Semua Bab The Racer I Pretend To Hate: Bab 1 - Bab 7

I shouldn’t have done it. That single thought kept looping in my head as I stood alone in the empty racetrack lounge, Rex Callahan’s black team jacket pressed tightly against my face. The rest of the building was quiet. Practice had ended over an hour ago. Most of the crew had already left for the night. Even the cleaning staff hadn’t come through yet. I told myself I only walked in here to grab my camera bag. That was a lie, and I knew it the second my eyes landed on the jacket. It was draped over the back of the same chair he always used, still holding the shape of his shoulders, the collar dark with sweat. I had seen him peel it off earlier, laughing with one of the engineers, completely unaware that I was watching from across the garage. I had told myself to look away. I never did. My fingers closed around the fabric before I could stop them. The moment I lifted it to my face, my knees went weak. That expensive cologne he always wore mixed with pure male heat and the sharp

I didn’t reply to the message.I spent the entire day pretending I hadn’t seen it, even though the words sat on my screen like a brand.Dinner. Tonight. My place. We still have things to discuss.Don’t make me come find you, Bennett.Every time my phone buzzed I flinched. Every time someone called my name I expected it to be him. By late afternoon my nerves were shredded. I stayed behind the camera as much as possible, using the lens as a shield, photographing everything except the one person I couldn’t stop thinking about.It didn’t help.I still felt the memory of his thigh between my legs. I still heard the low way he had said years. I still tasted the panic and the unwanted heat that had flooded me when he pinned me to the door.When the sun started dropping, I packed my gear slower than usual, hoping the parking lot would be empty by the time I left. It wasn’t.Rex was leaning against the side of his black car, arms crossed, waiting.He didn’t smile when he saw me. He just watche

I ignored the messages.I left them unread on my phone like that would somehow make them less real. It didn’t. The words still sat in the back of my mind the entire next day.You didn’t come.Next time I won’t give you the option of walking away.By the time I reached the circuit, my nerves were already frayed. I kept my head down and my camera busy, moving through the garage and pit lane with deliberate purpose. If I stayed focused on work, maybe I could outrun the memory of Rex’s voice and the way he had looked at me in that hallway.It worked for almost two hours.Then I turned a corner near the engineering offices and walked straight into him.Rex was coming from the opposite direction, still in his black team shirt, race gloves tucked into his back pocket. He stopped when he saw me. So did I. For a second we just stood there in the narrow corridor, the air between us suddenly too thick.“Bennett,” he said.“I’m busy.”“You’re always busy when I’m around.” He stepped closer, lower

I almost didn’t go.I stood in front of my closet for twenty minutes, staring at clothes I suddenly hated, replaying his last message in my head.Wear something you don’t mind me looking at.The arrogance of it made my jaw tighten. I pulled on black jeans and a simple dark top that covered more than it revealed, then stared at myself in the mirror like I was preparing for a fight instead of a conversation. My hair was still slightly damp from the shower. I left it down. I told myself it didn’t matter what I looked like. He already knew too much.At 7:52 I sat in my car outside his house with the engine off, hands gripping the steering wheel. The modern glass-and-steel structure looked even more imposing at night, lights glowing softly behind the tall windows. I could still leave. I could drive away and deal with the consequences tomorrow.My phone buzzed.Rex: You’re sitting outside. Come in.I hated that he knew.I got out of the car before I could talk myself out of it.Rex opened t