Page 111 of Crash Test
Stefan clears his throat. “Well, now, our lawyers feel that it’s important protection for the team. What’s to stop Crosswire from poaching you from us to steal all our secrets?” He sort of laughs after he says it, like he’s trying to keep things light and friendly.
Travis raises an eyebrow. “They could do that now. And why would you sign something that could keep you from hiring Jacob?”
Oh, lord. The tips of my ears light on fire as Tom and Stefan turn their critical gazes toward me. Travis makes it sound like I’m some sort of prodigy, like they’d be insane to pass up the chance to work with me.
The crazy part is, Tom and Stefan are frowning at me like they mightagree. I can practically hear their brains whirring.
Tom gets there a little faster. “I have no issue with removing it,” he says. “We’ve always supported our drivers to do what’s best for their careers. If a better opportunity arises for Jacob, of course we would want him to take it. Although,” he adds, “I have confidence our team will only improve with the new regulations.”
I stifle a smile. He’s really put Stefan in a corner with that one.
“We areequallysupportive of our drivers,” Stefan says stiffly. “And I’m just as confident in our team.” With obvious effort, he puts on a smile. “Who knows? Perhaps one day the two of you will be teammates.”
I glance at Travis, and I know he’s trying to imagine it, just like I am. He and Matty are a bit of an exception—most teammates in F1 aren’t close friends. Or if they are, they usually don’t stay that way.
But I don’t know. I think Travis and I could hack it.
The meeting drags on for another hour after that, then everyone finally agrees on the final language, and the lawyers whip out brand-new copies for us to sign. It feels sort of weird signing a contract with Travis, almost like we’re getting married or something.
And I know it’s not the same thing, obviously. But it’s still something of a statement. It’s saying we think we’ll be together for as long as we’re with our respective F1 teams, and I hope to hell that’s longer than a few years.
I think he must feel the same way, because he takes my hand on the car ride home and grins at me in that fond, easy way that makes my skin warm.
“Kind of cool, yeah?” he says.
I nod, biting into my grin. It definitely is. Just like it was cool last night, when I was telling him a story about Kelsie and he said, sort of offhand, “Have you signed a lease for her place yet?” And when I replied just as casually that I hadn’t, and asked if he thought I should, he shrugged and said, “Maybe just for a month or two. It would suck to be stuck in a lease for too long.”
And then we sort of grinned at each other for a while, pretending like we both didn’t know what we were getting at. I swear, if I saw a couple acting like this on TV, I would roll my eyes and call them both lame.
But it turns out it’s really fucking nice when it’s happening to you.
Travis turns onto the highway back into London, and I watch the countryside roll by. It’s one of those perfect spring days, when it seems like all the leaves have come out overnight, and the sky is a bright, unbroken blue. The city is silhouetted in the distance, filled with things I want to do and places I want to see. Kelsie made a whole list for me, three hundred and forty-two items long, and Travis and I have slowly started picking them off. Sometimes we go with Kelsie and Heather, who met a few days ago and hit it off straightaway, or Nate, who likes Travis just as much as I hoped he would, but most of the time, it’s just Travis and me. A few days ago, we went to the Tower of London, and a bunch of people recognized Travis and asked for his autograph.
A year ago, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere alone with him, in case something like that happened. I would’ve felt sick worrying that someone would wonder why we’re always spotted together in London without any girlfriends in tow. Now, I can’t bring myself to care. Let them wonder, let them talk. I’ve already decided I won’t live my life to please my parents. I’m sure as hell not going to do it to please a bunch of strangers.
Travis rubs his thumb over my palm. I smile at him and squeeze his hand.
When I look back over the last year, it sometimes feels like one single, endless bad day. It would be easy to wish it had never happened or call it a waste of ten months of my life. But it did happen,there’s no changing that. And now that I’m on the other side of it, I can’t bring myself to call it a waste. It was hard, and sometimes horrible, but it led me to where I am now.
Driving toward my new home, with Travis beside me, and a lifetime of good days ahead of us.
