Ow." I winced, as I touched the back of my head and felt the small knot forming. How had this week, which I had such high hopes for, turn into such a disaster?

I had tried to keep my distance from everyone, today, but then I saw the huge crash. I saw Erik deliberately wreck Ryan. I heard Ryan and his spotter over the radio. I had a very bad feeling that shit was about to go down, and boy was I right.

By the time I had gotten to the infield care center, they were already fighting. I tried to break it up, but had gotten knocked down in the brawl. I knew Erik's gasman Brent, and knew it wasn't intentional. I had put myself in the middle of a brawl, and Brent probably didn't even realize it was me. He was just trying to get to his driver. Brent actually apologized to me later.

I was afraid to move after I hit the pillar, I was frozen in place and knew I needed to stay out of the way before I really got hurt, but then Alyssa had swooped in like some kind of superhero and got me out of there.

"You're flying back with Alex and me. Let's get to the plane before the media catches up with us."

"But Alex is still racing." I said.

"No he's not. He was in the big crash too. He's out. Don't worry about your bags, we can get them later." She practically pulled me to the waiting golf cart.

"What about Ryan?" I asked, stopping dead in my tracks.

"Ryan is in the NASCAR hauler with Erik and their crew chiefs. You can talk to him later, but we have to go. The media found out your name and they are now trying to find the girl who caused Ryan Blaney and Erik Jones to start a brawl, so we are leaving now. " she said adamantly, and I knew better than to argue with her when she used that tone.

This was insane. I couldn't believe I had the media on my tail. I had always thought I was a nobody in the NASCAR scene, but because of my father, I was an honorary member of the NASCAR family. I had always tried to keep a low public profile. My parents had done their best to shield Alyssa and me from the public eye. Sometimes things could get ugly in the NASCAR world, so it was important for us to fly under the radar. We also knew how important it was to maintain a clean image. My dad, even though retired now, was still a highly respected member of the NASCAR community. Alyssa had even gone as far as making all of her social media accounts private after she had begun dating Alex. I wish I had done the same. Talk about hindsight 20/20.

I am now back at my apartment. Before leaving Daytona, I had sent Ryan a text letting him know I was flying home with Alyssa and Alex. I had no idea if he tried calling me or not because I turned off my phone. It would not stop ringing and I was being slammed with notifications from social media. It was so bad I now had all of my accounts set to private. I had seen some of the messages anyway. People had put the pieces of the puzzle together: I was dating Erik, but was cheating on him with Ryan, and that's what the whole fight was about in their eyes. No one even cared that Erik had wrecked Ryan, or that Erik threw the first punch. I was being trashed. Ryan was being trashed and Erik was looking like the victim.

I was livid with Erik. I get that he was pissed at Ryan, but to take him out of the race was going entirely too far. His vendetta affected both his and Ryan's teams, and that was just unforgivable. Thinking about all the hours and money the teams had put into preparing the cars only to have it all go up in smoke and rubble in fourteen laps just made me angrier. As the daughter of a former crew chief, I had some idea of the amount of work that went into the cars and and knew Erik's little quest for revenge had cost both teams several hundreds of thousands of dollars. I was giving him time to get home then I was going to give him a piece of my mind.

A knock on my door startled me, and my heart started racing. Please don't let it be any press. I breathed a sigh of relief when I looked through the peephole and saw Ryan standing there. I didn't expect him to arrive back in North Carolina until much later.

I opened the door and gasped. "Oh Ryan, your face." I reached up and gently stroked the bruise that was forming on his cheek and the small cut on his lip.

"Don't worry about it. I was born with this face. You should see the other guy." He joked, cracking a smile.

"It's not funny Ryan. You could have been hurt." I huffed.

"So could you. What the hell were you thinking Laynie, getting in the middle of a fight." He scolded me.

"I wasn't thinking. I just...I just wanted y'all to stop fighting."

"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt did you?" He was now looking at me with concern.

"I hit the back of my head. I have a bump. It's a little tender, but I'm fine."

He pulled my hair away and began gently pressing on my scalp. I winced a little when he found the knot. "No confusion this time? Disorientation? Do you know who your boyfriend is?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"It had better be you." I laughed.

"Okay. I'll be your boyfriend." He grinned. God he was so cute. No, he was hot, and his smile made me melt a little and I could the flutter in my chest.

"How did it go in the NASCAR trailer?" I asked, bracing myself for the worst.

"We got yelled at. Told us they were going to be keeping an eye on us, and that whatever differences we had, we needed to resolve before next week's race." He replied.

"So no fines or penalties?"

He shrugged. "Don't know yet. NASCAR is reviewing everything, and you know how that works, they won't announce any penalties until at least Tuesday."

"So Erik's over it? Got it out of his system? Did you talk at all?" I asked.

"I think it's over. He didn't have much to say other than I had better treat you right. He's still pissed, can't really blame him, hell, I'm still pissed too. I'm pissed for our teams, and I really think he feels remorse for that. I think he just acted in the heat of the moment. He saw his chance to get back at me and he took it, not even thinking about the consequences. You and I have known Erik for a long time, and we both know that's out of character for him."

I decided to let it go. I wasn't going to call Erik and chew him out. It's best that I just keep my distance. No need to stir the pot. It had already boiled over and was now back at a simmer. I had other things to deal with. "I really hope my mom and dad aren't mad at me, or your mom and dad." I sighed.

"Why would they be mad at you?" He asked.

"Have you seen social media? It's bad Ry. For both of us. You got in a fight, and got in trouble with NASCAR because of me."

"I wouldn't worry. I know for a fact my mom and dad love you. You are like another daughter to them." He grinned.

"Ewww gross. If I'm like a daughter, that would make you like my brother." I wrinkled my nose at the thought.

"Okay, maybe more like a daughter in law then."

"Whoa bud. A little too soon there. We haven't even gone on a date yet." I laughed.

"What, you're not ready to be Laynie Blaney yet?" He teased.

"Hmmm. Wayyyyy too soon, although I have it from a reliable source that our mothers have been planning our wedding for years."

"I guess you've been talking to Erin." He rolled his eyes slightly, knowing that his younger sister had been hoping for years that we would end up together.

"No. My sister." I laughed.

He rolled his eyes again, but I could see the corners crinkling up in a smile. "Between my sisters and your sister, why do I feel like I'm being ganged up on?"

"Awww poor Ry. Must suck being the only boy." I giggled.

His expression then turned serious and he pushed a lock of my hair back, staring deeply into my eyes. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?"

I could feel my cheeks heating up. I shook my head, mesmerized by his blue eyes. "No." I whispered, as I could feel his breath on my face, his lips just inches from mine.

"You are so beautiful."

The butterflies in my stomach were raging. "I can't believe all this time, you were right under my nose. All this time my person was standing right in front of me and I never even realized it."

"I love you Laynie." He said in almost a whisper.

"I love you too." I closed the small distance between us, our lips meeting in the softest sweetest kiss, and I knew that it had all been worth it for this moment right here.