Page 48 of Homecoming

I looked at him sideways. I’d known him for years. I had mad respect for him. Still, you didn’t share troubles from the inside. No matter how good of a friend you were with someone, you didn’t share secrets from the inner sanctum.

I just wished I’d known that before I’d told everything to Lola.

“That shit that went down last weekend was fucked up,” he said casually, looking at the TV mounted over the bar. The recap from the last race was on. And of course, the footage of me braking and stopping the car at the side of the track was on the constant loop.

Still, I didn’t take the bait.

“C’mon man, you have to let it out,” he invited. “We’ve known each other, how long?”

“Too long,” I half-joked.

God, I was tired.

I was tired of everything.

The press, fans, all these pompous shits wherever we stepped foot in. The bosses, politics. On some days, I found myself tired even of racing. Well, at least under those conditions.

“You know whatever you say to me stays strictly between us,” he said softly.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Still, you’re the owner of one of the teams on the circuit,” I reminded him unnecessarily. No matter how much respect we had for each other, and how much trust, there were still things we couldn’t talk about.

“ I’ll give you that,” he chuckled.

“Besides, it’s all over the news,” I indicated the TV with the bottle in my hand.

I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I drank this heavily and it was getting to me.

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes until I couldn’t help myself and I asked, “Have you seen Lola?”

“Fuck,” he muttered. He gave me a tortured look before he continued. “If you tell Rylee you heard it from me, I’ll puncture your tires. All of them.” In the Formula One world, that was a serious threat, so I just nodded. “She’s with Rylee in the hotel. Resting.”

“Resting?” An alarm went off in my head. Why would she need to rest?

“She’s good,” he was quick to answer my unspoken question. “Just—”

“Just what, Colton?” I growled.

“Nothing.” He waved me off. “I think it’s all that's gone down with you, it’s shaken her up. I don’t know. But Riley keeps telling me she needs rest. It’s been going on for two days now.”

I relaxed. “You mean to tell me that they’ve been having a girls' night for two days straight?”

It was Colton’s time to give me a tortured look now. “It’s been hell. Why do you think I’m here sitting at the bar and not with my wife locked up in a room?”

I wouldn’t think it possible after the week I’d had, but I threw my head back and laughed.

“So you’re here to beg me for help?” I chuckled.

“No, I’m here to ask you when you are going to get your head out of your ass,” he asked seriously.

“It’s not that simple, Colt. You know what she did.” Fuck, even hinting at her betrayal hurt like a mother.

“I don’t get how you could even think it’s Lola that’s behind this shitstorm,” Colton bit out, his tone pure steel. He was famous for his quick temper. It wasn’t the first time I was witnessing it, and I was sure it wouldn't be the last.

The thought was both surprising and sobering. It was a surprise since the extreme shift came only when it was something or someone he felt deeply about. But, it was also sobering because it went a long way to prove his point.

Why was I so sure Lola was the one who leaked the story?

I remembered the day she’d told me that if she wrote something, or had valuable information on something, she was sure as hell putting her name on it.