“Are you trying to tell me you’re moving to Germany? I’m so confused.”
Liam tugs me into him. He leaves behind the faintest kiss before grabbing the key fob from my hand. “Nope. I’m asking you to move in with me. Period. All these keys belong to my different homes. I want you to be by my side every day. In the mornings. In the evenings, and every moment in between. No more sneaking around behind your dad’s back and no more uni dorms. Say you’ll move in with me?”
“Of course!” I launch myself into Liam’s arms. He kisses me to the point of breathlessness, leaving me aching for more.
“Thank fuck because I already had someone come in and customize a closet for your massive sneaker collection. I used to dream of your sneakers around my waist but turns out I really fantasized about keeping them in my house forever.”
I laugh as he kisses my neck. “I love you and thank you for the car. You never fail to surprise me.”
“Oh, babe. You haven’t seen anything yet. No need to wish on stars anymore when I’m here to make your dreams come true.”
I groan. “Your pickup game is so weak.”
Liam places me lightly on the hood of my new car. “How about my sexy game? Still up to your standards?”
He kisses me without me ever answering his question. There’s no point. With Liam, everything is exactly how I want it. He’s the man I want to spend all my time with. The man who continues to grow into a better person each day, no longer plagued by his past. The same one I dream of marrying one day.
Liam is right. I don’t need to wish on stars when I already have everything I could dream of.
Epilogue — Liam
Two Years Later
I always thought F1 was it for me, the idea of being with someone an impossibility. But I ended up finding love in the very place that was supposed to be my everything.
Sophie single-handedly turned me into an emotional fucker over the years. Ever since she came to spend her summer with Bandini years ago, she scratched away at my rough exterior until nothing was left to protect me from her. Her list captured my attention, but her essence stole everything else. Sophie accepted my secrets. She saw past the man on the stage, not taking my fake display of happiness as anything more than a show.
Sophie upgraded her laminated list to Post-its scattered around the house, the colors switching between neon shades depending on the task or mood. It’s a game we’ve played together for years. Pink Post-its have sexy stuff, blue are happy notes, green includes need to-do or buy items, and yellow has sweet messages she finds on Pinterest.
We still keep our famous list hidden away, only marking off items when we complete them. I didn’t pick easy-to-knock-off items for a reason. It looks like Sophie’s stuck with me forever because she can’t resist a good list.
Every time we plan for something, it usually goes wrong before going absolutely right. The day I planned on proposing, I left the ring at home, unable to pop the question on the Monaco cliff where Sophie stepped out of her comfort zone and took a chance on my crazy idea of testing her control. Since home was hundreds of miles away, I couldn’t hop in a car and grab it.
I changed the idea at the last minute and proposed smack dab in the middle of our bed. Note to the poor schmucks out there: popping the question in bed is wildly underrated because the sex after that type of commitment will blow anyone’s mind.
It stormed on our wedding day, but Sophie insisted we get married outside anyway. We danced in the rain like some old-school movie under the string lights of our backyard. It was one of the most memorable nights of my life, dancing around with my wife, her glitter Vans hidden beneath her wedding gown.
Despite our romantic night under the rainy sky, Sophie got sick after. So, we rescheduled our honeymoon, which was another plan gone amuck in the best way. The doting husband in me tended to her before I caught whatever she had, with her dressing up like a nurse. I can safely say I got the better end of the deal.
I love living in perfect disharmony with her because the best things happen when we’re busy focusing on everything else.
Switching to Vitus opened up a whole new F1 journey for me, my career growing as I help a team rise from the “best of the rest” to a top contender with Bandini and McCoy.
McCoy’s betrayal was a blessing in disguise. It granted me the ability to move on in so many ways, including becoming a better brother, uncle, and lover.
Sophie typically spends the entire F1 season with me, but she left the Prix schedule two weeks ago when she got sick with a bad flu. Her dad and I thought it wouldn’t be a good idea for her to travel while throwing up every time she smelled coffee or cigarettes. She pouted all the way home, but I promised to FaceTime her every day until I could come home for summer break to make up for my betrayal as she puts it.