Blinding Lights

CP VII: A New Trend

"So," Rick glanced up at the screen, "I heard you like rain."

Ella sighed while popping her helmet off, "You're joking, right?"

"No, ma'am," He scooted over so she could have a good look at the screen, "Looks like tomorrow is going to be a wet one. I have no idea what will happen with qualifying."

"Damn," Her fingers rubbed her temples, "What was our spot overall?"

The crew chief pulled up the data and explained the results. Summers wasn't too happy with how the car was handling currently, but hopefully the rain storms coming in would help improve it for the race Sunday. That's what she hoped for. After the final practice's team debrief she was off on a small break before heading off to a meet-and-greet event. It didn't take too long to clean up with some makeup and redoing her hair by straightening it. Of course while getting ready Chase, Bubba, and Ryan were there chatting about how their cars felt.

"Hey," Blaney joked, "I've never seen you all dolled up before."

Finishing her hair, she put everything away and headed up to the front where the guys were at, "I've never seen yours up in a ponytail, Ryan. Maybe we should exchange hairstyles one day."

A couple of snickers escaped from Bubba and Chase as Ryan turned a bright shade of red. After she checked through her phone and responded to a few work related emails and texts, Ella gently reminded the boys she would be back and to not go too crazy on the video games. They jokingly whined and complained as she left the motorhome and began to make her way to where the meet-and-greet event would be held at. Most of the other drivers were settling down and decided what to eat for dinner at this point. The rookie was craving for some sort of pasta dish to go with the potatoes she had put into the mini oven before she had bounced.

"Hey Ella!"

Those reddish-brown eyes of hers shot up as she spotted Erik approaching. Waking up all snuggled up in his arms this morning was a treat and she was glad to make pancakes and strawberry-banana milkshakes for breakfast. Ever since then, they had been texting each other almost non-stop. The whole thing made her feel excited.

"Hi," She let a warm smile slip, "How are you?"

Beside Jones was his trusty German Shepherd, Oscar, who was just as excited to see Ella as Erik was. Her petite fingers were swift to pet the dog and lavish him with attention as the trio casually strolled to the exit of the motorhome lot.

"I'm doing well," Erik replied with a coy grin, "What are you up to?"

Summers shrugged, "Got a fan event to head to. Seeing Oscar makes me regret not bringing my dog along for these races."

"What kind of dog do you have again?"

She chirped back, "A pure white Siberian Husky. Her name is Ghost."

"That's right!" He nodded, "I remember meeting her back at JGR. Super excited dog you have."

"Yeah," She blushed while moving a couple of hairs out from her face, "Huskies are a super energetic breed. Love her though. Hey, you did a decent job out there during practice today. Glad the SHR cars are running strong so far this year."

"Thanks," His cheesy grin made her heart flutter, "I hope you're able to make it up to the front. That would put the biggest smile on Coach's face."

Ella agreed, "I hope so. He's been a great man to work with so far. I'm glad he found me when he did."

Erik's dull blue eyes looked down momentarily at the ground to hide his feelings. He didn't switch racing organizations because of who was in charge. Coach was a fatherly figure to him. It was the constant squabbling between his teammates that made things unbearable. Kyle had helped him so much to get to the Cup level of racing, but by the middle of 2019 as the tensions for the championship rose, so did the distrust between the four drivers. It had morphed into a dick measuring contest that Jones had no interest in participating in. Tony welcomed him with open arms and so far he appreciated the atmosphere at SHR way more. He hoped the boys back at JGR would trust and care for Summers with more respect than they did with him.