apex friction. - book one of the friction series (18+).
At 200 miles per hour, there are no lies. But behind closed doors, we are the biggest lie in motorsport.
Leo Montgomery is the pristine "Golden Boy" of Formula 1. Driven by the suffocating legacy of his three-time World Champion father and locked under the corporate thumb of Vanguard Racing, Leo is one bad race away from a total mental collapse. He is quiet, elegant, and drowning.
Nikolai "Niko" Vlasov is the "Russian Beast." Driving for Phoenix Red, Niko is a chaotic, unfiltered force of nature who treats the track like a playground and the media like a joke. He represents everything Leo hates-and everything Leo secretly craves.
When a post-qualifying panic attack forces them into the same locked room in Monaco, the tension of their bitter rivalry explodes into a desperate, physical collision. What was supposed to be a one-time release of high-adrenaline friction turns into a dangerous, secret arrangement spanning eight years across different continents, luxury hotels, and high-speed circuits.
But as the pressure of the World Championship reaches a boiling point, the line between hate and something much deeper begins to blur. With the cameras watching their every move and a homophobic paddock culture waiting to destroy them, they must decide if winning the crown is worth losing the only man who knows what lies beneath the pristine armour.
An explosive, high-heat, enemies-to-lovers M/M F1 romance featuring heavy power dynamics, deep anxiety representation, a submissive golden boy, a fiercely dominant Russian rival, and a love story that redlines.