Page 49

Nicky

I let out a shout that is half-excitement, half-pure relief that it is ending. With another win under my belt.

My race engineer knows better than anyone the struggles that have gone on behind the scenes to get to this point today. And I’m thrilled we could bring home the win for the entire team.

“Thanks, mate,” I reply, feeling breathless after the fifty-eight laps I’d just completed.

Although I’d wrapped up the Championship title in Las Vegas, it was still important for us all to finish the season on a high.

This win clinched the Constructors title for the team, meaning they all end as winners—with huge bonuses, to go with it .

I pull my car up behind the giant number one sign and sit back to soak it in. Last week in Las Vegas, I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the car, knowing I’d be forced to celebrate with a level of enthusiasm I’d lost when Cherry walked out that hotel room door.

If I’d known she was watching me from in the crowd, I’d have done cartwheels out of the car just to get to her.

“Congrats, Nicky.” Nate taps my helmet and offers me his hand.

I take it and pull myself up into a one-armed hug with my competitor and closest rival.

Despite what the press loves to report about us, we don’t hate each other.

In fact, when we’re not battling it out on the racetrack, I consider him a friend.

“Thanks, mate.”

I take off my helmet and wave to the crowd before walking with Nate to get through the formalities. My hair is damp and curling at the ends from sweat and I long for a shower and a cold beer. With all the ceremonies and press interviews I have ahead of me, I know both will be a fair way away.

“What’s planned for the break?” Nate asks as we both guzzle down a bottle of water. It’s strange to have these sorts of conversations, with one hundred thousand people cheering for us in the stands and millions of others watching us at home.

“I’ll be with Cherry.” My mouth stretches into a wide smile. I don’t even try to hide it. It’s the same smile that’s been gracing my face ever since she showed up and told me she loved me.

His answering smile is subdued. “I’m happy for you, Nicky. Cherry is amazing.”

He doesn’t have to tell me that. I’ve known this to be true for a very long time.

“Yeah, I know.” I look at him closely. “How are you? You know? After the whole Victoria thing?”

Being the type of friends we are, we don’t discuss our relationships or emotions, and so I haven’t spoken to my friend about the disastrous end to his relationship with his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

All I know is that having spent five long weeks apart from Cherry, I can sympathise with his heartbreak.

“Eh,” he shrugs. “I’ll be alright.”

I make a mental note to check in with him more, before thumping him on the shoulder and striding away from him towards where the Vortex Motors team is waiting to celebrate with me. Where Cherry is waiting to celebrate with me.

My mechanics sweep me up into a crushing group hug and I sink into them, letting this win be for and about them.

“We did it!” I shout as they each pull me in for an individual hug. It’s a ritual we do after every race and it feels bigger now after this win. The win that is the pinnacle of all the other wins.

“You were amazing,” Cherry whispers to me when I finally reach her at the end of a very long line.

This time, the hug I receive is accompanied by her coconut scent and the softness of the body of the woman I’m so deeply in love with.

“Let’s blow this all off and go home,” I whisper into her ear, not even a bit joking. I’ve had years of podium celebrations, and not enough one-on-one time with this woman in my arms.

She leans back and smiles, flashing her dimple. As it does whenever I’m close to her, my breath stalls in my lungs and I have to force myself to remember to breathe.

It’s strange. I’ve known Cherry her whole life and I’ve loved her for that long as well. But the way I feel for her now? It’s like every part of my body was put on earth just to love her.

She doesn’t know it yet, but this woman has the power to wreck me .

“You can’t leave,” she laughs, brushing her lips against mine and pulling away when I try to deepen the kiss.

Cherry isn’t overly thrilled to have our PDA captured for all the world to see.

“You need to go up there and accept that trophy. Then we’re going out to celebrate with the team. And then we can go home together.”

The mental time maths suggests it will be many, many hours until I’m alone with her. I groan, fixing her with a frustrated stare.

“Do we really need to go out with the team?”

She waves to the crowd of people next to us, all still whooping it up like they’d personally won the race.

“Okay, yeah,” I concede. “But then we’re not leaving the house for weeks.”

“Deal.” She squeezes me tightly and whispers into my ear, “I’m so proud of you.”

I let that sink in; her words meant more to me than the trophy or the champagne or the million-dollar bonus I’ll get in my bank next week.

Cherry’s admiration is like a drug for me. I’d do anything to earn it.

“Let’s go, big man.” Nate hooks his arm around my neck and pulls me away from Cherry, flashing her his flirty grin and earning a warning growl from me in return.

“Chill, mate,” he laughs as we walk towards where the third-place driver is wrapping up his post-race interview. It will be our turn next. “That woman has only ever had eyes for you.”

I let this settle in my stomach as he steps up to the microphone. His posh British accent washes over me as he starts his interview, and I look back to where I left Cherry cheering along with Serena and the rest of the team.

It’s amazing what a difference twelve months can make.

Here we are at the end of another season, and I feel like a different person.

When I’d returned home to Melbourne for Matt and Nancy’s wedding at the start of the year, I was burnt out, lonely and unhappy.

After fourteen years of racing cars, I was struggling to find the joy in it. In anything.

Enter Cherry. My best friend’s little sister.

Who stumbled back into my world and brought me back to life again.

It should be strange, after knowing her for her whole life, to feel this way about her.

But it doesn’t. Loving this woman is as easy for me as breathing.

I just wish our path to being together had been easier.

I knew that bringing her into my world wasn’t going to be smooth—the life I lead is littered with potholes large enough for someone vulnerable to sink into—but I hadn’t realised how bad it had all become for her.

And that so many of the issues were stemming from a person within my own team.

It had all come out after the Las Vegas race.

Many hours after she came back to me and emerged from my arms and my kisses and my bed, we finally talked.

A proper talk. Cherry revealed what I’d long suspected about Troy (I’m going to kill him) and how that ultimately led to her walking away.

She detailed the extent of the online hate, which was amplified by the fact that Vortex Motors was flailing after the mid-season break.

And then she admitted what happened with Frieda.

A make-over. She suggested a makeover. For my perfect Cherry!

The woman had to go.

And she did, a mere hour later. I know firing Frieda won’t be the magic pill to fix everything for Cherry, but I’m convinced with my support, continued therapy and a publicist who will work for her and not against her, we’ll weather this storm.

Especially knowing my life will be very different in a year from now.

“And now let’s hear from the race winner today and five-time World Champion, Nicolai Dimitrios. ”

The roaring of the crowd snaps me back into the moment and I see Nate wrapping up his interview. Where I’m a man of few words in interviews, he’s a man of a few too many.

I step up to the microphone, bracing myself for the impact of what I’m about to share.

“You’ve accomplished it all this year, Nicky.” Jean-Paul Cannon, former two-time World Champion and a friend of mine, starts with a beaming grin. “Drivers’ title, constructors title, finishing with a race win today. Where do you go from here?”

My eyes drift to find Cherry’s blue ones, which are twinkling back at me. “Well, funny you ask that, J.P. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of highs and success during my time racing with Vortex Motors and I’m grateful for everything we’ve achieved together.”

I draw in a deep breath. “And so, it feels like the right time to announce that next year will be my final year in Formula 1.”

A collective gasp washes through the grandstands and I nod in understanding.

Retiring after the year I’ve just had is an unusual step and one that’s not done very often.

But I’m of the mentality to retire while I’m on top and personally, I’d have been happy to retire here and now.

It was Cherry and Jack who convinced me to go one more round around the calendar before tapping out, and with everything the team and the sport have given me, it feels like the least I can do.

“Wow, Nicky. This is quite unexpected,” JP says, quickly masking his surprise like the professional he is. “What prompted this move?”

My eyes find Cherry’s again. “It feels like the right time. I want to spend more time at home. I want to be the person who actually waters my plants and mows my lawn.” The crowd laughs.

“I’ve had the privilege of a long and successful career with you all, but now I want to spend more time standing still. ”

JP nods with understanding. He’d wanted the same thing when he retired several years ago. “And will you be standing still on your own?”

I chuckle, shaking my head and giving him nothing. “All I’ll say, JP, is that I’d love to be watering my plants and mowing my lawn with my wife and kids around me.”

Now the crowds go wild and I can see Cherry’s cheeks glowing from here.

We’ve only been together for a short time and have never even spoken about marriage or kids as yet.

But the way I feel about Cherry? That’s a forever love, and once she’s feeling more comfortable with me, with our relationship that will always be in some sort of spotlight, I’ll be asking her to marry me.

I’m already planning our honeymoon on my yacht.

“Well, then, Nicky. Looks like the fans will have one more season to enjoy watching you behind the wheel.”

“That’s the plan.”

We smile at each other and I wave to the cheering fans. When the time comes for all this to end, there will be parts of Formula 1 that I will miss. And the love and support from the dedicated fans who pour their hearts and souls into our sport will be at the top of that list.

“Enjoy your break and we’ll see you back here refreshed and ready to go for one last season.”

I give JP a one-arm hug and, unable to stop myself, I jog back to where Cherry is waiting for me.

When I get there, I sweep her into my arms and take a second to drink her in.

The kindness shining from her eyes, the sweetness of her lips, the way her hair glows like a siren, calling just for me.

Ignoring all the eyes zoomed in on us, I lean down and kiss her like I want to kiss her for the rest of our lives.

“So, who are this wife and kids you’re talking about?” she jokes against my lips.

I smile against her mouth. “When the time is right, Cherry Brenner, I’m going to make you mine for always.”

“Hmm.” Her lips vibrate against mine. “I like the sound of that.”

My heart jumps and I press another kiss on her cherry-red lips before wrenching myself away from her. “I love you,” I tell her again.

She presses her hand to her heart, her smile wide and radiant. “I love you, too.”

I walk backwards away from her feeling happier than I’ve ever been, and for the first time in a long time, it’s not because of Formula 1. It’s because of one red-haired woman with a dimple that melts my heart.

Almost one year ago, my best friend asked me to do him a favour. Turns out to be the best favour I’ve ever granted. Cherry was always meant to be mine; my hardened heart never stood a chance.

The End .