Page 83 of Until The Lights Go Out

I didn’t think I could’ve moved even if the room was crumbling around us. Because all I could think about was her mouth warm against mine, the flushed look on her face, the fact that after ten years of pretending I didn’t need her⁠—

I had kissed her like a starving man.

I wanted to do it again immediately.

Another knock rattled the door. “Mate,” Sebastian warned, “I know you’re in there.”

Maisey let out one breathless laugh that sounded dangerously close to panic before she dropped her face into my chest for half a second.

“Oh my God,” she groaned.

I couldn’t help it—I smiled, actually smiled. The feeling was so unfamiliar lately that it almost startled me.

My hand slid instinctively along her waist, thumb brushing lightly against the sliver of skin just above the waistband of her trousers. Her breath caught instantly at the contact.

I am absolutely fucked.

“Theo!” Sebastian shouted again. “Open the damn⁠—”

“Alright!” I called back, voice rough enough that Maisey’s eyes snapped up to mine. And there it was again, that look. The same one she used to give me at 16 when we’d snuck too close to each other and suddenly remembered we weren’t kids anymore: wide-eyed and breathless and feeling too much all at once. It hit me straight in the chest. For one reckless second, I almost ignored the door entirely, almost dragged her right back against me. But the reality was, I just ran out after a DNF. The entire paddock was probably wondering where the hell I’d disappeared to. It wasn’t a good look—not that I really cared—but Maisey had also disappeared, and I was not about to fuck up anything else for her. Not now. I exhaled hard through my nose and stepped back just enough to think clearly again.

I opened the door before I could do something stupid. Sebastian was standing there with his fist raised to knock again, Serena beside him with her arms crossed so tightly she looked ready to physically fight someone.

Both of them stopped dead the second they saw us.

Maisey’s lips were swollen and her cheeks were flushed. The air in the room felt thick enough to choke on. Sebastian blinked once before a slow grin spread across his face.

“Oh,” he said carefully. “Well, that answers…several questions.”

“Shut up,” I shot back.

Serena’s eyes narrowed into tiny slits as she looked between us then directly at me, like she was assessing whether she needed to kill me or not. “Someone owes me money,” she said flatly.

Maisey made a strangled sound beside me. “Serena⁠—”

“You’re so damn predictable,” Serena said, pointing at me like I was infectious.

“Thank you,” I said dryly. “Always lovely to see you too.”

She ignored me entirely, staring at Maisey with a little smirk. “I leave you alone for one second⁠—”

“Okay!” Sebastian cut in quickly, clearly enjoying this far too much. “As entertaining as this is, we unfortunately have bigger problems.”

Sebastian’s expression shifted slightly as he looked at me properly now, some of the teasing fading. “I held them off as long as I could,” he said quieter, “but the team principal wants you up front. Now.”

The knot in my chest tightened, and I glanced sideways toward Maisey without meaning to. Her expression softened, which somehow made leaving feel worse.

God.

This was exactly why I’d spent years trying not to let this happen again.

Because the second I let myself have her back—even for a moment—I started wanting impossible things, things I didn’t know how to keep.

Sebastian cleared his throat awkwardly. “You’re going to have to face them eventually, mate.” Obviously, I knew that, but it didn’t mean I wanted to.

Silence stretched for a second too long before Serena suddenly stepped forward, jabbing a finger into my chest hard enough that I blinked.

“If you hurt her again,” she said sweetly, “I’ll run you over with my own race car, and you’ll be the one to pay for the damages.”