by Mia Hoddell
Teo locked up on the second to last corner, smoke coming from his front right tyre and everyone in the garage sucked in a sharp breath. I shut my eyes, not able to see if Aston overtook him.
Suddenly a tremendous roar ripped through Teo’s garage. I jumped at the sound, my eyes opening to see Teo crossing the finish line in first place. As he passed the chequered flag the team leapt from their seats, clapping, cheering, and giving each other those weird manly, one-armed hugs. I became swept up in the celebration. I hugged Mickey with an enthusiastic cry, bouncing on the spot while watching Teo do doughnuts for the crowd on his victory lap over Mickey’s shoulder.
His team was going to hate him when the fines for that came rolling in. Although, I was sure they’d let it go since it was his home Grand Prix.
When the screen briefly flashed to show my celebration, I blushed and gave everyone a wave, too excited to care.
The camera cut away and the team went running out of the garage to beat him to parc ferme. There wasn’t even a doubt in my mind I would follow them. With Mickey beside me, we both ran up to the metal barrier and were crushed into it as people crowded around us to get the first look at the new British Grand Prix winner.
Aston and Flynn had already parked their cars and entered the building when Teo pulled his car to a stop in front of the sign with a number one on it. The crowd roared when he hauled himself out of the car, stood on the bonnet, and threw both arms in the air. When he held his index finger in the air in his sign for number one, the crowd went wild again.
Teo jumped down from his car, replacing the steering wheel, and patted the nose. When he stood back up his eyes instantly found mine from beneath his helmet. Within seconds he closed the gap between us, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me up into a hug. With a laugh I kissed his helmet and the guys around me patted him on whatever part of his body they could reach. After what felt like forever, he released me and made his way down the line of his team until he was herded off by one of the race organisers so he could get to the podium.
It took a few minutes, but finally the announcer introduced the guys in reverse order. I cheered for Flynn as he made his way onto the third step and waved to the crowd, then reluctantly clapped for Aston. It was Teo we were all waiting for. As soon as the announcer called out his name the thundering sound of over a hundred thousand people cheering for him filled the track.
When everyone suddenly quieted for the national anthems, my ears were ringing. The guys removed their hats, Teo running his fingers through his sweat-drenched hair and then a random member of the royal family handed out the trophies.
As soon as the dignitaries were off the stage, the champagne shower began. The guys sprayed each other in the face, pouring the sticky liquid over each other and the cars beneath them. When they had finally run out of bubbles, an ex-racer appeared on the podium with a microphone for the interviews.
He clapped Teo on the back. “Home race, home crowd, and first place. How are you feeling right now, Teo?”
Teo beamed. “It’s unbelievable. To all of the fans that came out to support me today, this one’s for you. You were there with me the whole way and your support means so much. I could see you all cheering and it kept me fighting. I’m just…yeah. I’m so happy right now.”
“It’s safe to say we’ve seen a different Teo than the last few races here today. What’s happened that brought all of this on?”
“My girlfriend Raine is here today. She’s my motivation.” Teo pointed down at me and to my embarrassment a camera was suddenly in front of me. “I love you, Raindrop!” he shouted into the microphone so it echoed through the speakers. Of course that caused me to dip my head and a furious blush to break out on my face as people “aaawed” and Teo laughed into the mic. He would pay for that later on.
“I’m assuming that’s who you wore on your helmet today?”
Teo confirmed it and answered a few more questions about the race itself, then the interviewer moved on to the other drivers, and then they finally disappeared back into the building.
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Raine
We didn’t leave Silverstone until three hours later. The media all wanted a piece of Teo, then there were the team photos and other sponsorship things he had to deal with before he could extricate himself.
“Do you want to grab some things before we head on over to the house?” Teo asked and I agreed. Neither of us had brought up the conversation that hung in the air. I wanted to wait until we weren’t on the road, and I assumed Teo thought the same. In fact, neither of us said anything else until Teo had parked outside my flat and we were about to walk through the front door.
I hesitated opening it.
“I’m not sure what we’re going to find on the other side,” I said. “Dustin met up with Elora earlier.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to have a go at him for helping you leave me. I know he was only doing what you wanted and thinking he was protecting me.”
A weight lifted from my shoulders at his words. The last thing I wanted was the brothers laying into each other because of me. It had been something I’d felt guilty over from the start of all this drama.
I opened the door to find Dustin sprawled out on the sofa. His hair was ruffled as if he’d run his hand through it too many times, his eyes sagged, and he had an open bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. He wasn’t even bothering to decanter it this time and took another swig straight from the bottle. What shocked me most were the three bright red scratches down the side of his face.
“Geez, what the hell happened, Dustin?” I gasped, rushing over to the side of the sofa. Automatically I reached out, wanting to get a better look at the marks, but he recoiled from my touch with a grunt.
“Leave me alone, Raine.”
“What did she do, Dustin? Please, we can help.”
Dustin glared at me, then at Teo as if only just realising I wasn’t alone. He brought the bottle up to his lips, taking a long draw of the amber liquid.
“I said. Fuck. Off. Go play happy families together and leave me alone.”
I trembled at the cruelty in his words. He’d never spoken to me that way before.
“Hey! Back off, she’s only trying to help you because we care.” Teo stormed over to us, his hand landing on the small of my back in comfort.
“I don’t need your help.” He was clearly drunk. When he went to take another swig of his drink, he missed his mouth, pouring a good amount of liquid down his front. “Shit, now look what you made me do.”
“I’ll get a cloth,” I muttered.
“No! I don’t fucking need your help. Just get out of here!” He pulled himself off the sofa, his stance threatening and his chest heaving with angry breaths.
“Dustin, please. Let me be there for you,” I begged. He was like a brother to me. I cared deeply for him and seeing him in such a state pained me.
“Come on, Dust. You need to stop this, it’s not healthy. Put the drink away and go take a shower,” Teo said, his tone meant to placate him.
“You want me to put this down?” he shouted, brandishing the bottle. “Okay, I’ll put it down.”
He hurled it at the wall. The glass shattered with an ear-splitting crash, making a hole in the plasterboard, and the liquid dripped over the egg-shell blue wall in a shape that resembled a spider’s web.
“There you go. Now leave me the fuck alone.”
“Go get your things, Raine. I’ll calm him down.” Teo pushed me in the direction of my bedroom when he sensed I wasn’t going to move. He shut the door behind me and only when it clicked into place did I come to life. Picking up a bag, I began grabbing a few changes of clothes when the argument ensued. I couldn’t make out what was being said behind the door and I didn’t really want to. Every insult or curse increased the pain radiating in my chest.
How had I missed things had gone so far? There’d been signs but he was never this bad, and he’d seemed fine earlier. I wanted
to kill that bitch Elora for whatever she’d done.
Finally I had enough clothes packed and when I stepped back into the living room both heads turned to me. I walked cautiously back to Teo’s side, not liking Dustin’s predatory gaze. The normal Dustin would never lay a finger on me, but this was a drunk Dustin I’d never seen before. Not this bad anyway.
“Have you got everything you need?” Teo asked me.
“Yes. Dustin, are you sure you don’t want us to stay? We don’t mind.”
Dustin threw arms up dramatically. “What don’t you understand from go away?”
I flinched, recoiling at his aggressive tone. “Nothing, it’s just—”
He stormed around the sofa and Teo pulled me behind him. I didn’t think Dustin would hurt me, but I appreciated the gesture.
“Forget it. I’ll go.”
Neither of us had time to stop him. He slammed the door behind him.
“Are you okay?” Teo asked with a tired look of concern.
“I’m fine, although we should probably go after him. He could hurt himself.”
“Believe me, I want nothing more than to lock him in here until he sees sense,” Teo replied, “but he’s only going to get angrier if we go after him. He’ll be fine, baby, let him burn it off in his own way. I have his car keys so he can’t go far.”
I didn’t like the idea, yet there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I was out of my depth and I could see the reasoning behind Teo’s comments.
“Come on, let’s go home.” Teo pulled me under his arm and led me from the flat, our celebratory mood severely dampened.
* * *
I crashed down on Teo’s sofa with a heavy sigh as soon as we reached his house.
“Teo, we need to talk,” I said, thinking it better to get all of the crap out of the way in one night, although I was sure there would be plenty more to come where Dustin was concerned.
“Do we have to? I’d rather celebrate.” He dropped down beside me, dragging me on top of him so he cradled me against his chest.
I pushed him away. “No, talk first, then we can celebrate however you want.”
His hand skimmed the exposed sliver of skin where my top had ridden up over my jeans. “However I want?”
“Yes, however you want.”
“Fine. What did you want to talk about?”
“I want to be sure nothing’s going to come between us again. That we’re both done running.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Raindrop. You’re it for me. I was stupid before, but I’m never going to let you go again. I understand why you did what you did and I’m sorry for how I reacted when I found out. I should have heard you out rather than blamed myself and wallowed. I promise you I will make Aston pay for what he did to you, baby. Living without you twice is more than enough for a hundred life times and he isn’t going to take that from us again.”
“You promise?”
“I promise. You’re stuck with me from now on. Where I go, you go.”
I hummed in approval. Travelling around the world with a sexy Formula One driver didn’t sound like a bad life to be honest. I rested my forehead against his, gazing into his eyes. “I love you, Teo Coates.”
“I love you too, Raindrop.” His breath swept across my parted lips and his hands found the small of my back. Pulling me in even closer, my nose skimmed his. “Can we celebrate my win now? There are a lot of things I’d like to do with my girlfriend and I’ve got a year to make up for.”
Without hesitation I closed the distance between us. My lips met his tenderly, conveying all of the love I had for him through that one connection. When I was with Teo nothing else existed. I felt whole again, and all of the problems in my life seemed insignificant. There was nothing I’d rather do than celebrate.
Epilogue
Raine
Four Months Later-Abu Dhabi
“And the winner of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and your new world champion, Teo Coates!”
The announcer’s voice rang out through the speakers and Teo came jogging out to the podium. He’d beaten everyone, including Aston. The rest of the season had been a clean sweep for him—pole position and winning every race. Even when Aston played dirty, Teo came out on top and I couldn’t be prouder of him. This was only the beginning of the payback Aston was in for, and I was sure he’d pay even further for what he did to me. Anyway, that was irrelevant, this was Teo’s moment.
When he received his trophy he raised it over his head with an uncontainable grin. The only place I’d seen him look that happy was in bed, and that’s not bragging.
I glanced around the crowd, not even bothered to be in the thick of it. I still had mini attacks every now and then, I wasn’t totally cured, but I knew Teo’s guys had my back. Over the last half of the season I’d grown to know and trust them. I had gradually begun to feel safe and I didn’t want to hide so much. We were a weird, dysfunctional extended family.
My smile faltered at the thought of the one person with whom I wanted to share my achievement. Dustin had been there with me every step of the way, and he should have been here with us. Over the last few months he’d distanced himself from me and Teo and we’d rarely seen each other. I hadn’t given up on him, but I respected his wishes, even if it hurt.
Because today was meant to be happy, I pushed the dark thoughts away and returned my attention to the ceremony only to realise the crowd had gone deathly silent. Everyone was staring at me and grinning, and I couldn’t figure out why. I looked at Mickey in question, feeling a blush rising in my cheeks, and he pointed up to the podium where my face was projected on the screen behind Teo.
“I hope you guys don’t mind me interrupting the celebrations,” he was saying, “but there’s something important I need to ask someone extremely special to me.”
His eyes found me in the crowd and when he dropped to one knee and produced a ring from somewhere in his racing suit, my jaw fell slack.
“Raine, I know you hate being the centre of attention and you’re probably going to kill me for this later, but I don’t care. You deserve to be in the spotlight and I want everyone to know you’re mine. I fell in love with you on that first day you beat me in karting when we were twelve.” The crowd sniggered. “Yeah, she beat me, I’m not ashamed of it. After that my love has only grown over the years. I’ve never met anyone that compares to you, Raindrop. You’re my other half and without you I wouldn’t be standing—or kneeling—up here as a world champion. I know it hasn’t always been easy, but I’ve always loved you. I need you, Raine, and I can’t imagine my life without you. I promised you forever so will you do me the honour of becoming my wife by marrying me?”
Stunned into silence, I was vaguely aware that all eyes were on me. However, my gaze remained locked on Teo’s. Someone thrust a microphone in my face, distracting me for a minute and I tried to grab hold of it with shaking hands. I almost dropped it and fumbled to pick it up.
When I looked up at the podium again, ready to give Teo my answer, he was nowhere in sight.
“What do you say, baby? Will you marry me?”
I smiled when I saw him standing in front of me, ring still in his hand.
“Yes! Of course I will!”
Instantly, he swept me up into his arms, his mouth against mine. I could hear the crowd cheering around us but it sounded like a distant hum with Teo consuming every one of my senses. He refused to relinquish my lips as he murmured against them for my ears only, “I love you, Raine Wilkins.”
He slipped the princess cut, sapphire ring on my finger his eyes never leaving mine.
“I love you too, Teo Coates, although you are dead for that stunt, even if it was kind of romantic.”
“You can kill me later after we’ve celebrated.” I could feel his smile against me. “But for the record, I plan on celebrating all night…and all morning…then maybe all day.”
I giggled. “We can celebrate as long as you want. You promised me forever.”
~The End~
***Sneak Peek***
Twisted Mind
Chequered Flag, Book 2
Releasing March 2016
Chapter One
Dustin
“Elora, open the door.” My fist hammered against the cherry red wood in rapid time, and the door rattled under the constant pounding. “Elora!”
I stopped all movement for a second, listening for the slightest sign of life on the other side. I knew she was in there. Her car was the only one left on her parents’ driveway and Elora never walked anywhere. If she wasn’t going to let me in, I was seriously considering breaking the damned thing down because what I had to say couldn’t wait.
I’d driven straight from Teo’s race in Silverstone. Seeing Raine fight her fears for my brother brought everything in my life into perspective.
I wanted what they had.
I wanted someone worth fighting for, and Elora wasn’t that person.
Hell, I’d tried to make her it, I really had. However, it wasn’t working and I was stupid if I thought it ever would. Seeing Raine with Teo over the last few weeks had only forced me to confront what was really between me and Elora.
Nothing.
That was it.
There may have been lust at the start of our relationship, but it soon fizzled out. All that was left now was a doomed relationship filled with violence and an unhealthy rate of break-ups and make-ups. Everyone else had seen it, yet I had been dumb enough to believe her capable of change.
If it wasn’t for the fucking baby I’d have left her weeks ago. But, I couldn’t leave my child—born or unborn—alone with her. That wasn’t a risk I could ever take with a life so innocent and fragile. If I wasn’t around to take the hits, then who would?