Online Rivals, Offline Lovers

Chapter 13 - Breaking Point

[Max Pov]

I woke up to soft light filtering through the curtains, casting a warm glow on the room. I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. Last night had been a wonderful dream. I had finally given in, marched over to Lex's room and kissed her...

I yawned again and turned, momentarily stunned. Lex was next to me... oh... OH!

My mind finally seemed to wake and catch up. Last night hadn't been a dream. No, it definitely hadn't. I wouldn't have been able to make that up... not how she felt, tasted, or sounded underneath me... No, I wasn't creative enough for that.

I glanced at the hotel alarm clock on her nightstand: 6:22 am. I still had some time. I had a scheduled meeting with Horner and Helmut at 7, which gave me at least another 15 minutes of free time until I needed to go and get ready. Lex was still asleep. Everything was quiet, the only sound was her steady breathing. I took a moment to admire her. No one was stopping me.

She looked ethereal... her hair cascading over the bed like water. The sight made my heart beat harder in my chest.

How would she react once she woke up? Would she be horrified by what we had done? Would she regret last night? Would she attribute everything to a momentary lapse in judgement? Just a mistake, fueled by adrenaline and anger after the race? I didn't want to find out. I knew I couldn't deal with that...

I would talk to her... later. I had to.

Slipping out of bed, I dressed hastily, not wanting to linger any longer than necessary. As I reached for the door, her voice stopped me dead in my tracks. F*ck. I had been too loud, and somehow woken her up.

"Why are you running away?" Her words were barely a whisper, but loud enough to cut right through to the bone.

I turned to face her but didn't manage to look up. I was struggling to find the right words. "I'm not running away," I replied, my voice sounding hollow... even to my own ears.

Of course, she saw straight through my façade.

"I ran away my whole life. I know when someone is running away," she said softly.

I didn't know what to say... I felt at a loss for words; worse, I still couldn't look up. Instead, I just left.

***

I was the worst coward that had ever existed and I hated myself for leaving like that, not even the meeting with Horner and Helmut was an excuse... But the fear of looking at her and seeing regret in her eyes was greater.

In the end, I needed to rush. I had taken longer than expected to gather my thoughts and put last night out of my head. As I finally approached the meeting room, I caught snatches of conversation drifting through the door. My father's voice was filled with anger.

"You saw her yesterday! She ignored team orders. She is a danger for the team. We are never going to win the championship if she stays on as part of this team," he ranted.

His words made my blood run cold. Without hesitation, I barged into the room, my gaze locked on my dad. "Lex is staying. What she did yesterday is called racing. It's part of the sport." I declared firmly as I entered.

My father whirled around, his eyes flashing. "She drove far too aggressively! She could have caused you to crash!"

I met his gaze head-on, my resolve unwavering. "Yeah? So what? She drives the way I taught her," I retorted, the words spilling out of my mouth.

"Exactly! That's your style! How does she even know how to... wait... what did you just say?" he demanded, his eyes widened in shock.

The room fell into stunned silence as my father took a step back, disbelief written across his face.