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CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

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Geoff Askew: It’s no surprise that River Daniels is on pole position today. Even so early in the season, he is showing absolute mastery over that car. Of course I don’t want to call the play too early, but I don’t think he’ll have any trouble securing a victory here in Australis. Even Ronan Phillips, his speed demon of a teammate, was still five seconds off River’s qualifying time.

Charlie Amor: He does look very strong. And speaking as a racer who went up against someone like Daniels, it can be intimidating racing against someone who feels unstoppable. The weather is clear, but as we know, almost anything can happen in Formula 1. I would love to see River start off the season with a bang, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

“Radio check.”

“Loud and clear, River,” Glenn said. “Ready to race?”

“Oh, you know me,” I said. “I’ve been ready since crossing the finish line last season.”

Although the final race of last season meant a lot more to me now. Without that race, without Vanessa being a substitute driver that outperformed her car, Paragon might never have been interested. There’s a chance we might never have met. We could have lost her without ever knowing her.

That race solidified my second championship, but it did a hell of a lot more than that.

I glanced in my wing mirror. I could just see her car in the fourth row. That moment of hand touching hadn’t been enough. Even though my head had been between her legs this morning, it still wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t ever be enough until everyone knew she was ours.

Never in my life had I felt the possessive instincts the way I did with her. I’d never had the urge to publicly claim anyone I’d been with. But with Vanessa I wanted to make sure everyone knew. Not only so that they could fuck off, but so I could protect her.

My Omega was a fucking powerhouse. But she was soft too. More things hurt her than she would admit. I hoped she would eventually let all four of us in to support her and keep both her head and heart safe. But it was a lot to ask someone who’d been on their own for so long. Especially so quickly.

“River?”

“Yeah?”

“I asked if you’re clear on the change we made before the race?”

I’d been so focused on catching a glimpse of Vanessa in the mirror that I’d missed Glenn speak. “I’m clear.”

We’d switched our tyre strategy, choosing to go with soft tyres first. They’d wear out much faster than hard tyres, but with the times I’d set in qualifying, we thought I could get a comfortable lead with softs right out of the gate and switch to the hard tyres in the pit stop so I could maintain my speed and distance later.

“Good. Start sequence is ready to go. Have a good race.”

“Thank you.”

Staring down the track from pole position never got old. It was like you had the track all to yourself with nothing but open road in front of you that promised you the freedom of speed. All I had to do was keep the lead.

Thankfully, Ronan had qualified in second and would help me defend the place. There were some days being my support grated on him, but I also didn’t doubt his time would come. The man was a champion in the making.

Just like Vanessa.

With a final glance backward toward my Omega, I shut all the other thoughts off. It was race time.

“Ten seconds,” Glenn said.

One by one, the five red lights went on. The entire world narrowed to those small sparks of color.

Lights out.

I hit the gas, the car surging forward and down the track, racing toward the first turn. Lars was right on my ass, trying to flank me, but Ronan and I kept him behind us through turn one. The first short straight allowed me to build some speed and heat up the tyres.

Fuck, this car felt good.

With every turn I lengthened my lead, just like we’d planned. The majority of the grid was starting on hard tyres, so our gamble, so far, had paid off.

“Keep an eye on ten through thirteen. The wind is picking up.”

“Noted.”

Time felt strange in the car. You experienced every moment, but at the same time, it felt like time collapsed and sped by. No time at all had passed before they were calling me in. “Box this lap, please. Box this lap.”

It was a good thing. My tyres had started to feel like driving on oil. Making them last any longer would only mean locking up or spinning out.

Not my first choice.

I stopped in the pit. One breath in, one breath out, and I was speeding away again. “Incredible,” I said. “Thank the guys for me. That pit stop was like butter.”

Glenn laughed. “They heard you. Now bring this home, all right?”

“Will do.”

For the briefest of seconds, I wanted to ask how Vanessa was doing and where she was in the race. Another bad thing about being on a different team. If we were on the same team asking about her would simply be race intel. Right now it would make people raise their eyebrows.

Thanks to the pit stop, Ronan was ahead of me. Until he pitted too, and I was once more unleashed on the track. The first win of the season was so close I could taste it. And it tasted incredible.

But not as incredible as my Omega, and I would be tasting her again later if I had anything to say about it. Ten more laps to go. I smiled and didn’t hold anything else back.