Page 84 of Not So Fast
“I can record some pretty epic episodes of my podcast.”
“Yes, you can.” His eyes narrowed. “By the way, did you try to send me a text after you left England?”
“I did send you a text. I know I cheated. But wait. You looked?”
He shook his head. “Yes, I looked, but I did not get a text from you.”
“Hold on. That’s not right.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled down through her messages. “Dammit. I forgot to hit Send again.”
“Of course. Trying to torture me.”
She sent the message. Seconds later, Xander’s phone beeped and he looked at it, then he winked at her. “Good. We’re on the same page.”
Mia smiled. She felt as light as air. “Definitely the same page.”
Epilogue
Five months later
Today, I feel…
happy, but also slightly annoyed with myself. My predictions about Mega Racing? The ones Claudia Simon asked me to make in Austria? They were only half-right. I hate not being right. Xander is ending the season on a high note. Five podiums since Silverstone, including a win in Mexico City. P4 in qualifying yesterday. He kept his seat at Mega. I was right about that one. And of course, I’m over the moon for him. Dirk, however, did not re-sign with the team and will be driving for Cyclone Green Dragon alongside Kenji next year. So I was wrong about that. But it’s probably for the best. Dirk and Xander never had the bonding moment I hoped they would.
Exactly like last year, Mia was super bummed the season was ending. But then again, she wasn’t. She needed a break from allthese hot weather locales. Abu Dhabi was not a place for feeling cute, and she always wanted to feel that way when she was with Xander. She also, admittedly, did not like being around the other drivers when she didn’t feel confident and her hair was a big frizzy mess. She’d been spending a lot more time with them now thatNot So Fastwas on another roll. The top podcast in the sport. The whole entire sport.
It was a circular thing—Xander got Mia to take Emilio and him out for barbecue after the race in Austin; the three of them had a fun and slightly drunken evening since both drivers had landed on the podium and were eager to celebrate. It didn’t take much to convince Emilio to do a proper interview for her show, which ended up being an extensive talk about Spanish cuisine. Turned out Emilio was quite the cook.
That episode sentNSFto new heights. The fact that Emilio sealed the Drivers’ Championship by the race in Brazil helped. It also turned out that where Emilio went, the other drivers followed, which meant she’d nabbed real interviews with most of the grid over the final weeks of the season. Kenji Matsumoto. Brett Lockford. Preston Hubbard. Florian Laurent. The few she hadn’t chatted with yet were on the books starting with testing in February. All of them, except Dirk. She was still trying to get him to commit. Even having access to the Mega Racing garage hadn’t helped.
“Can I ask you a favor?” Mia asked Xander as they were on their way through the paddock, walking hand in hand to the garage. The race was still a few hours away—the start wasn’t until 5:00 p.m. at this Grand Prix, mostly to let the sun go down so the heat wouldn’t be quite so punishing for the drivers. Even in November, Abu Dhabi was hot AF.
“Sure. Anything for you.”
“Can you make yourself scarce while I talk to Dirk in the garage? I think he doesn’t want to say yes to me because of you.”
Xander came to a stop. “Fuck Dirk. Maybe he doesn’t get to be onNot So Fast. Did you ever think about it that way? He should be chasing you, not the other way around.”
It was cute that Xander had become so fiercely proud of her podcast. It still didn’t change the fact that she wanted to tie up this one loose string.
“Five minutes. That’s all I ask.”
“Sure. I need to go to the media center and chat with Isabel, anyway.”
Mia popped up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.” She strolled through the corridor leading into the garage, greeting the mechanics and engineers, whom she all knew by now.
Dirk spotted her as soon as she walked into the central bay where the cars were sitting. “If it isn’t Mia Neal. Where’s your boyfriend?”
“He and Isabel are meeting.”
His eyes narrowed. “Then why are you here alone?”
Mia walked up to him. “I wanted to talk to you about being on my podcast. You’re the only driver who hasn’t said yes.”
“How can I trust you? You’re sleeping with the enemy.”
Apparently, this would be harder than Mia had bargained for. “He’s not your enemy, Dirk. I know Xander told you that you were his favorite driver when he was a kid.”
“That’s real?” Dirk looked down at his feet. “I thought he made that up.”
