, rising in her throat like bile. "How dare you. I could ask you the same damn thing, Chase. Do you honestly think you would've gotten your ride when you did if your last name wasn't Elliott? Let's not act like our last names didn't have anything to do with getting Cup rides. I know mine did but I'm confident if my last name had been anything else, I would've gotten a ride eventually. You on the other hand? I'm not so sure." She crossed her arms, smirking at the twist of the proverbial knife.

Chase sputtered with anger, "Don't be a bitch, Lara."

She narrowed her eyes, "Fuck off, Chase." She shook her head as she stalked off, even angrier than she had been before.