One For The Road - Chapter 61: Chapter 61

The Daytona 500 was the premier event of the NASCAR Cup Series, and it was the perfect way to kick off a new season and a new beginning for me.
Everything was different, but I never minded a change in scenery. I was born for the road, and that was its nature. It took me from place to place, and while those places were great, the in between was also worth remembering. The Sacrilege house in London, Ontario was just a stop for me, but it was there that I found the fuel to keep going.
Like I promised, I invited Annie and Drake to watch, and when they showed up with their infield passes, I ran up to them.
Months had gone by since I had seen Annie in person, and she looked absolutely stunning with a genuine smile and new glow about her. She was always beautiful inside and out, but she looked healthier mentally and physically ever since she left Canada for a small New York town.
"Katie," Annie said before wrapping me up with a hug.
I smiled, but her arms weren't responsible for the way my chest was squeezing my heart to death.
"So are you excited for this? Nervous?" she asked.
The glitter in her bright brown eyes had only gotten brighter since the last time I saw her.
"Mostly excited. I'm sure I'll feel right at home as soon as I get in the car, but I've peed at least six times in the past two hours." I laughed. "You guys want to see my car?"
I led them over to the fourteen, my new team number. Although I liked the paint scheme on the ninety-five better, I couldn't complain. Everything else was an upgrade, and it wasn't anyone's fault that I looked like a traffic cone in orange.
My starting position wasn't nearly as bad as it could be in ninth, especially at a place like Daytona, which had a lot of similarities to my personal hell of Talladega.
Drake didn't care so much what was on the outside of the car but the inside, just like with his robot friend Sacrilege.
He peered in the window. "Is it true that the drivers all wear diapers?"
I shook my head. "I don't. I just pee in the fire suit when I absolutely have to."
"Oh." He paused for a moment. "That's kind of gross."
"What else am I supposed to do when I'm trapped in a boiling hot car for four hours?"
"That's fair." He leaned into the car, and even though I probably wasn't supposed to let him do that, it wasn't going to hurt anyone.
"So how's everything, Annie?" I asked.
Back in New York, Ohio, and Ontario, there was sure to be plenty of snow and cold wind, but Florida had its perks, even if we were only there for a weekend.
"Being an international adult student sucks, but I'm happy I did this. It's an improvement over being the domestic servant for two man-children." She laughed.
Drake pulled himself out of the window. "What?"
"Nothing. Go back to looking at the car," Annie said and waved her hand.
"I really wasn't expecting it to be this hot in February. Do you want anything to drink, Annie?" Drake said, and Annie asked for a water. He left to go get them.
I laughed. "At least Drake has a real job plus the robot fighting, for fuck's sake."
She nodded and turned her eyes to the ground.
"I'm happy for you, Annie. You deserve the world," I said.
"Thanks, but I really miss having people to care for. At least I always had that with him."
Sure, but Josiah never cared for her, and that wasn't going to work.
After Drake asked him to leave Team Sacrilege, I hadn't heard anything about Josiah. I didn't really care, either.
I took in a breath. "Well, I'm sure Drake wouldn't mind having someone to take care of Sacrilege again."
Annie shook her head. "Are you crazy? That would never work. We're too far apart."
"Do you like him?"
"Maybe I do, but I need to focus on my classes. I'm not gonna throw away this chance for another guy."
"And you shouldn't do that. Can't you just have sex with him today, go back to New York, keep him guessing what you two are for a few months, reunite, and get married or whatever?"
She blinked. "I'm not going to play with his feelings like that. Or mine, for that matter."
"Well, that's pretty close to what he tried to do to me, so I think it's fair game."
"No, Katie."
I let out a sigh. It really wasn't that difficult to kiss him and then figure out the rest of the details later. I was pretty damn good at that.
With a crowd in the infield before the pre-race show, there were familiar faces all over the place, from drivers to crews to officials to family to friends. Everything about the race track was filled with life and energy, and for the first time in forever, it was nice to have some people for me at the track.
"So you're not even going to try?" I asked.
She shook her head. "Not now, at least."
"Then when? There's never gonna be a perfect time, but time passes a little easier when you've got someone looking out for you."
I knew all about that. A few cars ahead of me (just like the good old days, as he so humbly put it), Griffin was chatting with Craig, his crew member and Elizabeth's ex. As much as I didn't care for her, she was absolutely out of his league in terms of looks and deceptive charm.
"Griffin," I called.
He didn't look up.
"Griffin Gallagher, I swear to God, if you don't stop ignoring your girlfriend, she's going to get mad."
He must have said something to Craig about me, and he walked over to our little chat station that had moved into the shade of the pit box.
"What do you want?" he asked me.
What did I want? I was just thinking about him, so I tried to get his attention. It just felt like the right thing to do.
"I just wanted you to meet Annie. She's the best thing that ever happened to me," I said.
Griffin smiled and nodded. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard many, many good things."
Annie smiled. "Really?"
Of course. How the hell was I supposed to find anything to bitch about with her? She was a goddamn saint.
I hoped she didn't have many negative things to say about me.
"Hey, Kate," Griffin said and pointed up to his car. "You might want to get used to the view from behind my car. You'll be seeing it all day."
I rolled my eyes and smiled. "If you don't think I'll put you into the wall, you're mistaken."
"You won't. You're not a dirty racer unlike some of your teammates," he said.
Tyler Bailey, reigning champ and piece of shit.
Even if I had to be nice to him on the track to keep Andre Moretti happy, he had to do the same to me. I would have pulled off the win at Talladega if it weren't for him wrecking me, so I felt pretty good about the race today. The Daytona 500. What could possibly be more exciting?
"Drake, stop. She doesn't know," Annie whispered, and I snapped my head around to look at them. With Drake's hand on her waist, she nudged his arm away, but it was too late.
When the fuck did that happen?
My mouth fell open. "You lying bitch."
She fought to keep a smile off her face, but she could never hide a thing besides misery.
"And you-know-who just about lost his shit when I told him." Drake leaned in closer to me and lowered his voice to a whisper. "And the sad thing was that he was more upset that I asked him to move on from Team Sacrilege after what happened in the fight against Amazon."
"I heard that," Annie said.
I grimaced. Yikes. "You're still friends with him?"
"Well, no. He thought it was personal even though I lied and said it wasn't." He shrugged. "I don't care. He can have his fancy new robotics team. This one means more than anything he'll put together."
He was probably making some other team miserable and getting away with it because he knew how to put together a robot, but I figured there would have been more stabbing or clock-throwing in his breakup with Drake.
Maybe there was, and Drake just left that out. The whole reason I ended up driving for him was that he didn't mention that it was a fucking robot team.
Even if he was a liar, he was good for Annie. He always appreciated her and her contributions to the team, even if they were mostly cosmetic or boosts in morale.
He even reminded me of that first day we met: happy, friendly, and okay with showing it. I would never be the person who made him feel comfortable, but that was fine. Really.
"You better explain what the hell happened as soon as I see you after this race. And I want every fucking detail, Annie," I said.
She smiled but didn't say anything else.
Oh, I definitely needed to hear that story.
After pre-race introductions and other traditions, I got set in my car, and as we headed onto the track for a few laps before the drop of the green flag, a familiar voice came over the radio.
"Well, Katie. The road led me back to being your crew chief, so let's get this win," Paul said.
I smiled, even though nobody could see it through my helmet and over the radio. "I still can't believe Moretti caved and practically bought you from RTR."
"He could be paying me five dollars a race, and I'd still take this job. You're the only driver who tells me exactly what's going on, and after so many years, I think I'm the only one qualified to manage you." He laughed.
"Probably, but you still haven't won me a Cup Series race."
"We'll get there. First, you have to turn your focus to what you're doing right now."
There was no better place to live in than the present.
"Don't you worry about me. All I can think about is the fuckers we're about to beat to the finish line," I said.
He laughed. "I missed your attitude. Working with Elizabeth for a few months was a nice change, but it's good to be back again. And remember, you're the fourteen now. Don't try to stop in Elizabeth's box when the time comes to pit."
"Fourteen. Got it."
"If anything feels unmanageable on the car, just drop to the back of the pack, and we'll make it better moving forward. I don't want to throw away the race because it's too loose in the beginning."
"You know damn well I can't do that, Paul."
"I know, but you're gonna have to try."
He always tried to convince me that there was no point in throwing away the long race for a short-term issue, but I didn't like it when cars passed me. That was pretty much the opposite of my job description.
Rounding the last turn before the drop of the green flag was unlike anything I had experienced in my NASCAR career. For the first time, I had people in the crowd who were there for only me. And even if they were the weirdest bunch of nerds I had ever met, they were still my people.
With Griffin a few spots ahead of me on the track, it was pretty much just like our days at RTR together, except this time, I was gonna be the one who made it to Victory Lane.
The sport hadn't seen the last of Katie Moore, unfortunately for Roger Truscott. They couldn't get rid of me with piss test after piss test, terminating my contract, and giving me a garbage car in the All-Star Race that ended up working just fine.
Green flag.
Time to make a few folks proud.