they think youâre the diesel, but you know who took the case. too bad for you that tangerine, a guy from your past, likes to shoot first and ask questions later. as fun as that is, you quickly team up to figure out who took the case and what terrible fate theyâll meet... and of course, rehash your complicated past.
rating ⡠r (18+ only, minors dni!)
tropes ⡠enemies to lovers (but still enemies), pwp, cheeky banter, loud gf/quiet bf, butchered british slang, kind of mr. and mrs. smith energy, two idiots with one task
warnings ⡠cursing, violence being the answer, guns & knives, switch!tan x switch!reader, bathroom sex, fingering, quick p in v, lots of begging, exhibitionism, mention of hands/rings (my kink lmao)
word count ⡠3.7k
a/n ⡠my first tangerine fic :D just feeding into my fixation and going down the aaron johnson rabbit hole again. wasn't expecting to do some bullet train writing, but..... here it is. there will be no part 2! hope y'all like it and feedback is always welcomed!
Shit was going down and surprisingly, it was not by your doing.
With your back pressed against the wall of the luggage holding, you could only hope the short but thick curtain covered your figure enough that anyone who passed wouldnât see you. As you attempt to keep your breathing low and quiet, it hitches when you hear the sudden sound of automatic door opening.
âWe need to find the cheeky fucker who took our case. Swear to God, Iâll bash his head in when I find him.â
Thatâs a thick accent you donât forget. You donât want to peak, but you can see the West Ham sticker on the back of his phone.Â
It canât be him. No, noâŚ
âLemon, Iâve gone up and down this train for the umpteenth time. Iâm âbout ready to shoot any sleazy bellend who looks at me funny.â
Tangerine?
He was the only person youâve been able to outrun yet here he was, only a few inches away and knowing damn well he would know how to tear into you for what happened in Copenhagen. Long story short, it ended with you tossing his favorite gun into the river and itâs made an even bigger target on your back.
While you do wear a mask that seals your identity during your heists, you prayed he didnât remember eyes since you lost your only form of disguise when fighting the Prince. Just like you, she uses her looks to her gains, able to manipulate anyone by batting her eyelashes. She was the one with the case, and knowing her past, sheâd blame it on someone else and you were most likely high up on the list.
âAlright, then. Letâs keep lookinâ for the bastard.â He said before hanging up.
You cover your mouth, your glare remaining steady on him before he takes a pause. His blue eyes search around the cart, huffing until you hear the other automatic door open. You fully step out of the small luggage spot and catching your breath, âI have to get off here.â
As the next stop was coming to a halt, a force pulled you back into the bathroom from an arm snaking around your waist. You couldnât even gather your thoughts before feeling a cool metal pressing against your temple.
âNow I can only think of two reasons a girl like yourself is hiding behind a bunch of suitcases. One, sheâs got a bit of a dickhead of a boyfriend or two, sheâs got my fuckinâ case.â
You smirked, âIf I had it, I would have hid better, donât you think?â You hoped to fool him.
âOh, darling. You think Iâm that stupid, why donât you justââ He turned you around to look into your eyes, and unfortunately, he had seen them somewhere, âOi, where have I seen you before?â
âIâve never met you before in my life, now if youâll excuse meâŚâ You trailed before he shifted to stand in front of the doorway, placing his gun on the sink counter.
âAs much as Iâd like to believe that, darling... youâre not goingâ anywhere until I get my answer.â He said with an assertive tone, his jaw obviously clenched and his eyes piercing blue.
With his one hand on the trim of the sink and the other against the wall, he towered over you with his tall stance. He acted intimidating but you knew deep down there was hidden softness to his personality. âWarmer the closer you gotâ type of shit.
Your eyes shifted from his eyes to his chest, hard to not stare with his first button undone and gold chain disappearing into his shirt. Able to display a poker face, Tangerine was still racking his brain around where he had seen those eyes before. He couldnât place the last time he saw such a color.
I guess what you failed to mention is that something else happened in Copenhagen. To summarize, it involved a skin tight dress, a hotel key card and a getaway plan by dawn. What threw him off now was that you werenât sporting the same short, auburn wig you sported that night you tried to get his attention.
âHow am I supposed to give you an answer that I donât have? Youâre in my way.â You protest.
âAnd youâre not a very good liar, are ya?â He huffed, âNow, if you donât have my case then who does?â
Not giving a second more, you pulled out your own gun tucked in the waist of your skirt, pushing it against his bare chest, âI think you better stay out of the way before you really get hurt.â
He didnât bat an eye, but his eyes took a second glance at the tattoos drawn on the side of your middle finger and the top of your knuckles. Suddenly, he placed those hands from memory and the image of them running down his chest struck his mind. He looked back into your eyes and remembered how they kept steady contact as your tongue glided down his body.
âItâs been a while since Copenhagen, yeah?â He said, clenching his jaw once more.
Shit. Maybe you shouldnât have doubted him so much.
âWell youâre not fooling me this time.â He grunted, quickly taking your gun while your guard was down for a split second, âIâll give you one last chance, love. Tell me where the case is and maybe, Iâll be and gentleman and just escort you off at the next stop.â
âSo cute how youâre trying to threaten me yet use a pet name. Guess I just know how to get to your soft spot, Tan.â You grinned, placing your hand on his cheek.
Mesmerized, a gloss smooths over his eyes before his phone vibrates in his pants pocket.
âDo you wanna get that or have me reach in there?â You taunted.
He replied with an eye roll, but quickly answered. âYeah, what?â Tangerine answered, his eyebrow cocked.
A low voice told him that they needed to see proof of the case at the next stop or things could go south. Tangerine quickly hangs up during mid-threat, and you twist your lips.
âSince you canât find your case, I assume youâre the one getting off at the next station.â You smirked, âGlad we got to catch up.â
âNo, no, you little pain in my ass. Youâre gonna put on a nice smile for these massive dickheads and stall with meâŚâ He tilted his head a bit, âAs far as I know, you know where the case is so Iâll be attached by the hip to you for the rest of the lovely ride to Kyoto.â Tangerine yammered on.
You rolled your eyes but he held your chin, making you look him in the eyes, âIâm sorry, does that bother you now?â
âHmm, no. Just kind of sweet to know you havenât forgotten about me.â You purposefully teased, your palm running down his chest before opening another button of his shirt with your one hand. It was a tactic to get under his skin, hoping to get some sort of reaction.
âYouâre some tease who left me in Copenhagen, Iâve dealt with shots to the fuckinâ chest. You really think highly of yourself, don't ya.â He deflects but glances at your soft lips.Â
You grinned, placing your hand on his cheek, âI donât think I have to remind you of how low Iâll stoop to get a job done⌠or kneel.â
Tangerine felt your hand moving through the back of his hair, carding his loose curls before pressing your foreheads together. The tip of your nose brushed against his, your lips barely touching until the train came to a slow stop.
âWell, I guess itâs time to put on a good fucking act.â You huffed, pulling away and Tangerine didnât realize he forgot to take a breath.
⥠⥠âĄ
He turned around, opening the bathroom door in one swift motion and the two of you stood by the exit. After quickly texting Lemon that he was going to stall, he gives you a look againâ this time, his eyes shifting up and down your body, noticing the tear in your stockings. He knew you were up to something, but resisting the urge to press you up against a wall was making him ache a bit.
As the train door opened, Tangerine took a step toward you, âIf anything goes down, you get behind me and get back on. Other than that, follow my lead.â
You nodded, âI have limited options⌠how generous of you.â
The two of you step off the train, and looking around for the men youâre asked to meet. As passengers got on and off, there was a small group that came your way and you stood next to Tangerine as they got closer.
âWhereâs the case?â The tall one asked, standing center of the three other men.
âLemon is keeping it safe right now.â
âThen whoâs this?âÂ
Tangerine glanced at you, shrugging, âIâm a professional, Iâve got my back up⌠Peach.â
You wanted to narrow your eyes at him with a burning stare, but you maintained your composure to convince them. It was one step closer to getting the case, and it wasnât the worse operative name.
The four men chuckle at it, and you cross your arms from the reaction, âSo, are we done here?â You asked, âWeâve obviously got places to be now since your boss is up our asses about his case.âÂ
At first, they replied with scowls until Tangerine took a step in front of you, your chest basically touching his back.
ââCuse her attitude, itâs been a long night.â Tangerine acted as if he were in charge of you, âBut, weâre all good now. The plan is still Kyoto, ta-ra now.â He faked a grin, pushing you toward the door as the alert sounded for boarding.
Before you knew it, the train was moving and the both of you plopped into two empty seats in the quiet car. As you watched Tangerine type out a text to Lemon, you scoffed, crossing your arms as you faced the window out to the city life of Japan.
⥠⥠âĄ
âWell, Lemon still hasnât found the person with the case⌠fucker could have gotten off without us knowing.âÂ
You turned your head, âSo, thatâs means Iâm off the list of the accused?â
â...I just donât trust you.â He trailed, slipping his phone back into his pants pocket.
âAw, still a little hurt from our last encounter?â You pouted, âDidnât take you for such a softie, Tan.â
Tangerine clenched his jaw. He had little patience for your sass, but it was fun to fuck with him. You gently placed your hand on the top of his thigh, hidden under the table, and refused to lose eye contact with him. There were four stops left so, it was time to put a spontaneous plan B into motion: make him let his guard down for you.
You batted your eyelashes, âTell me, do you still think about our night together? I didnât mean to leave so quickly, but we had something⌠yeah?â You taunted him, your hand moving up his thigh. Just as your fingers were going to unbutton his pants, Tangerine quickly grabbed your wrist and put it back on his knee.
âYou wanna play games, darling?â He grunted, âThen, Iâll play your game.â
You couldnât help but admit that your heart beat against your chest, like the air in the cart had been sucked away and before you knew it, his right hand was running up your thigh until he ripped the rest of your stocking. You almost gasped, not wanting to attract attention, but he pulled it enough where your panties were exposed.
âDonât get shy on me now, love.â Tangerine said under his breath as his hand entering between your legs. Once he pushed the black lace to the side, his two thick fingers entered your slit. The hand you had on his thigh suddenly met the wrist of his hand working your pussy.
His blue eyes softened, feeling how wet you already were and how you tried to restrain from arching your back against the seat. Being in plain light, you bit your bottom lip and concentrated on the scene passing byâ obviously, not easy to focus on when Tangerine is gliding his fingers in and out of your wet slit. You could scream, knowing how deep they were from feeling his cool rings against your skin.
âIâd rub your clit, but Iâd hate to make you cum right here⌠in front of everyone.â He looked around, as if he werenât edging you, âYou donât really deserve to anyways.â
You took one big gulp, your hand gripping the arm rest now and you let him keep going. For as long as he wanted to and however fast he wanted to. As big of a talk you made, you were suddenly puddy in his handsâ quite literallyâ and God, you didnât want him to stop.
He pressed his lips against your ear, âAre you close?â
âHmm.â You could barely let out a word, âN-no.â
âDonât lie to me now so you can cum.â He chuckled.
Just like that, he quickly pulled his hand away and he saw how his fingers were coated in your glistening cum. As he went to place them in his mouth, you pulled his wrist and tasted your own cum on your tongue.Â
All he could think was, âFuck, her tongue is softâŚâ and reminisce the memory of his dick pushing down your throat.
You kissed his fingers before setting his hand back on his lap, and he watched you pant. Such a beautiful mess, he thought again.
Pushing your skirt back down, you crossed your legs as you ran your fingers through your hair. âYou fucking ripped my nice tightsâŚâ You huffed, pulling the band from the waist and pulling them down your legs. You balled them up as you put your shoes back on, and stuffed them between the wall of the train and the seat.
You blew a breath past your lips, âAlright, that was fun but I gotta go.â You gulped, attempting to get up but he pushed your leg back down so you basically say back down.
âYouâre stayinâ right here.â He said, not looking at you but around the cart, âBecause the next stop, youâre gettinâ off⌠not like how you did right now but-â
You cut him off, âWhat?â You scoffed, your cheeks feeling heated, âNo, Iâm not getting off this train until I have the case!â
You didnât mean to spill your own secret, but your guard had been put down. Shit.
He smirked, âSee, I knew you had somethinâ to do with the case. Now youâre definitely gettinâ off at the next stop or Iâll-â
Cut off again, he sees Lemon walking down, also without the case in hand, and Tangerine quickly gets up. He met him halfway in the aisle, so you got up to see what was going on and if it was about the case.
âWhoâs this? Looks familiarâŚâ Lemon trailed as he pointed at you, then back at Tangerine.
âSheâs no one-â
âActually we passed each other in Copenhagen. You called me an Emily.â You grinned, tilting your head.
âAh, yes. Emily, very kind but a tad bossyâŚâ Lemon nodded but then narrowed his eyes, âLookinâ for the case too, yeah?... unless you have it and weâre runninâ around like headless chickens.â You could see his hand reaching into his jacket.
âI wish. Trust meâŚâ You crossed your arms.
âYeah, and she was just leaving on the next stop. No business being around here, muckinâ about.â Tangerine said without looking at you again, just making eye contact with Lemon.
âYou treat me like Iâm incompetent yet I beat both your asses back in Copenhagen and managed to steal the getaway car. Why donât you two leave and let me handle whoever has the case.â You shoved past Tangerine, âFucking amateurs.â You muttered under your breath.
Lemon turned around, Tangerine behind him, âSheâs definitely is an Emily.â
Tangerine rolled his eyes, âIâll go get take care of her. You check back down that way.â He clenched his jaw, pushing back his rolled sleeves.
⥠⥠âĄ
The door opened to the first class cart, already imagining your hands wrapped around the Princeâs neck once you had an eye on her. Dim orange lights lit your way, a few people asleep with blankets on top of them.Â
Just as you came close to the lounge toward the end, a hand gripped your wrist. Before asking any questions, your other hand quickly swung down on the otherâs wrist, thinking it was the Prince, but you were met with another set of bright eyes.
âLet go of me.â You muttered under your breath, not trying to get anyoneâs attention.
Like deja vu, Tangerine pulled you into the bathroom and locked the door. It wasnât as tight as the other passenger bathroom, but still had little room to move around with two people.
âDo I gotta tell you again?â Tan practically growled.
âYou canât tell me what to do. What do you want from me that you keep cornering me like this?â Your tone matched his.
He took a deep breath through his nostrils, and suddenly felt the tension. He couldnât take his eyes from you, never admitting that he had been thinning about you since Copenhagen, so instead his lips met yours.
You werenât surprised, but you missed his lips. You bit his bottom lip, your body relaxing as you fell into his arms. Your noses brushed together, foreheads close before you unbuttoned his shirt, your hands meeting his soft skin. It slipped past his toned arms, and he pressed your hips against the sink counter.
As you lifted your leg by his side, he put his hand underneath your knee to keep it high. Tangerine kissed and nipped at your neck after taking your shirt off, tossing it on top of the closed toilet seat. You ran your fingers through his messy curls, gripping them as you shared hungry kisses. His hard pressed against his slacks, rubbing against your inner thigh.
âYouâve got about four minutes, Tan.â You said between kisses, âI donât know if youâre that fast.â
âYou underestimate me, love.â He grunted, âItâs gettinâ a bit old.â
Suddenly, he hiked your skirt and you played along, spreading your legs enough for his body to move between them. He quickly unzipped his pants while his right hand rubbed your wet clit and the left hand against your neck.Â
You giggled, biting your bottom lip before slipping the tip of his cock into your pussy. You held back your gasp, giggling instead to get a rise out of him, but it just made him squeeze your neck a bit.
âAlmost forgot how big you were.â You pouted, but he thrusted inside of you. You audibly gasped, and kissed his thumb pressed against your bottom lip.
At first he was slow-paced, purposefully making you beg for it. He knew your weak spots yet his head fell against your shoulder, a light whimper escaping his throat remembering how tight your cunt was. He held your leg up again, giving him an angle to work with and his cock bottomed out inside your pussy.
âFuck!â You croaked, âGod, youâre so⌠big. Stretching me out so good, baby.â You whined.
âFuckinâ Christ.â Tan cursed, his hips bucking as your skins slapped together. He was eager to make you cum, shattering in his arms and falling apart like he adored. His hand slapped against your ass cheek, kneading it the closer he got.Â
You leaned your head back, rolling your eyes back and could see stars, Tangerine practically lifting you off your feet as your walls began to tighten around his hard cock.
âPlease⌠please let me cum.â You begged, your eyes barely open, âI wanna cum. Please.â
âGotta beg a little more, darling.â He gulped as his pace got faster, not realizing how strong he was, âKeep those pretty eyes lookinâ at me.â
You arched your back, âAh, please!⌠I want your fucking cum filling me up. Make me cum all over your cock, baby.â Your pitch elevated, âFuck, Iâm gonna cum. Iâm gonna fucking cum!â
He grunted against your shoulder, giving it a small bite before saying, âCum, cum for me, love.â He lighty gasped but tried to mask it by kissing your shoulder.
Your fingers pulled his messy curls, not able to explain the complete bliss running throughout every vein and nerve in your body. His hand covered your mouth just as yours covered his, muffing your defeated moans when the two of your released inside your pussy.
As you came down from your highs, the two of you let out tired chuckles. His cock was still inside you, feeling your warm walls as he shared one last sloppy kiss.Â
Your thumb ran across his cheek, âBetter than Copenhagen?â
He half-smiled, âWouldnât you like to know.â
⥠⥠âĄ
Ultimately, you agreed to let them take it from there. It was two more stops, and the train was coming to itâs next destination. You and Tangerine stood by the door, watching it slowly open and your stubbornness was eating you up. Although it was a risk to get off the train, seemed there was more than the two of you looking for the case. If anything, you loss some pay.
âYou better get off now.â Tangerine told you, the two of you watching people pass.
You hummed, âI know⌠hope you can tell me how it goes if we ever meet again.â You sighed, placing your hands on his chest. Your eyes met with his, and he furrowed his brows. You twisted your hips, taking a deep breath before quickly meeting your lips with his again. Tender and slow.
 As you pulled your face from his, you nodded, âBye, Tangerine.â
He expected for you to pass, and he actually thought he was going to miss you.
Instead, you forcefully pushed him out the door and it closed him out from coming back in. You rolled your eyes, walking up to the window as you watched the train pull from the station.
âI really am good.â You smirked.
No one knows I read/write fanfictions, right? But at the same time I don't know anyone who reads/writes fanfictions.
Maybe my roommate or my cousin, my professor, or someone I pass on the street is waiting for my update, can you believe that?
Pairing: 90s damon albarn x reader
Word count: 2.521
Warnings: smut (professor x adult student)
* * *
It had all begun last week. My english professor had asked me to stay behind after his class to discuss the ever-decreasing quality in my essays over the past few weeks. I had fallen into a rant about my personal life and family relations and everything that had been distracting me. I mustâve come off as extremely unstable (and desperate to not lose my high grade in his glass), and Damon mustâve nodded understandingly and hummed quietly about a hundred times. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened between us, but it was nearing winter so the sun had begun to set while we sat in his classroom that afternoon. It had felt inappropriate to see him in that lighting. He had looked so beautiful with the last rays of sunlight laid across his face. Heâd always had a soft and deep voice but I had never before heard it speak so quietly and in such an empty room.
I had had several dreams about him ever since that long talk, some less appropriate than others. I was happy I had an excuse to look at him for hours on end, seeing as he was the professor. But I realised at the end of class that I had barely taken any notes, except all the mental ones I had made about Damonâs body and its language. How he caressed his jaw with his entire hand, how he licked his lips every other minute, how he toyed with the golden ring on his left index finger when he listened to a student answer a question, and how his eyes lit up when one of his favourite authors were brought up in discussions.
He couldnât have been more than a couple years older than me. I knew he had just graduated from uni a year prior to taking this teaching position. He was maybe 26 or 27 years old, I speculated in my head as I was packing up my textbook and closing my untouched notebook. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts about this manâs age that he had to call on me twice before I heard him. I dropped my books on my desk and looked up through attentive eyes and a tensed jaw.
Afficher davantage
PLEASE PLEAAASE donât say a fic is slow burn if the characters are fucking on chapter THREE omg I need REAL slow burn, the agonising one, slow burn so slow you think theyâll never end up together âźď¸âźď¸ slow burn where the TENSION is building up so BAD the eye contact is as good as smut PLEASE
Just finished this movie and Tangerine is the sluttiest slut to ever slut in the history of sluts. I want to give him head.
genre: childhood friends to friends with benefits to lovers (a mouthful), smut, humor, Fluffff!!!!, several references to 70âs music,Â
word count: 12.9k Â
You must have lost the plot along the way, because pretending to date your childhood best friend was not on your 2023 bingo card. (Neither was the fact that things are looking a lot more real as time passes.)
nsfw warnings under the cut!
18+ because... handjob (f receiving), penetrative sex, semi public sex, praise central, size kink
auds here⌠hi hi hi!!! youâve no idea how much i missed writing posting and interacting w u guys. thank u for all the love & follows iâve gotten in my periods of mia. more things soon i promise ty for ur patience love love love u allll đđ¤đ¤ đ this is my love letter to fic tropes. i feared if it was too long iâd lose the plot somehow so i had to condense it. i truly hope u all like it :) will try & reopen reqs sometime soon to get inspo kicking
Itâs later than late. The lights are strobing purple and blue, the âletâs get you even drunker than you areâ headache inducing kind. The floor is crowded, swelling with teenagers who are probably too young to get in, drunk off cheap aperol and watered-down tequila shots. Youâre balancing yourself on a barstool, one hand busy wrapped around a slim glass, the other clawing your miniskirt lower because the air bites at your legs.
âAnother voddy Red Bull!â Youâre slurring, mind spinning almost as fast as your vision. You almost drop your empty glass in your rush to look for another oneâbut right as it slips clumsily out of your fingers, itâs caught.Â
Charles, your cocktailâs knight in armor and yours just as well, is eighteen. His hair is light brown and long, but not draping over his eyes like before. You know before because youâve never not known beforeâCharles has been your best friend since you were five.
Snoopy, he says, voice steady and calm in your ear. His frame is still lanky but heâs tall and his grip on your shoulders is enough to quell the yelling. You pout. Get me another voddy red, you plead. Charlie, itâs my birthday. He smiles to himself, knowing your visionâs too cloudy to see him and your mindâs too bogged to remember any of this. Youâd already slipped up and told two bouncers you were seventeen and not eighteen, like your poorly-Photoshopped ID suggested; Charles had to keep you in check, lest you or your friends end up kicked out of the club.
A song booms in through the speakers and your eyes widen with recognition. Charles doesnât anticipate your reaction fast enough, affording only a stumble backwards when you attempt to leave the barstool to dance. He swears under his breath, mind recounting the five previous dance sessions that left you exhausted and out of breath earlier.
Iâll get you a vodka Red Bull if you sit down, he tells you. He enunciates because, twelve years later, you still canât wrap your mind around his thick European accent. Sit down.
Alriiiight! You hoot, throwing two fists up in the air. Customary for many bartenders on nights as busy as this one, a free shot is thrust into your vacant hand and you cheer loudly, much to Charlesâ chagrin. With whatever malice the eighteen-year-old can muster, he casts the bartender a dirty look before turning to face you again, worried. He places a hand on your shoulder and watches, half-anxious and half-endeared, you take the shot and visibly grimace at the raw taste. Fuck. Itâs gin I think, you sputter. Charles presses: You okay?
More than, you holler, smiling. I am officially seventeeeeâÂ
The bartenderâs eyebrows furrow, the thirty-something businessman in the adjacent stool turns to lookâso Charles has no choice but to shut you up, leaning in and pressing his lips to yours before you can seal your fate.
Your eyes widen briefly, and when Charles feels the passed seconds are sufficient, he pulls away. You stare, eyes hazy, at the pretty boy youâve had feelings for since you turned fourteen, and lean in to kiss him again.Â
â
Pascale is hosting her weekly Sunday brunch at the Leclerc residence, all French windows and wide kitchens and bowls of fruit. As always, your place is at the kitchen island picking at plates to taste test them. Bonjour, Arthur drawls when he walks in. He turns to Pascale. Mum. Then you. Snoopy.
You halt biting into your forkful of arugula and turn toward the younger Leclerc, eyebrows raised. âWhatâd you just call me?â
âSnoopy,â he says simply. Heâs beside Pascale, one arm wrapped around her affectionately. âOr, Snoops, if you like that. Yes?â
âWho told you about that nickname?â
âLorenzo.â
âHasnât been in use since your voice was cracking every sentence.â
âTĂŞte de noeud.â Pascale swats his arm and he yelps, so you resume your arugula with satisfaction.
Charles is late for reasons he did not disclose, but everyone is used to it. The open kitchen door stretches into the front yard, where the table is set up and Lorenzo is setting the places. You know that although you usually expect a few more relatives, todayâs just for the familyâand you, but youâre basically family.
âHow is Paris?â Arthur asks, licking hummus off a spoon opposite you. Your position is reminiscent of how you spent afternoons after school with Charles before, and the memory strikes a chord in you. Strange nostalgia, fondness.
âItâs fine.â
âOh really?â He laughs in-between nibbles of carrot.
âI got an offer for a higher position,â you relent. Pascale calls you both, and you get up and walk toward the yard to sit down. âIf you must know.â
âOh? Let me know how that goes.â He follows you, carrot slice in hand, chewing. The conversation is cut short by the smooth noise of Charlesâ decidedly un-smooth parking outside.
Youâre seated at your usual spotâin-between Charles and Lorenzo, across Arthurâwhen the former finally walks into the yard. He looks tired, moreso than usual, bags under his eyes deep and hair a bit more disheveled.
He sits beside you. âI need to talk to you.â Then, quieter, âPrivate.â
You hum confusedly, eyes flitting across the three other people at the table to gauge their reactions. Theyâre equally aloof. âWhânow?â He nods.
You end up talking in the kitchen. Heâs sighing the whole fifteen steps there, rubbing the bridge of his nose, exhaling, inhaling. Ever observant, and of someone as close to you as he is, you pick up on the tiny actions, behaviors. Charles is wringing his hands. Heâs tried to pop the same knuckle twice. He isnât franticâheâs scared. You lean against the counter, waiting, eyes looking him up and down to identify his exact emotions.
âTell me,â you press. âWhatever it is, I wonât judge.â
âTheâmyâthe iCloud of my phone has been leaked. The press found out.â
When you were eight and he was nine, you and Charles summered in Villefranche with your mum and dad. The weather then was the kind you could write love letters to and aboutâblue skies, salty wind, soft sand. The current was calm enough that you could ride the gentle waves without fear of going under or straying far from the shore, where your parents sunbathed blissfully.
Donât drown, heâd warned you, ever protective. You wore pink floaties over your arms, so it was already difficult to.
You dove under with great effort, fighting against the buoyancy, and poked his bare knee, surfacing to watch his reaction. He grimaced. Slowpoke, you teased, swimming away. You wondered then what it might feel to drown. Maybe not in the blue water of Villefranche, but anywhere else.
You think it hurts to drown? You blubbered, bobbing above the wave. Charles swam in front of you and wiped water off your face gently. I hope you never find out, he said, smiling.
But this is you finding out. This is it now, the drowning. Your fingers flex over the edge of the counter and you gulp, eyes fluttering with nerves. âShit?â It comes out like a question from how nervous you are. âUm, sorry. What are weââ But your question is cut short by Pascaleâs voice, cutting through the tension like itâs wet cardboard. The agreement is silent and mutual: save this discussion for later.
â
Charles canât wake up fast enough. There are calls, texts, voicemails from every officer on his team, which isnât that surprising given heâs up two hours late. But the amountâthe sheer amount of notifications is dizzying. Overwhelmed, he finds it in himself to pull up his search engine app and let his fingers possess themselves.
All he types is his last name, and then The Sun article is splashed onto his face like a pot of scalding coffee: âF1 DRIVER ICLOUD LEAKED, PERSONAL PHOTOS ALL OVER INTERNET.â Daily Mail is next, of course, watering down the situation to seem more dirty and scandalous: âNaughty Driver? Charles Leclercâs iCloud Hacked, Reveals Mystery Girl.â And then of course Page Six, who doesnât miss a beatâ
Wait. He blinks and presses the back arrow to return to the previous webpage. He reads over it again, slower this time. Mystery Girl? Shitâno. No way. Itâs almost (it should be) silly, the way heâs reading vigorously over the reports like heâs a fan, but heâs anxious. He scrolls, because if any tabloid is daft enough to publish the leaked photos, itâs got to be the Daily Mail.
He pauses his quick swiping when his eyes harden with recognition, and staring back at him, on his phoneâs full brightness, is a picture of you on his lap at Christmas. Itâs the one Lance took while attempting to guess Charlesâ password, one of you wine drunk with his head buried in your neck.
Itâs unmistakably him, at his own house in Monaco where the drivers had a holiday get-together. Itâs unmistakably you, hair draped over your face, three gold rings on your fingers. You had just given him a Strokes vinyl, he recalls. Thatâs why you were hugging.
Thereâs another one of you playing Scrabble in his bedâheâs not in the frame, but he remembers taking it. This, he could deny. Heâs not in it, and heâs pretty sure the fans donât know his house this well. Already his brainâs doing manual damage control, dread filling his veins at the thought of reading through his teamâs frantic messages.
Another message stands out, pinned on top of all the othersâfrom his mum, reminding him about brunch. He gets ready half-focused, half-lucid. Fully worried. He worries about the PR crisis this may cause, about his iCloud security, about the reactions online. Above all, though, he worries about you. About what he should tell the press. About how âactually, weâre not dating, we just fuck constantlyâ might hold up for the fans.
â
Youâre twelve and Charles thirteen, both of you seated across HervĂŠ and Pascale. Behind them stand your own parents, and they all look stern. What this is, Pascale says gently, is a family meeting. Okay?
Okay. It leaves your high voices in shaky unison. You both know what youâre doing hereâyou snuck out of school to catch a movie earlier, the teacher naturally caught wind of the misdeed, and now youâre in a meeting for it.
Snoops, Charles whispers, trying to ease your nerves with lighthearted commentary. This is the worst.
No, you want to tell preteen Charlesâthis is. Youâre older now, yet still subjected to similar questioning, though today itâs Pascale going solo. Itâs been three days since the fated day where the press leaked the pictures of you and Charles in compromising positions, and like any boomer, sheâs used Facebook to her advantage and gotten ahold of the compromising pictures, too.Â
âHow long?â Her voice is enunciated in hard syllables.
âMumââ
âAnswer the question.â She looks back and forth, moving into territory of intense questions. âBoth of you.â
âUm.â
âBecause⌠Iâve beenâŚâ
You notice it immediately, given your observant track record: her shoulders relax and her lips smile just slightly. You sit still, and wait for the next words out of her mouth. ââŚwaiting for this all my life!â
You and Charles watch in mild horror as Pascaleâs face goes from firm to absolutely elated. Her eyes soften and a smile spreads over her face, illuminating her with pure joy. Do you even know how many bets I made with your papa, Charles? She claps her hands together several times.
Charles opens his mouth to verbalize dissent, but she doesnât take itâsheâs already droning on and on about how long sheâs waited for this to finally happen. Your eyes glide over to the doorway of the dining area, where Lorenzo and Arthur watch with smug looks on their faces. Little shits wonât help you. You donât even try to protest, and at some point Charles gives up, too. You donât know how itâll come across, anyway.
Ninety minutes later, youâre in Arthurâs bedroom rifling through his desk and praying you donât find anything too gross. Heâs on his bed throwing a bouncy ball up in the air, conversing with Charles about your gameplan with their mum.
The sky outside is in limbo between afternoon and night. Itâs cloudy, so the sunset is a pale yellow instead of angry orange. âWhy not just tell her the truth?â
Youâd also thought that was the easiest option, escape route, exit path. But that would involve breaking Pascaleâs heart, and that was out of the question for you, let alone Charles, certified mommyâs boy.
âI canât, Arthur.â Charlesâ voice is steady and unwavering.
âYou can.â
âNo.â
âFine. Next best thing then.â
You fiddle with a Rubikâs cube, then turn in the seat. âWhat?â
âPretend youâre dating.â
âArthur,â you say seriously. âShut up.â But he doesnât join you, and you realize neither does Charles. You stare blankly at both of them, unwilling to believe theyâd actually bank on this as an actual plan.Â
âYou guys realize this kind of thing never works? Zero percent success rate.â
âItâs just paddock appearences. Youâre not pretending for millions of people,â Arthur says, shrugging. He catches the ball and throws it to youâyou catch it one-handed. âYouâre pretending for Mum.â
âSure. And by extension, millions of people. Are you dense, or do you think the paddock appearances will just breeze by everyone who saw the leaks?â
âUghhh. Youâre acting like itâs impossible.â Arthur holds his breath before he utters the next sentence. âLike you two arenât fucking every other wââ
ââoh, my God!â Shocked, you get up, and so does Charles. âWhâIâmâlanguage, Arthur!â
Charles balks. âHow did you evenââ
âI didnât. But merci mille fois for confirming my theory,â Arthur quips faux-sweetly, smiling dopily. âI mean, I was going to find out! Your pictures are so⌠intimate. So just pretend to date and throw Maman off your scent.â
You protest briefly, wrestling with the option, and reconvene on the bed, you cross-legged and leaning on Charlesâ shoulder and Arthur in front of the both of you. Heâs always had a knack for schemesâhe never got caught sneaking out, which destroyed your and Charlesâ record of being caught twelve times by either of your parents. Itâs a bit childish, but he gets the job done.
âDo it for⌠letâs say a month. Tell Mum youâve been dating a whileâChristmas isnât that long ago, and that was the least recent picture. Dâaccord?â
You both nod, hyperfocused.Â
âDuring race weekends, be all over each otherâshouldnât be hardâespecially in front of Mum. People might catch you doing it, but I wouldnât worry.â
âNo, waitâI mean.â You shrug. âPeopleâtifosiâthey know Iâm Charlesâ friend. Theyâre going to be all over the fact that weâre apparently dating.â
âDonât worry. Weâll use palatable density,â Charles says, nodding.
You pause. Arthur does, too, sensing something off.
âYou mean plausible deniability.â Your deadpan voice is tinged with amusement, muffled into his shoulder.Â
âRight, ouais, that.â He smiles, chuckling a bit; his shoulder shakes with it and your head nearly slips off. He brings a hand to cup over your jaw and hold you steady. âSorry.â
âSâfine.â You sigh. âIâm totally okay with this. Just worried itâs going to have unintended consequences.â
Arthur quells you with rushed explanations about how itâll be over and you two can say something like we decided weâre better off as friends to really sell the thing. At the seven-minute mark of your and Charlesâ intense interrogation, he promptly kicks you out to figure out if youâre willing to do it yourselves.
You wedge yourself into Charlesâ front seat, knowing you were headed to his place anyway. You massage your temples with one hand and fiddle with the hem of your shorts with the other. Nervous. Antsy. âDid Fred say anything?â
âGot the IT team to fortify my account.âÂ
âYou think this thingâs going to be okay from a professional standpoint?â You look up and toward him; heâs already gazing at you, eyes soft. âIâm worried. Plus, with my job offer thing in London and New Yââ
âDonât be.â He starts the car and maneuvers out of the driveway, into the dips of Monaco streets and the familiar route back to his place. âBitter with the sweet. The only thing you need to worry aboutââhe takes your hand in the centre console, laces your fingers together looselyââis your acting skills.â
âGod, youâre right.â You sigh, looking out the window. âHow am I going to pretend I can stand you?â Then, for good measure, you squeeze his hand wrapped in yours.
â
You visit Monaco from uni in London over spring, and for the first time in months, your schedule aligns with Charlesââthough you learn this indirectly when you visit the Leclerc home. Pascale, of course, is the one who tells you his new flatâs address before she presses a kiss to your cheek and then leaves to run errands in the city. Alone, and in a burst of excitement, you make the drive there, take the elevator upstairs and shove the door open without knocking. Heâs there. Your Charles. You can tell because the music he plays is loudâThe Kooksâlike his ears are still fourteen and not twenty-one, like heâs still in middle school and not in Formula One.
âSave your eardrums,â you say, before beelining toward the couch and leaping onto him for a hug. He sits up to match your energy, arms wrapping around you, sitting up straighter to keep you from totally falling atop him.Â
âHowâs uni?â
âShit,â you say into his hair. It smells like his shampoo and his favorite cologne. Clean, soapy. âObviously. Howâs the Ferrari?âÂ
âAmazing.â He smiles. âObviously. Howâd you know I was in? Mum told you?â
âOuais. Sheâs running errands. Listen, can we drink tonight?â You sigh, parting from the hug and sitting across him.
Yeah, sure. His voice is concerned, thick with worry. You shake your headâitâs not that deep, you tell him. Itâs justâI had a bad date before I left and itâs put me in the worst mood.
Oh? He leans back, clasping two hands behind his head as he goes.What happened? He laughs.Â
You tense visibly, rolling your eyes despite yourself. âHe was just weird. Nothing.â
He wiggles his eyebrows. âYou shy, Snoops?â
Ha-ha. You roll your eyes, but your face is flushed and your gaze avoids him. You reach up to tuck the loose strands of hair by your ears behind them, face warm. Youâd never talked with Charles about boys or flings beforeâmaybe several times, but never in full detail. It was always vague umbrella statements, like Ryan is boring or Greg is such a prick, but never anything beyond that. Come to think of it, you donât know why, either.
âYou can tell me.â
âTheâwhen weâI had to fake,â you say cuttingly. âYou know.â
He purses his lips and smiles, eyebrows furrowing. I donât, actually. Something unnamed trills through youâthrough your stomach and into your fingertips. Your first time talking to your best friend in real life after months of uni and racing and this is the topic? Itâs, if anything, a sign of your growing up, you guess.
Charles lets up on the teasing and you end up rejecting the club in lieu of sharing a bottle of vodka, throwing it back raw and without any type of chaser (to really prove nothing at all; you donât even know why any sane human would do this). You do a Just Dance party on his TV, even try out drunk sim racing and FIFA, but by the end youâre well exhausted and retired to the couch again.
His voice is wavy and tipsy when he speaks. âYou really had to fake it?â
âYeah.â You pout. âCan neverâum, finish, I dunno.â Your inhibitionâs gone, shame loosened and untied by the vodka. You shift in your position on the couch.
âMaybe because it was too casual.â His voice hardens.
âSo youâre saying I shouldâŚâ You swallow dryly, eyes fluttering. âSleep with somebody I know?â Youâve dropped the implication and it floats up, hangs above.
His eyes flick over to your legs, folded on the couch. The hem of your shorts. Your fingers playing with your empty shot glass. He didnât mean anything by that. Heâs half-sure you didnât.Â
âI am just saying that a good friend would do that for you.â
âYouâre a good friend,â you say, volume low.Â
Five minutes later youâve properly crashed into each other, him pinning you down against the couch, licking fire up your throat. His lips trail across your jaw.Â
He dips a hand into your shorts, presses against your clothed core. Heâs smiling. So wet for me. Heâs got his mouth pressed messily up to your jaw, when he sinks one finger all the way in, slow and stretching; and youâre clenching around himâ
Come on, heâs saying. Insisting. Youâre trembling, yanking desperately at his hair as he pumps his finger slowly in and out of you, aching to be full of him, to take him deeper.Â
He slips another one in, and you feel the cold of his ring pressed against your entrance, then heâs fucking them into you and youâre leaking around them.Â
Yes, yeah, Charlesâyouâre gasping, airy breaths tapering into whimpers that sound sinful, desperate. He knows you so well already. Presses his fingers against your sweet spot, watches your eyes flutter.
So needy, and youâre chanting his name under your breath as he quickens his pace, craving the stretch of him desperately. I know you want to cum, baby. Heâs calling you baby and youâre closer, so much closer. Come on, for me, yeah?Â
You melt, crashing and crumpling into him and shuddering as you release all over his fingers. He presses his forehead to yours and lets you take a beat. You feel giddy and dizzy and warm, which is weird because you donât feel drunk at all anymore. This dizziness is something different. Itâs Charles.
âAre we going to do that again?â You ask meekly, hand still in his hair.
âOnly if you want. Whatever you want,â he says. Heâd do anything for you. Heâd do whatever you wanted.
âI do, I do want.â And Charles, the good friend he is, helps you out.
â
Imola is humid, warm, and the racetrack is absolutely teeming with people. But youâre not thereâclad in linen shorts and a fresh tank top, youâre walking around the vicinity of the track, cup of gelato in hand, sunglasses over your eyes. The restaurant near you is playing music out loud. Beside you, singing along and drafting a list of wedding appetizers, is Lorenzo.
âLamb chops?â You suggest, licking amaretto off the plastic spoon. The weather is pleasant enough that people are crowding the streets without it being too unbearably hot. Stevie Wonder flows from the speakers, permeates the entire block.
âI was thinking more seafood.â Â
âTuna? Make âem little tacos.â
âGood idea. Think Iâll go for those. Hey, are you sure youâre on board with fake-dating my brother?â
You turn sharply toward him, taken aback. He hadnât brought it up in the week and a half this plan had been in the worksâheâd been privy to it the entire time, too, which makes it weirder that heâs asking so suddenly.
âI meaaanâŚâ You slow your pace, contemplative. A shy smile plays at your lips, brows knitted together. âItâs only going to be for a month. Ish. So, yeah. Are youâdo youâsorry. Is it alright with you? Sorry.â
âIt is not not okay.â
âSo itâsâŚâ You pause. âOkay.â
âItâsâyes, but I worry, is all. How sure are you that this wonât hurt anyone?â
âI donât know, itâs⌠bitter with the sweet. And whoâs getting hurt⌠like the fans?â You laugh a little. âTheyâll live, wonât they?â
âLike you.â He pauses. âLike Charles.â
â
Pierre is running a comb through his hair, staring at himself in the mirror; his Narcissus moment is interrupted by a banana to the back of his head. Bonjour, he says, monotone and already knowing the culprit.
âWe need to talk.â
âCould this possibly be about the news of your brand new âgirlfriendâ over last week? Where is she, by the way?â
âWith Lorenzo. Listen, hereâs the thing. Mum thinks weâre dating, and I donât know how to tell her weâre notâso I wonât.â
âLie to your mum, go ahead.â Pierre crosses his arms and hums.
âTais-toi. Itâs for her own good.âÂ
âSo youâre going to pretend to date.â
 âOuais.âÂ
âShould be easy. You guys are hooking up and making out or whatever all the time.â
Charles pauses and lets the silence speak for itself. When Pierre makes a noise of confusion, he gives. We donât kiss, he says finally. She thinks it is too intimate, and we âare not dating,â so sex is the only thing we do. Sex, and if you still have leftover antsy energy, you pull on his shirt and sit up against the headboard to finish a crossword puzzle. Sometimes he helps you, but most of the time heâs just there to press lazy kisses to your hair and temple, cheekbone and jawânever your lips.
âYou donât kiss?â Pierreâs genuinely shocked. âPutain, youâre a hero. How does that even work?â
âWe just do not kiss. We fuck, but no kissing.â He shrugs. âItâs always been that way.â
âSo how about her birthday?â
âShe doesnâtâŚâ Charlex exhales tightly. âRemember.â
âCharles,â you suddenly say, head appearing into the doorway. âOh, hey. Fred said you might be here. What are you guys talking about?â
âSprint racing,â Pierre says, an easy lie.
Charles, though, is never good at the lying bit. âInternational tariffs.â
â
Your only memories of your seventeenth birthday are applying lip gloss and mascara, wearing your shortest skirt and tightest top, and reciting your supposed date of birth in line like a mantra. Anything after thatâs been sprayed off by the ultra-clutch strength of vodka. Which, youâve been told, was your drink of choice.
âHeadacheâs better,â you moan over the phone, face squashed onto your pillow. âMum gave me an Advil but I was so sick all morning.â
âDid you snog anyone?â Charles is always teasing.
âGod, I wish.â You shut your eyes and try to remember if your drunken stupor had somehow managed to get you successful in lip-locked matters. Nothing comes up and you wipe a dry hand over your face, heaving a sigh. âI really wanted to kiss Matthew but I think he left before you and I did.â
A pause. Then Charles clears his throat. âYou mean you and me and the police car that escorted us home?â He snorts.
âYouâre such a prick!â You scream into your pillow, laughing. âI already thanked you for being my literal savior last night.â
He smiles to himself. âYouâre welcome.â
âDid you have fun?â You flop onto your back and stare at the stick-on stars on your ceiling. You make a mental note to try and remove them.
âBit boring because I vowed not to drink at all, but I got to dance. Bitter with the sweet, right?â
â
âNervous?â
âI mean, fuck, yeah.â You fix the hem of your dress, speaking to Giada through the phone. âPascaleâs waiting for us on the paddock. And so are, like, a hundred photographers.â You wince. âCan you even imagine Charles and me? Itâs justâI dunnoâitâs weird.â
âIt isnât,â she says, laughing. âNot really. It makes sense. Plus, arenât you on the whole arrangement?â You envision her air quotes.
âYeah, butââyou slip your sandals onââitâs on and off, and thatâs not dating. Itâs sex. Two different things.â
âIs it really, though? Considering how close you are outside of bed, arenât yââ
âOkay, input no longer needed,â you laugh. âBye, Gi. Iâll text you later.â
You reunite with Charles just by the paddock entrance. The throng of fans holding cutouts and posters notice you two before anyone else does, inciting a collective bout of yells around the both of you. He notices your blue silk dress first, eyes unmoving. âYou look like the sky.â
âThanks, man.â A beat, and you squint through your sunglasses. âThatâs a compliment, right?â
âSure.â
âPrick.â You peek over them and to the fans, who wave more aggressively when they notice youâre looking. Nervously, you raise a hand and wave back, and the noise heightens. âI think Iâm going to be replacing you.â
âDream on. On y va?â
You turn back to him, smiling, and you both enter at the same time. His hand wraps around your waist, dips a bit lower to rest at the small of your back as you walkâthe fans clearly dig it, because everyoneâs yelling in a frenzy as you depart. What are you doing, you ask through your smiling teeth.
âDid you forget weâre supposed to be dating?â He maintains an equally pleasant (totally duplicitous) façade, smiling.Â
âI didnât think,â you say, still smiling falsely, âthat youâd put your hands on me five minutes into the whole agreement.â
âSmile, honey,â he teases. âI see at least five cameras at us right now.â
âItâs seven,â you beam. âDumbass.â
âAgain with the competitive streak.â memory
âI totally deserved to win last weekâs game. Youâre just a sore loser.â
âNo youâre just aâhi, hi, hello!â
Your walk to the motorhome is interrupted by running into a friend of Charlesââsomeone from McLaren, one of the executives there. While Lando has been informed of your stunt, nobody else on that team has.Â
They handshake and he waves at you politely. âWhole paddockâs buzzing with news of you dating,â he says, smiling. âItâs a tad crazy! I remember seeing you as Charlesâ plus one back when he was in Formula Two. And now you two are dating. How didâwell, if you donât mind me asking, whereâd it all happen?â
âOh,â you say, laughing. âYeah, Monaco.â
âTexas,â Charles says at the same time.
Alarm bells go off in your head at the totally random, unwarranted statement out of Charlesâ mouth. Texas? Neither of you have even ever been at the same time. âHe meansââyou say, coughing and noddingââwe went on this, um. Wild West themed, um, restaurant in Monaco, and thatâs where he asked me out.â You make a face that you hope conveys you get it, and it seems to work.
âDefinitely not what I had in mind, but if it worked, it worked, eh?â He grins. âI guess I always knew you two would end up together. Alright, ciao!â
Youâre smiling and waving after him as he leaves, and then youâre (semi) alone again, or at least within your own space on the incredibly crowded paddock.Â
You turn to him, unable to hide your confusion. âUm? Texas?! Whatâs up with the backstories?â
âIt slipped out! Sorry. But nice save.â
âYouâre so fââ You try to scold him, but canât, bursting into laughter and leaning forward to laugh into his chest. âTexas, really?â
âSorry,â he says. You feel the vibration of his own laugh through his chest and itâs warm and nice. You peel yourself off lest you look too clingy, and resume your walk to the motorhome.
Ferrari is crowded, filled with people and strategists and guests. Youâre given a bottle of water and then hounded with questions from the team who havenât been informed of the situation at hand. David, one of the engineers close to Charles who youâd previously spoken to in one of the earlier races, asks to borrow him.
âCiao, ciao.â They speak in one of the outdoor patio areas. âIs everything okay?â
âThe car is fine. I just wanted to ask about the girl.â David punches his arm, playful. âYou finally got her!â
âOh.â
âItâs just⌠I remember all the times she would show up and youâd tell me about how much you liked her⌠I donât know, itâs perfect for things to end up like this, no? Bravo!â
âOh, si. Iâve just been, you knowâŚâ He looks through the glass sliding door and into the hospitality, where youâre talking to Isa and Carlos, sunglasses over your hair. Your hands are moving quickly, and youâre smiling while talking. He wonders what youâre so passionate about. When youâre caught in fits of happiness and passion, youâre extra animated. Your eyes are lively, and your lips canât stop curling into a slight beaming smile. Now, maybe itâs France, maybe itâs crossword puzzles, slim chance itâs your jobâwhatever it is, he could watch you talk like this for hours. He thinks itâs beautiful, the way you transform, the way you smile, when you talk of things you absolutely love.Â
â⌠crazy about her forever.â
â
There are banners, Italian flags, and Charlesâ face on every other wall. Heâs done his first hat-trick of the season (of several more, youâre hoping). Youâve foregone the usual clubbing for dinner with a smaller group of people, but only because youâve been told the nightlife is bleak and youâd rather save that energy for the next race.
Lando picked out the restaurantâheâs âon a massive Yelp highâ trying to get the best restaurants in every city they get to. Heâs tried two over the weekend, and is hoping this guns for first place. The restaurantâs name is long and so very Italian, to the point where your semi-fluency fails you. The food is amazing, though, and so is the wineâa whole other level of grape-flavored bliss.
Youâre in-between Joris and Charles, nursing your fourth glass while Charles downs a bottle of beer. Light conversation flows through the table, but your sleepiness only allows you to hear some of it. Youâre content with the white noise.
Lando is getting a new cat, Lewis bought a new pair of shoesâoh, no, shares in the company that makes the shoesâJoris bought the shoes, Lorenzo will now buy the shoes, why isnât anyone paying attention to Landoâs cat. Itâs funny, entertaining, and the perfect nightcap to your immensely exhausting day of acting.
Wine tipsy makes you loopy and snoozy. By default, your head lolls onto Charlesâ body; he immediately wraps a sweater-clad arm around your frame, leans back, pulls you closer. Doesnât miss a beat. In fact, while doing so, heâs even able to get a dig in against Landoâs affinity for cats.
âNo more wine, mâkay?â He whispers quietly, angling his head to yours.Â
âOh, but it was so good, though.â You mope, but nod in agreement. âI could seriously drink wine out of a keg here.â
âSure did that a lot with beer.â You laugh, punching his bicep with what little space youâre given. âYou sleepy?â
âYeah. But Iâm fine,â you respond, smiling. âNow shut up. I need to know what happened to Landoâs cat.â
Lewis leaves first, claiming heâs into this whole âsleeping at 9PMâ thing, and Lorenzo follows to get ahead of an early flight tomorrow. Itâs you, Joris, Charles, and Lando now, and youâre good as dead, eyes half-shut and fluttering, head slipping off his shoulder.
How was it? Lando asks, lowering his volume to keep from being too jarring. Day 1, fake dating? I actually read something like this in one of those, um, fanfiction stuff the fans do. Joris and Charles cast him a half-weirded out, half-amused pair of looks, but Lando defends himself. Theyâre actually pretty good, guys. I read one where I ended up with my rival or summat.
âSorry to burst your bubble, Lando,â you croak, voice raspy with sleepiness and a day of bubbling laughter, âbut Charles and I probably didnât do your fanfiction kink justice.â
âIgnoring the emasculation.â He says, turning beet red. âWhatâd you do, then? Wasnât it hard?â
âIt was hard, but itâs like that.â Charles likes to substitute the phrase it is what it is to itâs like that, a result likely stemming from his trilingual childhood. âWe just. Pretended. Oi, we held hands in front of the cameras.â
âYeah, you can get a good wank in if that does it for you,â you joke. Lando hurls a cube of parmigiano at your face; it lands squarely and you flip him off, the table erupting with peals of laughter.
âIn all seriousness, thoughâhow are you two okay with this? I know Iâd be second guessing my feelings every second.â
You shift, trying to hide your obvious lack of answer. Itâs quiet for a few seconds, and then Charles says, âWeâre both comfortable with each other, I think.â
âYeah, comfortable enough that we can, you know, be honest.â Youâre looking at Lando when you say that. You donât know how well you could repeat the sentence if you were looking straight into Charlesâ eyes.
You leave the restaurant with a generous tip, and Charles helps you pull your coat on when youâre out the door, back into the chilly night air. Itâs then that all four of you catch news via text, of a club invite somewhere in the city.
âItâll be fun, guys.â Joris and Lando stand in front of you and Charles, bumbling with excitement. âI heard Lil Tjay is going to be there.â
âIt sounds very fun,â you say, smiling, âbut I might pass out if I drink anything other than water, and I have zero energy. You three go ahead.â
âWhâno, Iâm not going, either.â You raise an eyebrow at Charles. âSerious! I wasnât in the mood much, anyway. Joris, take Landoâs car and weâll take mine.â
âAlright,â Lando whistles. âSuit yourselves, agoraphobes.â
âJokeâs on youââCharles smiles, smugââI donât know what that means.â
âNot the dig you think it is, Charles,â you say, rolling your eyes. âNight, Joris, Lando. See you guys tomorrow. Use protection!â
âShould be saying that to you guys,â quips Joris with an evil grin that he closes the car door on.
The climb into the car feels like a chore in itself with how tipsy and sleepy youâve become. Charles likes to bring his Ferrari to race weekends, but you convinced him to use a different car for this one, because you honest-to-God canât stand the low seats anymore.Â
âYou want dessert?â He asks when heâs rounded the car and settled into his seat. âGelato, a cone, biscottiâŚâ
âNo, no,â you say, voice thin. A palm covers your shutting eyes; blindly, you reach for his hand. Itâs easy because he sees you searching and takes your hand to cut it short. âIâm good. So sleepy. Can I sleep at your hotel room?â
âSure.â He starts the car, waves to the wait staff idle by the entrance, and drives off. âHow was the day as my fake girlfriend? Anyone ask about me?â He wiggles his eyebrows, flickering his gaze to your figure beside him. âWasnât too tough, I hope.â
Imola whizzes by, trees and city, and a poorly stifled yawn escapes your lips, wine stained. You laugh sleepily. âIt was a bit awkward, but bitter with the sweet, right?â He smiles, nodding, and you continue. âYeah, few strategists, some people who knew you from Prema. I was talking to Isa and Carlos, too, earlier. Even if they know itâs fake.â
He recalls seeing you talk to them through the glass. âAbout?â
âYou.â
â
The sun is merciless on the clay courts, and so are your shoes, shuddering against the surface in your continuing attempt to beat the opposing team. Charles cowers behind youâheâs scored less than half of your points thus farâbut youâre on a mission, like your competitive self always is when youâre put in a position to be able to win.
Youâre two points down now, and the noontime is becoming increasingly itchy and unforgiving; across you both, Giada and Joris call a mutual time out. âThatâs not allowed!â You say, petulant.
âThis is a practice session,â Charles says gently, nearing you. âMate, none of us are actual players.â
You wipe sweat off your forehead. âRight. DĂŠsolĂŠe. Iâm justâIâm in the zone.â
âOuais, I get it. Relax, mâkay? We got this.â
You shake yourself off and hop a few times, skirt bobbing by your waist as you go. Your braid bounces on your shoulder and you nod, turning your racquet over in your grip.Â
Charles pings the ball hard and it soars over to land just shy of the line, seemingly scoring a point for you two and securing your win. Giada and Joris chime in with protests, claiming that the ballâs out. You throw your hands up in question.
âOkay, what? That was clearly a point!â
âSnoops, I think they might be right. The ball looked out to me,â Charles says, wrapping a sweaty arm around your red shoulders.
âWhat are you talking about, Charlie? That ball was in! I saw it!â You elbow yourself out of his grip, aghast.
âHow aboutâŚâ He suggests quietly. âWe let them win? You did win the lastââhe pauses to countââfive sets. Come on, Snoops. They need this. Bitter with theââ
You take a deep breath, staring into his eyes. âFucking sweet, right, okay. Fine, fine.âÂ
Charles thinks heâs in the clear and heâs managed to extinguish your flames of frustrationâthat is, until you walk into the Leclerc household for lunch an hour later and, after greeting Pascale and HervĂŠ, you point squarely to the jar on the kitchen counter. âFive euros.â
He splutters. âFive? Whânon, non! I was trying to calm you down.â
âYou were blind and gave Giada and Joris a fake win,â you say playfully.
âSaluuut,â Lorenzo greets, sitting at the stool beside yours. âQuoi de neuf?â
âCharles has five euros for the jar.â The jar, the infamous jar, sometimes dubbed the Dumbass Jar when Pascaleâs out of earshot. It was Lorenzo who first made it up after three straight instances of Charles pulling a push door (three different establishments).
Arthurâs joined in at this point, but its biggest indirect donors are definitely Lorenzo and HervĂŠ, who view it as just about the funniest thing in the world. Out of pity, you donât call dumbass too often, but the tennis loss is bruising enough that you warrant the usage.
âYou heard Snoopy. Five euros. Weâll be able to get milkshakes with this money after next week.â You high five. âAt this rate, Charles, you could open a restaurant in Paris.â
âHeâs going to race,â you correct. You both watch a begrudged Charles junk a bill into the nearly-full jar. âWhat race driver is going to open a restaurant?â
â
You meet Yuki Tsunoda on a flight to Nice. Youâve seen him several times before, not too frequently but enough that his name and face are familiar on your mind. Also a personality trait that Pierre would bring up in fond conversations with you and/or Charles: he loves food, apparently.
âYukiâs volunteering AlphaTauri to be your hideout,â Pierre tells you and Charles, across him.Â
Turns out, the hardest part (insofar) of this whole schtick: the officially appointed paddock photographers are being extra sneaky with it, finding the best vantage points to snap pictures of an unwitting you and Charles.
Theyâre like hawks, watching for even the slightest glimpse so they can post the photos on Instagram and get clicks.
So, just a few hours earlier, Charles asked if there was a place you and him could talk if needed where photographers wouldnât be awaiting you already, and this was the answer.
âIf itâs too much trouble, feel no need to⌠you know.â
âNonsense.â Pierre smiles goofily and Yuki pokes him to stop, pausing his session of eating a quesadilla (where heâd even acquired it, youâre clueless). âYukino would be happy to.âÂ
The flight lands and the drive to Monaco is infected with notoriously slow traffic; you pop an Advil to try and alleviate the motion sickness. Pierre and Yuki, it seems, have joined you even outside of the flight. Theyâre in the backseat offering bits of conversation.
âOh, mate, we should totally play tennis while weâre here.â Pierre sighs. âDidnât you guys play before?â
âMmm, yeah,â you mumble with a lilt of amusement at the memories from basically a decade ago. âAt the country club. Doubles always, otherwise Iâd knock Charles out of the park.â
âHey, I won a couple times!â He protests weakly. âLike⌠twice.â
You laugh out loud. âAnyway, Pierre, do not bring me into tennis. I get all competitive and develop anger issues.â
âI had to calm her down twice a set,â Charles says; you swat him lightly to silence him. âStill do.â
âYou know, if the Dumbass Jar still existed,â you say cuttingly, âI swear Iâd be able to buy off Ferrari with that money.â
â
Monaco is swelterinly hot today. You know this because you know the weather here, you know the curves and ups and downs of itâthis is your home. And today is hot. Every few minutes a breeze filters through the air and you can hear journalists or PAs sigh a collective breath of relief before theyâre all subjected to the inane, high-degree weather again.
Itâs also, according to Arthur, a good day to kiss in front of the cameras. He says it easily over a plate of sliced kiwi, with a devious smile, because he assumes your friends-with-benefits arrangement equates to constant kissing. But the truth is youâve never kissed Charles, and it intimidates you.
âDo we have to kiss?â You play with his bracelets, sitting beside him on the sofa. The talk of kissing entertains the thought of sex and you canât help but mentally complain at the remembrance that you havenât gotten laid in weeks.
âIf you donât want toââ
âI do.â You splutter, eyes going wide, face warm. âNo! I mean I donât mind. If it sells the thing.â
âDâaccord, then we will.â He smiles. âThat okay?â
âSure. First kiss,â you say. Your voice feels as clammy as your hands.
âFirst.â He looks away.
You take your woes off the kiss by playing a friendly round of tennis with your favourite opponents, Giada and Joris. They bemoan your competitive nature (that, to be fair, allots you and Charles three straight wins), and Giada incites a protest for a girls versus boys round.
You both embarrass Charles and Joris, heckling them as you win another two straight games. Charles runs over to you when you throw up the L sign on your hand, lifting you up and making you squeal.
âPut me down, loser!â
Giada and Joris exchange a look. Amused, knowing. âCharles! Youâre such a cunt.â You kick hard, and manage to snag his abdomen, so he gently places you onto the clay again. He laughs and paces back over to his side, and you play with the tail of your braid as you watch.
You play set after set, but the kiss comes anyway. When you know photographers can see youâby the entranceâand it happens faster than your mind can muster. Heâs leaning in, youâre reaching up, and your mouths slot together. Itâsâand it feels crazy to say it, butâ
Itâs perfect. Itâs lovely. You smile against his lips like they belong there and like theyâre familiar and yours and like maybe this is all youâve ever wanted, and like they deserve the smile, because they do. You feel your need to pull away before you canât help but keep him tethered to you always. Itâs strange and itâs not platonicâyouâre mature enough to admit that, but not enough to label exactly what it is.
You spend the day with your fingers pressed to your lips, like youâre sealing the memory. Hours later, Charles wins. Thereâs massive uproar and youâre in the crowd when it happens, in the sea of strategists going to congratulate him on winning Monaco, whichâthatâsâitâs winning Monaco. Your ears ring by the end of it and your throatâs dry from your own cheering. Carlos comes in second, and the outlook for their team is going much better than itâd been at the start of the year, so thereâs a lot to celebrate.
And celebrate you do. It starts with being pinned up against the door, hungry kisses along your jaw and neck. One kiss, it seems, has broken the dam from the few years youâve spent abstaining from the kissing. Heâs just finished interviews. Heâs only just changed into his polo, and now heâs tugging it off again, feverish.
This is rushed and dirty, down low and dark. Only one lightâs been switched on and heâs hiking your dress up, panties down with one hand to tug his cock out with the other. Heâs kissing youâkissing you stupid, almost. Like heâs waited forever to taste your lips and now heâll starve if heâs away for just a moment. He needs you. So have me, you want to say, all of me, push me up against the wall again and cover my mouth with your palm. Or donât, donâtâso everyone knows Iâm yours.
He presses your chest against the wall so your backâs turned to him, thrusts in with a breathless, throaty grunt.Â
âSâ big,â youâre saying, clawing at words the pleasure bars you from finding.
âBarely even in,â he whispers. âSlow down, baby, come on, take it.â
Your toes curl. Youâre high on the win, on the kissing, on Charles, on the slow delicious stretch of his cock. âIâm taking it, Iâm taking it,â you say, shaky. He thrusts, slow and deep and dirty, until heâs bottomed out and youâre tiptoeing from the overwhelm.
âI feel you,â youâre whimpering, moans and gasps leaving your mouth. You blindly search for his hand, find it against your hip, drag it to your abdomen, under your dress that he hasnât even fully removed. âI feel you there,â you say, an edge of teasing to your voice.
His cockâs bulging, almost, out of your stomach, and itâs getting you both all lightheaded. He thrusts harder, a devious smile felt against your neck.
I need it, Charles, you plead, please, please fuck me harder. You feel it coming, the familiar pleasure intensifying so quicklyâyou donât usually cum so early, heâs always making you wait for itâpussy squeezing around him.
Jesus, already? Heâs groaning but a laugh escapes, breathy and amused and taunting. Heâs fucking you harder, faster. Itâs so good, each hit getting you closer. Taking me so well, youâre bruised all over now, baby. You hate how well he knows what turns you on; memories of mornings post-sex spent inspecting the purple marks on your hips flash through your head and youâre even closer now, shaking, whimpering, begging.
Youâre half-sure someone can hear, but it doesnât even phase you. Harder, deeperâ and youâre collapsing, legs spasming uncontrollably, orgasm so intense itâs on the brink of totally hurting. Tears roll down your sweaty face and he kisses them away, cumming onto your back to wipe off in a few minutes.
âI never evenââyou pant, tiredââgot to say congratulations.â
âThat was more than enough.â
â
Charles is elated when you tell him his family has thrown a party for him the day next. Heâs boyish in that way, optimistic and kiddy, the kind of person whoâs up at five-thirty to announce their own birthday.Â
He drives you both to his childhood home, a route so familiar he could drive with his eyes closed. (âI hope youâre not driving closed-eyed,â youâd warned.)
Even if he could, anyway, heâd rather not. The scenery of Monaco is stunning, ever-changing, and he never tires of itâthe buildings, the skies, the trees and shrubbery, stores lining the streets, clean entrances.Â
And youâin the passenger seat, humming softly to a song of his choosing. Drives are always better when youâre in the passenger seat.
The turnout is generous: extended family, and several friends from school. Thereâs bowls of fruit, salad, plates of salmon and racks of lamb, knobs of butter with warm bread. Pascale commands the kitchenâvisible in how she leaves it cluttered with bowls, ingredients, whisks still dripping with syrup or batter, spoons licked for tasting. The good kind of clutter.
Lorenzo has also taken reign of the AUX, because itâs 70âs music playing, which is what heâs fond of for family gatherings like these. Itâs My Cherie Amour now, Stevie Wonder mellowing across the lawn and into the house.
Charles knows you love the kitchen as much as his mum does, so when you get to the house, heâs not surprised to see you leave him in favor of checking out what damage has been done to your favorite marble countertops. He watches Pascale turn from the gas range, her eyes lit when she sees you, inviting you into an embrace.Â
You look like the song playing, pretty and lovely, breeze in the summer. He almost loses himself in thought before his great-aunt Eden places two bony hands on his arms and greets him in feeble Italian.
He flits his eyes away from you, if just briefly, and faces the woman with a smile on his face. âCiao, zia,â he says, voice buoyant, happy. âYou came here to see me, no?â
All five-foot-one of her shakes in disagreement. She wags a finger for extra measure. âNo,â she says. âSono venuto a vedere la tua ragazza.â
His eyes widen. âSheâsââ He pauses. He debates telling Eden youâre not actually his girlfriend, that this was a setup to appease Pascale and, by extension, tifosi. But he backtracks.
He shouldnât, but he gives in, lives out his dreams for a bit. âAh, sheâs over there, zia. Con mamma.â He points to the open door, and to you on the far end of the room inside, holding a spoon. âBeautiful, yes?â
âMolto,â she says proudly. âYou marry her?â
Fact: his great-aunt has the worst memory. She forgot Charlesâ name twenty times, let alone niche facts like this one. Another fact: she rarely shows up to family events. Maybe now, because itâs a racing thing; but baby showers and funerals, sheâs at home. So he indulges a bit more.
âSi, weâre engaged. Butâitâs a secret, zia.â He grins. âNon dire a nessuno. Okay?â
âSei fidanzato?!â She claps once, excited. âAy, Charles. I waited my whole life for this moment, si?â And sheâs wobbling away, still muttering under her breath.
â
âHow is my son?â Pascaleâs voice is teasing. She sighs happily. âFor years I wondered if this would happen. And it really is.â
âOui, sure is,â you sing-song, laughing a bit awkwardly. âWeâreâheâs okay. Weâre great. In love.â
âOh, in love,â she swoons. She leaves you, after fifteen more minutes of detailed discussion, with half a spoonful of vinaigrette to taste-test, departing to check on the guests for a few minutes. In her place arrives Lorenzo, already bearing a shit-eating grin. âSaluuut.â
âMmm, good to see you, too.â You taste the liquid and add lemon to the bowl. âHowâs wedding planning?â
âThink weâll throw a shower. Is that pretentious?â
âNo,â you say, mulling over it. âSure, a bit. But just donât make it a whole thing, youâre golden.â
âI see.â He sighs fondly. âYou know, many a conversation weâve had right here at this counter. About anything.â
â
You loosen your school tie, slicing an apple like you so often do, waiting for Charlesâ karting practice to end. Pascale had fixed you a bowl of something, HervĂŠ a glass of orange juice. And somebody else would always, without fail, steal your food. A hand swipes two slices form your chopping board and your head whips up.
âLorenzo!â You stomp your foot. âStop stealing! That is my apple.â
âYou mean the Leclercsâ apple.â He laughs, pops another slice into his mouth, smiling.Â
You roll your eyes, shaking your head. The braid beside your head shakes with it as you continue slicing it into perfect quarters. He pipes up again: âHow was school?â
âShit, as usual.â You lower your voice and smile, leaning in. âPascale scolded me earlier, for saying that word.â
âDid Papa?â
âObviously not. He fist bumped me.â You share a laugh, both chewing on apple slices now. âAnyway, I aced a math test, had aubergine for lunch⌠got driven here by Charlotteâs mum.â
âCharlotte?â Lorenzo hums conspiratorially, making a mmmm sound. You look up from the yellow chopping board, furrowing your eyebrows. He persists: âMmm. Cha-r-lotte.â
âWhatâs up with Charlotte?â Bit impolitely, you ask, in-between chews.
âI think she likes Charles, a little.â You nod slowly, trying to follow. Charlotte liking Charles. Your Charles. Wait, no. Not yourâor nobodyâs, really. Just Charles. Yeah.
âWhat? Bull!â You narrow your eyes. âSays who?â
âWhy do you care?â
âWhâI donât!â You squeak, caught. âJust⌠I think Iâd know, Lorenzo.â You make a tch noise, crossing your sweater-clad arms. âSoâsays who?â
âI saw her leering at him during his birthday party.âÂ
âYouâre wrong,â you say, but you donât really know who youâre convincing. He reaches over for an apple slice, and you move the chopping board out of the way sharply.
âMon dieu, youâre snappy. Fine, fine. I might be wrong,â he relents, shrugging. He gets up and slides beside you to be able to acquire more slices. âI talked to her during the party, too.â
âWeirdo,â you tease, allowing him to take a few more. âAbout Charles, yes?
âNo, about her brand new dress.â
âYouâre the funniest Leclerc brother, I assure you.â
âShe told meâŚâ He says, louder this time, shushing you effectively. âShe told me she âfinds Charles cute.ââ Air quotes, shrug. âBut that they âprobably wonâtâ date.â
âHuh. Did, um. Did she say why?â You play with the tail of your braid, shuffling back and forth on your flats. You donât know why youâre so fidgetyâyou arenât nervous, you donât think.
âBecauseâŚâ he says, chewing to allow for a pause. âShe said every time she looks for Charles to try and ask for time alone, or on a date, or something, heâs already following you around like some puppy.â
â
You comb your hair into a bun and venture into the patio, having avoided a good chunk of the noon heat. You greet some relatives politely along the way, and receive a hand squeeze from great-aunt Eden. At one of the tables is Charles, beside Joris and another friend, and Giada and Charlotte across them, an empty seat beside the latter.
You seat yourself in it and Giada kisses your cheek. âHey. Ăa va?â
âFine,â you say, smiling. Then you lower your voice to a whisper. âDo you remember when I told you about my crush on Charlie? For the first time?â
âYeah,â she whispers back. âAround⌠2013.â
âOuais. And⌠and it disappeared after that,â you say. âRight?â
âYou said it did,â she says. âA year later. When we were sixteen.â
âRight.â You think. Seventeen onwardsâyouâd never formed a full-fledged crush on Charles. âOkay. Itâs nothing. Just a memory. I was just. Yeah, oui.â
âOui, letâs eat.â The memory fades and so does your running mind. Charlesâ eyes meet yours across the table, and suddenly you feel a little less like your thoughts have ripped you open.
â
When you and Charles were younger, you adopted the adage âbitter with the sweet.â Charles will have people believe it was made by the both of you, with philosophical minds stretched so far beyond their years. Well, revisionist history. The truth lay in the Carole King song of the same name youâd heard on the stereo.
Those are the exact words Charles tells Ted when heâs interviewing for the Spain Grand Prix. Itâs a hot day and youâre especially doubled down on by the fact that heâs finished ninth.Â
Youâd been fake-dating for the cameras all weekend. At all costs, you try and avoid interviews, but the damned Drive to Survive producers insist on a soundbite and start following the two of you around everywhere (only to find your conversations sound very weird and niche, and not scandalous or sexy).
Pascale also calledâCharles first, and when he didnât check his phone, you. You spent an hour on the phone just talking about the race. About the penalties and the nasty headlines that followed, and just everything.
âIâm glad youâre there,â she says. âGod knows he needs you.â
You end up biking to try and relieve the stress, posing with fans for pictures.
âIâm such a big fan. I stalk Charlesâ Insta like, all the time, and itâs crazy how you guys are dating.â A teenaged girl laughs nervously. âWhereâd it happen?â
âTexas!â He, again, tries out the bit to appease the fans but you have to extinguish the flames of his blatant lies.
âHeâs kidding,â you interject. âItâs justâit just happened, really.â
How does something just happen? Someone told you once, in a Paris bar, that love is like an echo. Itâs always there, in the underbelly, underneath it all, and then one day it echoes, like a bass drum or a cymbal. And the echoâthe echo is you feeling it. You feel the echo, the all-encompassing echo, even if the love itselfâs been there all along.
With Charles, itâs out of the question. You love him. Heâs your best friend. You trusted him before you even learned what trust meant, for Chrissake.
How could you not love him? That seemed impossible. The love was there. The loveâs always been there and itâll never go away.
It echoes at half-past-two in Barcelona, when he whips past you on his bike and says on your left. The breeze pulls your hair to the left, covers your face, and when you rake it away heâs stopped to check if he accidentally bumped you in his rush to look cool.
Youâre creepily observant; youâve been told this many times before. What people donât know is with the observance comes even more questions. Ifs, whys, wheres, whens, hows, God the hows. The questions keep coming because thereâs never an answer.
âAre you okay?â He asks. Green eyes glittering like a lake. Smile like the sun. Hair curly at the ends. âDid I hurt you?â
Then you realize. In the matters of love, every questionâevery single question. Every single one. The answer is Charles.
âOf course not,â you say. And you smile.
â
You almost drop your book in your rush to scurry past the paparazzi. Theyâre still busy on the two figures (Alex and Lily, you think) on another end of the paddock, which allows you only a few moments to try and evade them.
Others are stationed near the Ferrari hospitality, which means youâre going to need your hideout. Yuki had texted Pierre who had texted Charles who had told you that it was all clear to go there for a few minutes while waiting for the photographers to clear out.
Hurry, Charles is saying. Laughing. His handâs gentle in yours. You want them there forever. You want to drag the tip of your nail over the barely-perceptible grooves of his fingerprints so he knows how much you need him.
The days post-Spain were spent biking, watching shows, listening to music, eating food. The travel to Canadaâlong, cold, compression socks. Pascale had called mid-flight to check on her âfavorite pairââyou maneuvered yourselves into a much more cuddly position to appease her, and her giddy smile was incentive enough to stay that way for ninety minutes.
Youâd been in a weird mental state trying to grapple with your rapidly returning and intensifying feelings for him, which have dawned on you all at once.
But he makes it better. Youâre still laughing when you wedge yourselves in, eyes meeting.
And then youâre quiet.
The gaze you share is intense, but almost unsure, like youâre supposed to be looking away anytime now. You step backward shakily, and his hand moves from your waist to the small of your back to keep you from stumbling any further. Youâre closer now. But this shouldnât feel as strange as it does when you two have been in much more scandalous positions beforeâwhatâs different?
Heâs so close, so so close, his green eyes looking right through you. You lean closer, ready to kiss him like you have before, ready to feel his mouth slot softly over yours, comforting and safe and Charles.
Funnily enough, itâs then that the illusion breaks, his grip loosening and the distance between you increasing. He coughs twice, awkwardly.
âShitâsorry,â you say profusely, clearly having read the moment wrong. Embarrassment wells up in your system, warming your face. You laugh to diffuse the tension but it barely does anything.
âNo, donâtââ He exhales, squeezes the bridge of his nose, trying to find words. âItâs not that I donât want to kiss you. I do.â
âSo kiss me,â you suggest simply, looking around for anything that might stop him. The embarrassment ebbs away, replaced quickly by confusion.Â
âI donât want to kiss you in an AlphaTauri stock room,â he mopes, burying his head in his hands in clear frustration. âAn AlphaTauri stock room.â He repeats it in a hushed whisper, disbelief etched all over his pretty face.
âCharles,â you begin, smiling already, the quaint way that makes his knees go weak every time. âYouâre acting like you and I havenât kissed before.âÂ
âThis is different.â He says firmly, looking away lest he lean in involuntarily. He interjects with conviction, not realizing what heâs implying until the implicationâs hanging in the air. The longing kills him softly, and he feels if he looks at you a second longer heâll kiss you anyway.
Itâs a wonderfully confusing feeling. You open your mouth to respond but you canât; your brain tacks itself onto his sentence, the division created between the kisses before now and the kiss that might happen anytime soon.
âHâŚâ you trail off, throat drying. Blinking, you try again, âHow different?â
He looks up, eyes conveying all the things his lips never will. This is different. You know it. I love you this time.
The answer is exchanged and accepted wordlessly. You slip out of the room when Pierre tells you itâs okay to, and itâs only thenâonly thenâthat Charlesâ hand leaves your body. You seem to burn alive with its absence.
Itâs a Ferrari 1-2. You snap a thousand pictures with Isa and Carlos holding Carlosâ trophy while Charles is doing interviews, and they invite you to join them for the break. Youâre open to itâthe win, the good standings, they definitely warrant a celebration for the few weeksâ break. So your original itinerary is Portugalâbeaches, coasts, foodâbut the jet re-charts a route and the flight is cut much shorter because youâre in New York City.
â
Somewhere in Manhattan, a wedding shower is thrown on an outdoor rooftop. âThis is one hell of a wedding shower,â you squeal excitedly when you spot him, bringing Lorenzo in for a hug. Your yellow dress flows in the wind. âI thought you guys were going to throw it in Monaco?â
âYeah, well⌠why not here, right? Itâs beautiful.â He gestures to the skyline, smiling. âPlus, Charles, Arthur, and Mum were already near the country for work, so we got ahead of it. Everyone was happy to fly out.â
âWell, for what itâs worth, I love it.â You beam. âI canât believe it, either. Whenâs the final date?â
He opens his mouth to reply, but the wind is knocked out of him by Charles barreling into his arms for a hug. You roll your eyes at the latterâs childish behavior, smiling despite yourself. They part and Charles finds his place beside you, arm snaking around your shoulders. âWhat a wedding shower!â
âDonât flatter me, dipshit,â Lorenzo jokes.
âItâs a lovely one.â Lorenzo thanks him. âAn amazing shower. You know, itâs a total golden shower!â
You purse your lips. âCharlesââ
âA golden shower, mate. Absolutely.â
That garners at least three odd looks and you calmly place a hand on his chest to whisper donât ever fucking say that again it means something completely different please donât embarrass me or your brother.Â
For all your embarrassment, you make up for it in having the literal time of your life. The food is good, the city view is amazing, the weather is fair and the musicâDesafinado nowâis amazing. âI could see myself here,â you say offhandedly to Charles, who nods back with a faint smile. Heâs half-distracted.
âYou look beautiful, by the way,â he says, squinting from the sun in his eyes. âVery.â
You part ways at some pointâPascale whisks him off, no doubt for another long round of questioning about your relationship, and you meander around with a glass of champagne.
Youâre halfway through swiping a mini quiche when a hand wraps around your wrist and squeezes to get your attentionâCharlesâ great-aunt Eden. She speaks only intermittent English, and your Italian fails to carry you through well enough, but you smile and greet her. âCiao, Eden!â
âCiao, bella.â She smiles. âFlight was long.â
âOh, yeah. New Yorkâs far. I might work here someday. Iâll hear results in around two weeks, but Iâm hoping for London instead.â You slow your speech.
âWhen will you two wed?â
âWed?â Your face warms and you stutter through a giggly mess of a sentence. âOh, Edenâziaâno, no! Weâre just friends.â
âMy Charles told me you two are to be married.â You both crane your heads to the right, where Charles is leaning against the terrace railing talking to one of your friends, Matthew, animatedly. He meets your eyes, sees Eden beside you, and seems to connect the dots.
Jokingly, perhaps, he raises his hand and wiggles his empty ring finger. You canât help but smile as you turn back to the old woman. âOh, did he, zia?â
âSi, he did.â
âWell, weâre just going to let it happen, then. Youâre invited. Front row.â You kiss her cheek and she smiles, wobbling off to drink more wine before any of the adults can stop her.
Itâs announced then that the dance floor is open, and many of Pascaleâs friends filter through to show off their moves to the 70âs music. You watch, amused, at the display of dexterity to Frankie Valli and Aretha Franklin. You cheer them on, content to watch them against the backdrop of the New York sunset.
When Ainât No Mountain High Enough plays, the dance floor grows, because nobody can resist the songânot even Charles, apparently, who takes your hand without preamble and takes you, squealing, to the centre.
You sing each of the parts, like you always do when the song comes on. Itâs semi-tradition at this point: you take Marvin Gayeâs, Charles takes Tammi Terrellâs. You both exaggerate your dance moves and pretend youâre performing.
His handâs in yours, winding you around and pulling you close. At some point he starts robot dancing to entertain you. It worksâyou laugh out loud, your eyes half-shut and faced to the stars above. He could write a poem about this. Or a song.
The song ends and you lean onto his shoulder to take a breatherâthen the photographer swoops in and takes a picture. âThatâs going into the RSVPs!â He says, accent unmistakably American.
âDoes he know weâre not the couple here?â You ask.
Do we know weâre not the couple? Charles asks himself.
The night escalates as the âoldiesâ leave, and Matthew, Joris, and Giada join you both for one last round of drinks again. Youâre all standing at the exit making conversation; Lorenzo attends to his friends at the other end of the terrace.
âI feel young again,â Matthew says, liberated by Titoâs vodka. He takes another swig and pulls his coat on.
âYouâre twenty-five, calm down,â you joke. âDodged that bullet.â Youâre poking fun at the semi-massive crush you had on Matthew in secondary school, and a laugh passes through the four of you. âAnyway, you three be careful. No driving.â
âJesus, but reallyâI havenât been this drunk since youââhe points at you, laughingââturned seventeen at that club, Amber? No?â
âOh, God. Yâknow, same.â You fail to notice Charles and Giada share a look. âI remember nothing from that night! Or, like, the first two hours at least.â
âI remember drinking my body weight because of heartbreak,â he jeers.Â
âHeartbreak? Were youâwere you with anyone?â You ask, confused.
It happens before anyone can stop it. âNo, when Charles kissed you. And you kissed him after. Alright, night mates! Lorenzoâmerci!â
Oh, fuck, you hear in the back of your now-muddled brain. Giadaâs voice.
You open and close your mouth. âChâwait, heâwhat?â
âIâletâs talk here,â Charles flounders, dragging you to a more secluded spot and facing you. The three of your friends exit; Giada waves, apologetic. âWhen⌠we were at Amber⌠and you were absolutely hammered, we kissed. It was twiceâjust twice. And you didnât, um. Remember a thing.â
Youâre unsure. âIn Amber?â You blink, confused. âWhat do you mean?â
âWe⌠I donâtâI mean, I understand why you donât remember. We kissed that night.â
âSo thatâs⌠Charles⌠You didnât tell me.â Your voice quivers, like a wire flicked. âWhy didnât you say it at the time?â
He doesnât give you an answer. He just looks at the counter, imagines the way your eyebrows furrow, your lips move, eyes glitter. He canât give you one. He doesnât want to hurt, disappoint, sadden you. He wants to get on his knees and root you here, so heâll have all the time in the world to come up with an answer.
âCharles.â But he loves you, and he can at the very least be honest for you. âLook at me.â
âI was scared.â His eyes gravitate to yours.
âOf?â
âIt felt stupid, is all. That you didnât remember, and maybe you did but you were pretending you werenât. I didnâtâit didnâtâsorry.â He laughs, stutters. âI convinced myself it didnât mean anything because we didnât have feelings for each other.â He pauses. âThen.â
âWell,â you say, slow. Eyes stuck to his. âHow about now?â
âNow?â
âI love you, now. I mean, isnât that all this is? Loving? Even if? Deâdespite of?âÂ
And thisâGod. This is how it feels. Heâs looking at you and youâre telling him you love him because you do, and finally heâs been over with reassurance.
You love him, too. That way. He trembles with it. His hands are shaky when they lace into yours, like youâre a shrine, a prayer, and he feels like maybe these are the emotions that swirl through the human body when one wins the lottery and gets struck by angry lightning at the same time.
This is it, he thinks. Profound and lovely and an echo of sweet memories. Heâs yours. Here in a city unfamiliar to both of you, yet to be conquered, your fingers lace lightly and you smile, smile, smile at each other, as if youâre the last two people on Earth. Heâs yours, so foolishly in love with you.
Even far from home, youâre both filled with warmth, with longing. Extended stares, pits of your stomachs welling up with something lovely in between homesickness and nostalgia. Here again, you again, us againâitâll always be us again, your heart seems to say, surrounded by the same love the same hurt the same sad the same everything, you and me, all the love in the world, all the confusion, weâre here. Itâs never over.
Across the terrace, Lorenzo watches. Two figures, laughing, emanating happiness, gentle unkowing love. You two have finally made it here, after what felt like a thousand trials and dreams and stories.
So even if youâre taller, in high heels and a yellow dressâand Charles is broader, in a suit and tieâLorenzo thinks he can blink and see the two little kids who hosted a tea party in the backyard. He can blink again and see you hugging, eyes shut, his lips pressed to your forehead to convey the intimacy nothing else will do as well.Â
âSo what now?â You ask. Again with the questions. In your defenseâit begs so many follow-up questions. A love so many years in the makingâlayer after layer after layerâof course it begs all the questions, almost to the point of overwhelming capacity. Whatâll we tell Pascale? The fans? The family? Everyone?!Â
But one look and he makes it better. His green eyes, bright against the deep black of the skyline. Youâve grown. Youâve done it. Youâre here. âWeâll figure it out.â He smiles. âWe deserve this kind of ending, donât you think?â
â
âHe has my name.â A tubby finger points to the boy on the greeting card. âThat one.â
âAnd whoâs the dog?â Asks the girl beside him, hair wound into a plait. She likes this boy. Heâs cute. She plays with the end of her braid and stares, eyes flickering in-between him and the card theyâre staring at.
âThe nameâs right there. Theyâre best friends.â
âOkay, thatâll be me.â
âSo thatâs us.â
âOui.â She smiles. âCharlie and Snoopy.â
â
read an omitted scene here :)
Pairing: charles leclerc x fem!reader Summary: you purposely try to make Charles jealous at a party which ultimately leads to some dirty consequences Warnings: SMUT, bad writing, curse words, 18+, choking, slapping, spitting Word Count: 1,657 Author's Note: this was a request from an anon 'Charles jealous and possessive please' that I wanted to make halloween related. Feel free to send more requests!!! Also I apologize for how dirty this might be. I was in a moooood.
"You are so in for it tonight," your best friend spoke into your ear with a small laugh. "You look hot. Charles' palm will be twitching once he see's you."
It was funny. How irrational the both of you became when the mixture of alcohol and other people were involved.Â
You and Charles were not a couple, and the mere thought of dating him was utterly inconceivable at most times. He exuded an air of insufferable arrogance that grated on your every nerve. His incessant self-assuredness and overconfidence were more than enough to drive you to the brink of frustration.
But, the sex. Oh boy, the sex. It was as if pushing each otherâs buttons was your own secret form of foreplay.
Your outfit was minimal to say the least. An angel. The innocence of your appearance was almost complete, aside from the subtle hint of revealed skin that added a touch of allure. A tiny white dress graced your form, its delicate lace fabric clinging to your figure. Attached were a pair of feathered wings that extended from your back, imparting an air of ethereal elegance. Completing the ensemble, a fluffy white halo, nestled on your head by a dainty headband, bestowed an angelic aura to your attire.
It was an outfit that sent looks your way for sure. Looks that you didnât care about. There was only one pair of eyes you truly wanted to capture. But you wouldnât let it be known. Thereâs no fun in that, right?
Though the night was still relatively young, your friendâs apartment was already deemed a mess. Plastic red cups and glass bottles scattered across most surfaces. The ever-shifting multicolored lights transitioning from crimson to rich purples cast a unique and enchanting ambiance throughout the room.Â
You felt your thighs press together as the mere memory of the rough fuck from a few weeks ago slips into your mind. It was a pestering memory that reminded you just how much his jealousy ate at him. You wanted it. You needed it.Â
You could feel him before you saw him. The burning gaze of his eyes lingering on you as you leaned against a wall talking to another guy. A guy, whose name you donât quite remember, was cute. His humor had you in stitches, keeping you fully engrossed in his presence. The music reverberating against the walls made it hard to hear, resulting in the need to stand closer to one another. From an outsider, his proximity appeared intimate. Almost too intimate for Charles to bare the sight of.Â
You werenât flirting at first. At least you werenât until that memory popped into your head a few minutes ago. You were merely testing the waters, curious to gauge how long it would take for him to crack.
âDo you want another drink?â The guy, who mightâve been named Daniel, leaned in closer so you could hear him over the music. His lips nearly brushing against your ear as he raised his voice.Â
That seemingly was the last straw. Because before you could even answer, you felt a presence slightly to the left behind you. There was no need to even turn your head; the identity was unmistakable. The firm grip of his hands on your waist, pulling your back to his front, left no doubt on who it was.
âI got it from here,â He was short with his words, so assertive. Leaving little to no room for Daniel, you think thatâs his name, to argue. There was no space for Daniel, or whatever his name might be, to push back. You couldnât see the expression Charles wore, but it must have been far from pleasant, judging by Danielâs hasty retreat.Â
You still hadnât gotten the chance to look at him. Or his costume. He was already guiding you down the apartment hallway, weaving through the crowds of people, and pushed you into the nearest bathroom. You heard a quick sound of the lock on the door. Much like the rest of the apartment, the bathroom was decked out for the occasion. Instead of its typical white-yellow lighting, crimson hues filled the space, casting an eerie sensuous glow.Â
âIt seems I still have to remind you who you belong to,â his voice was a low sultry murmur as his lips grazed your ear, sending shivers down your spine. In front of the mirror by the sink, his towering figure dwarfed yours. Finally, your eyes locked with his in the reflection, the intensity of the moment palpable.Â
The irony of his outfit threatened to draw an unintended moan from your lips. A devil â the symbolism was anything but planned, completely coincidental. It was as if some silent alarm was blaring, one that everyone else seemed to hear, except for the two of you who were right in the thick of it. The connection between you was undeniable, transcending mere physical attraction, and it was clear as day to all the observers.Â
His hands were relentless, firmly gripping your ass and thighs until you were panting. His touch was so tantalizing that even the lightest brush of his fingers left you dripping and needy for more.
âI didnât know you were here,â you lied through your teeth. Charles elicited a mockery of laughter, his lips brushing your skin, as he pressed you firmly against the cool granite countertop. Goosebumps arose on your skin from the contrasting temperatures. Your skin burned with an intense heat, in stark contrast of the cold granite countertops.Â
âYou were too busy acting like a fucking slut to notice.â He sneered as he lifted the ends of your dress above your waist, revealing that you had been bare underneath all along.
You smirked back at him through the mirror, âcouldnât have panty lines now, could I?â A sharp slap echoed off the walls of the tiny bathroom as his hand collided with the skin of your ass. You were soaked already. Full of anticipation. You both were so full of need; Charles couldnât even wait to pull his pants all the way off.Â
âSuch a fucking tease,â were the last words he said before slamming his cock into your entrance. A yelp of surprise escaped your lips as a powerful and sudden thrust rocked through you, causing you to place your trembling hands on the countertop to steady yourself.Â
âOh my fucking god.â
âFucking hell. Youâre so fucking tight ma petite,â He sounded like he was in pain. âSqueezing my cock like the whore you are.â His hands gripped your hair as his hips snapped at a rapid pace into you.
âWhoâs got you so hot and bothered tonight? Hm?â He starts. It seems as if you just canât shut the fuck up tonight though.Â
âDaniel.â You mutter the words with a smirk on your lips. Testing his patience, pushing the boundaries to see just how far you could go, a playful and daring challenge in the heat of the moment.Â
He offered no words back. Just another hard slap to your skin. You shrieked from the burn of the slap, no doubt leaving your skin red.Â
You gazed into the mirror, determined to etch this exact moment into your memory. One hand fisted your hair tightly as he pulled it back, the other groping your breast harshly. He continued to roll your nipples between his thumb and middle finger, pinching them just how you liked. The shadows of your feathered wings were visibly shaking with each thrust. It was so fucking hot to see.
âGod, do you ever just shut the fuck up?â He muttered between each thrust. If it wasnât for the loud music in the background, the whole apartment wouldâve heard you. The room smelt of sweat as he worked into you harder. You could see his skin start to glisten under the red hues in the mirror. It was so erotic; you almost came right then and there.
"We all know its only my cock you want."
Charles was on the brink of insanity from the way you squeezed around him. Just relentlessly pounding into you that your hips will no doubt have bruises on them from the bathroom countertop.
With an intense, forceful pull on your hair, he tugged you upright, your back arching as your head tilted back, allowing you to gaze up at him, your eyes locking almost instantly.
âPlease,â you begged. You were so close. Your pussy was growing sensitive with each thrust.
âOpen,â He was so assertive. You surrendered. He spat directly into your mouth, and you swallowed without hesitation. His arm moved around, and his hand settled on the front of your neck, much like a piece of intimate jewelry. He applied just the right amount of pressure, sending you over the edge.Â
âLook at you, hm?â Charles edged you on through your orgasm. âSuch a fucking slut for my spit.âÂ
âYes.â You couldnât even deny it. You literally were. He pressed your face back down into the sink as he moved in quick pulses. It was as if each pump of his cock was claiming you.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
You swore you blacked out. You barely acknowledged the feeling of him pulling out and spilling himself all over your backside, rubbing the tip of himself around your skin. His strength held you in place, leaving you panting against the cool of the granite.Â
He quickly cleaned you up, pressing a light kiss to your ass before pulling your dress back down. He gave two small pats to your butt as you stood up and faced him.
His thumbs slowly pressed under your eyes, wiping the dried tears and smudged mascara from under them away.Â
âBeautiful,â he whispered lightly as you leaned the full weight of your head in the palms of his hands.
You felt a tug on your heart as your stomach did somersaults. It wasnât supposed to be like this. It was supposed to be no strings.Â
You were completely wiped out. Almost limp in his arms from being freshly fucked.Â
âWanna get out of here?â He zipped his pants back up while you tried to manage your hair back to a semi-decent look.Â
âYes.â
ââââââââââ
soooo what do you guys think? please feel free to leave requests!!! I love new ideas xoxo
Shout out to everyone who is just so tired So so exhausted So very very tired so very fatigued so sleepy and tired So
listening to blur as a young adult with a shitty low wage job hits totally different.
Jealous sex with Charles đ¤Š
smut under the cut! xoxo
YOUR FRIENDâS APARTMENT buzzed with a lively energy as guests mingled under a soft, warm glow of string lights draped across the ceiling. The space, modest but cozy, was transformed into a hub of festivity. The mix of eclectic dĂŠcor added character: vintage posters hung askew on the walls, and potted plants created pockets of greenery that contrasted the otherwise urban feel.
You were a few drinks inâthe buzz of the alcohol you consumed staining your cheeks with a slight reddish hue. Your earlier fight with Charlesâ still sat in the forefront of your mind, leading you to keep drinking.Â
It was a rather toxic relationship. A game of cat and mouse. Both of you never wanting to confess your true feelings for one another. It was childish honestly, the way neither of you refused to just be together.
âWhy does it even matter if he texted me?â
His eyes were cold as he looked at you, his biceps flexed as his arms cross over his chest. âItâs whatever. Go try and fuck the entire town for all I care!âÂ
âFine.â
âFine!â
-
Charles stood across the room, the throb of the bass vibrating through his chest, but it was not the music that had him fixated. His gaze was locked onto you, and the intensity of his stare betrayed a growing, seething fury. The makeshift dancefloor seemed to blur as his attention narrowed solely on the scene unfolding before him.
An ex-fling of yoursâone who had always carried an air of easy charmâhad just sidled up to you. His presence was impossible to ignore, a magnetic pull that drew your attention away from the crowd. With a casual confidence, he leaned in close, his lips brushing the shell of your ear. The proximity was intimate, almost invasive, and Charles could see the way his breath seemed to linger a moment too long, his intent as clear as day even from a distance.
Charlesâs jaw clenched as he watched, his hands tightening on the neck of the glass beer bottle in his hand. Though the words spoken were lost to the pounding music, the effect was immediate. You laughedâa spontaneous, genuine burst of amusement that seemed to resonate across the room. The sound of your laughter, bright and carefree, was like a dagger to Charles.
 It wasnât until Charles saw you slip out of the room that he found his feet moving almost immediately, following you.
âHaving fun?â
You lazily turned to the sound of his voice, your hair in complete disarray from all the dancing youâve done tonight. It wasnât until now that you let yourself really look at him.
He looked fucking hot. But so did you.
Your lips curled into a small smirk. âYeah, think Iâm going to head out soon. Got a big list of people to go and fuck. Tight schedule and all that.â
Charles felt his cock thicken against the thick material of his jeans. You always had a dirty mouth. Always so vulgar. It was one of the many things Charles loved about you.
You watched as Charlesâ right eye slightly twitched at the mere mention of you going and fucking other people. The normal green of his eyes was no longer there, an almost black color there instead.
âLet me be clear, cherie.â He takes a step towards you, your eyes dropping down to his glistening chest that pokes through the many undone buttons of his linen shirt. âYouâre only fucking me.â
-
âYouâre so funny.â Charles mutters as he shoves your face into the plush mattress of his bed, your dress and underwear thrown somewhere along the confines of his room. âThinking anybody else could take care of this needy pussy, hm?â
His cock slipped into you with ease, the stretching burn eliciting loud moans to escape your lips.Â
âThatâs itâŚâ He let out a guttural moan, pushing his hips as far into you as he could. In dire need of closeness. âLet me hear how I make you feel.â
You gasped, if your cheeks were slightly red before they were burning red now.Â
He gives you no warning before heâs scooping his arm under your stomach, lifting you from the mattress and flipping you onto your back. You fall to the mattress with a slight bounce and a small shriek. He wastes no time slipping his cock back into you, his thrusts harsh and calculated.
âI hate you.â You say in between harsh breaths as Charles leans over you, his weight all being held by his arms at the sides of your head.
âYeah?â He laughs. âWhat else, hm?â
He canât help but feel his cock grow harder inside of you at the bite of your tone.
âYouâre insufferableâŚâ You begin, moans escaping in between each word. âSo mean to meâŚâ
âAnd you never apologize.â
Small tears stream down the sides of your face as his hips pick up the pace in between each angry statement of yours. As if it was egging him on.Â
âYeah, well youâre mine.â
Your pussy clenches tightly around his cock at the phrase. âIâm so mad at you.â
âYeah? Tell me how mad you are baby.âÂ
Heâs practically panting in your ear as your nails scrape along the thick muscles of his back, the pleasure building in your stomach, almost ready to spill.
You latch your legs behind his back, pressing the heels of your feet into him, shoving him deeper into you.Â
âFuck you.â
And thatâs all the encouragement he needs before heâs shoving his entire cock inside of you, completely bottoming out with each harsh stroke. You were completely dazed as he lets out an occasional laugh. Almost mocking you.
âFasterâah shitâŚâ You plead, your hands trailing any inch of his skin you can touch.Â
His lips meet yours hotly. Itâs a clash of tongue and teeth, and nowhere near perfect. Both of you are groaning into each otherâs mouths hotly, tongues meeting tongues.
âMâ gonna come,â You moan into his mouth, his hips not slowing down. He pulls his lips off of yours for a few seconds, soft grunts echoing throughout the room.
âSuch a good girl, hm?â He smirks. âCâmon give it to me.â
The tight squeeze of your cunt on his cock was almost mind numbing to Charles. You let out soft mewls as you reached your orgasm. Your walls fluttering around him repeatedly.
âYouâre so fucking hot.â Are the last words you hear before he pulls out of you, spilling his hot cum all over your stomach in white stringy spurts.