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“I want to sleep here. With you,” he says quietly. “It matters.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “I’d like that, too.”

“Yeah?”

I nod. “But we need to be careful about this.”

“I know. I agree. I’ll set my alarm, so I’ll have plenty of time to get back to my room and get ready. And I promise you, I’ll be careful.”

I move off him, curling up on my side. Mason reaches for his phone on the bedside table, taps a few things, and then puts it back down. He immediately shifts next to me, rolling onto his side and looping his arm around my waist. He presses a kiss into my hair, and I sigh in content.

“Good night, baby,” he murmurs. “Thank you for letting me stay.”

“Good night,” I reply. “And you’re welcome.”

Before long, I can hear a shift in Mason’s breathing. I know he’s asleep.

But I’m far from it. My mind is filled with thoughts of him and tonight. How good it felt to be with him, and how hot and intimate sex was between us. The way he looked at me and the words he said just now, about needing to sleep by my side. With every step we take forward, Mason gives me more and more reasons to fall in love with him.

And I’m pretty sure he’s starting to fall in love with me, too.

But with that thought in my head, I really can’t fall asleep. Instead, I relive every moment like my new favourite TV series, bingeing all the episodes in one go and starting over again because I’m so excited about rewatching all the best moments.

And I have no regrets about it.

Chapter Eighteen

Tension.

I feel it heavily in the garage in Monza today as everyone waits for the start of the first qualifying session for Sunday’s race. It’s a gorgeous day for qualifying, with warm temperatures and blue skies. Pit lane is about to open, and soon cars will roar to life as they leave the garage, queuing up to get out onto the track. Mechanics are surrounding both of the Collings Motors cars, ready to remove the tyre blankets as soon as they’re able.

I put my fingertips to my lips as I watch the monitors. One shows Caleb. The other, of course, shows Mason. Caleb’s car is released first, joining the stream of cars leaving their garages. Mason’s car is waved out next, and my stomach is filled with excitement and anxiety for what is about to happen on the track.

I’ve always cheered for Mason before. Not only as my secret crush, but as a driver for Collings Motors. However, my loyalty was always to Caleb, not only as my brother, but as my best friend, too.

Now? For the first time, I’m standing in this garage as the woman who is dating Mason. If I were like the other wives and girlfriends, I’d be back here solely focused on him—how his times evolve with track conditions, how he performs compared with the other times being put down, hoping with everything I have that he can land on pole.

Yet it’s not like that. I do want all of that for Mason. But I also want it for Caleb, too.

I knew this would be hard, but reality is proving to be harder than it was in my head. And this is only qualifying. What happens if they get in a head-to-head racing situation?

I’m going to have to get used to it. Because I love my brother. And I’m falling in love with Mason.

I feel my mum staring at my profile. She has tried to speak to me since last night, but I told her my relationship with Mason is not up for discussion. We’re both standing on Caleb’s side of the garage, and as the green light comes on at the end of pit lane and cars enter the track, I turn and look at her. Her expression is one of concern.

But it’s not for me. It’s for herself.

“I really want to talk to you privately, Catherine,” she tries again.

“We talked privately on the phone this morning,” I remind her. “Nothing has changed since that conversation.”

And it won’t. Mum called me this morning, asking me to come up to her hotel room for a chat before breakfast in the canteen. I declined it. I told her what she said to Mason was over the line last night, and I don’t want her ever to repeat it again. When she kept talking, I cut her off and politely told her I wasn’t having this conversation with her and would see her in the canteen for breakfast.

Then I ended the call.

“You can talk to me anytime, Mum. But if you bring him up, I’m not talking. Now let’s focus on qualifying.”

“You still haven’t forgiven me about the past,” she says in a hushed whisper. “That’s why you’re acting out like this.”