RACE 2 - Max Verstappen

22

Max fluttered his eyes before opening them wide and waking up after a comfortable sleep. He blinked his eyes a few times to adjust the view, thinking what he was seeing was a dream, but soon realized it was the reality. Daniella's face was very close to his, and she was still sleeping peacefully. Max's eyes were too occupied admiring her to realize that his arm was wrapped around her and their legs were tangled. 

He removed a few strands of hair from Daniella's face, gently brushing his fingers against her cheeks in the process. Daniella didn't respond to his touch as she was in deep sleep, but she did move closer to him, taking in the comfort. 

"Shit!" Max mumbled, feeling his heart skip a beat. He quickly looked away. 

Max suddenly remembered what Daniella said to him before switching off the lights last night, that she better find him on his side when she wakes up. And there is a good chance she will scold him if she wakes up right now. 

He looked at her again as he carefully tried to remove himself from her. Daniella shifted a little but didn't wake up to Max's relief. 

The fact that it's race day or that he had a not so pleasant encounter with his ex-girlfriend didn't occur to him as his mind was completely occupied by his former teammate. 

Max lightly slapped himself and shook his head before getting out of the bed. 

***

When Daniella woke up Max was nowhere to be found but he did send her a text, thanking her for letting him stay in her room. She sent him a quick reply before getting out of bed and started preparing for the day. 

She didn't see Max until later when all the drivers were called for the driver's parade. She tried to talk to him but he was too deep in a conversation with Charles. She was soon joined by Lando and Carlos, and the three of them chatted and discussed the race until they were called for the interviews. Max looked at her from time to time but not at the same moment Daniella looked at him, missing each other's gaze for a couple of seconds. 

Just as the parade was about to end Max approached her, his face was unreadable and Daniella was not sure what was going on his mind. 

"You talked to her?" Daniella asked in a low voice so no one else could hear them. 

"Yep," Max nodded. 

"Apologized?"

"Yes ma'am," Max sarcastically replied, earning a glare from her. "It's all over, Kelly went back home," He sighed. 

Daniella wanted to ask what exactly he told his ex but she didn't want to seem too nosey. 

"You are not even going to ask what I said to her?" Max frowned. 

"As long as you didn't damage any property, I really…"

Max glared at her, stopping her from finishing her sentence, but she did shoot him a teasing smile. 

"Fine, what exactly did you say…"

"We have to go," Lewis interrupted her as he showed her a text Toto sent in their group chat. He wants to re-discuss the strategy again before the race. 

Daniella looked around, the parade was coming to an end but the truck was still moving. 

"We are still moving," Daniella pointed out. 

"Come on," Lewis ignored her words and just held her wrist. 

Max shot her a look that they will talk later. 

Lewis first jumped out of the slowly moving vehicle, then held Daniella's hand and helped her jump off it. Both didn't waste any time and ran towards the Mercedes garage.