“Whoever loses has to chug straight from the wine bottle for five seconds.” His smile reaches his blue eyes as the candlelight flickers across his skin.
“Okay, since this is your bright idea to get me tipsy, you can go first.”
He chuckles to himself. “I’m an only child. I spend thirty minutes a day watching the news. And I lost my virginity in the back of a pickup truck.”
I cough at his last statement, aware of how this game will go after one round.
“Pickup truck is a lie. You look like a thousand-thread-count kind of guy.”
His eyes light up. “Nope. You got it wrong. I hate the news, so I stay away from that shit.”
Well, damn. Guess Noah is an American boy after all, getting down and dirty in the bed of a truck. I grab the wine bottle and take a chug, holding up a finger for each second that ticks by.
“Your turn.” He winks at me.
“My brother announced his Bandini contract on the same day as my graduation. I’ve gotten into five fender benders. I crashed my brother’s first date.”
“Five fender benders? That’s excessive for someone young.”
I shake my head and point to the bottle sitting next to us. “Nope. I never crashed my brother’s first date even though my parents wanted me to. Santi paid me fifty euros to watch a different movie. He got his hookup while I got a new pair of shoes.”
“One, how do you still have a license? And two, your brother told everyone about his Bandini deal on your special day? How fucked up,” Noah says before taking a chug from the bottle I drank from, his lips wrapped around the same spot mine touched.
I shrug. “I can still drive because the officer felt bad when I cried, begging me to stop. And Santi couldn’t help the bad timing.”
“Sometimes he can be a real dumbass. He could have waited a day at least.”
Guilt runs through me at us talking about Santi this way because I love my brother. Noah doesn’t care much for him. Stupid to hope they could get along—for the sake of the team or for me.
“He has the best heart. Truly. I can’t get mad at him for more than a day at most. Not even when he stole all my Barbies and shaved their hair off.”
“That should have been the first sign of his instability.”
A loud laugh escapes my mouth. We play a few more rounds with me losing a couple times while Noah guesses my lies with ease, surprising me how he sees through my bullshit. Wine calms my nerves and takes away my awkwardness. I learn a few things about Noah like how he skipped senior prom because of a race, and how he spent seven different Christmases by himself since his parents were both traveling. A truth I guessed as a lie because who spends the holidays alone?
We move on from our game. I share the success of my vlog, and how for the first time, I feel like I found my place. How I don’t worry as much anymore about being successful or comparing myself to Santi’s career.
“What’s your favorite part of the vlog?” He gives me his full attention, his blue eyes wandering over my face.
“Mm, that’s a tough question. It originally started out as a travel vlog, but now everyone loves how I work with F1 and Bandini. Fans seem to be super into it. And they’re constantly sending me new ideas of things to do or people to interview.”
“I wonder if I’m the best part.” His cheeky grin makes me show one of my own.
“I doubt it because people beg for Liam and Jax. Must be their accents.”
He scoffs. “It’s tough to compete with Jax’s British accent. Liam on the other hand… German tends to lack sexiness.”
I shake my head from side to side because Liam sounds fine. “There’s a reason people like Prince Harry. Or any attractive British guy.”
“You find Jax attractive?” His tight smile tells me I didn’t say the right thing.
“I mean, people find him attractive. But I went on a double date with him and realized he’s not my type.” I trip over my own words, wanting to put them out there.
“It wasn’t a double date because I was there. That makes it automatically friends hanging out.” His eyes glint in the soft lighting.
“Liam’s been asking Sophie for a redo, but she keeps saying no.”
“We don’t want that to happen,” his voice rumbles.
When did he get close to me? Our hands are practically touching.
“And why not?” Another breathy sentence from me.
“Because I already called dibs on you.” His intense gaze makes me shudder.