"You would trade me for Charles any chance you got."

~•~

Luckily, no one was home at Freya's. Greta, who was always around despite having her own apartment, was probably at work. Since no one was home, her sister had no reason to be there either, as she would rather be at her own place if she were alone.

Freya let Max explore the other rooms, especially her bedroom, and went to change in the bathroom, where she also tidied herself up a bit. She never overdid it with makeup or anything, but she didn't have her usual supplies at Max's place, so there wasn't much she could do.

She vividly remembered what Carmen and Alex looked like, so she knew she would need to do something. Compared to them, those two were like models. And then there was Kika, who should also be there. Kika, Pierre Gasly's girlfriend, was the most beautiful girl Freya had ever seen. Max had only shown her pictures, and she fell in love with her at that moment.

"Sorry, but I might have to trade you for Kika, because, my god, she's gorgeous," she told Max while looking at the photos he was showing her. Kika was young, born in 2002, which meant Freya was older than her. She looked young but mature at the same time. From the photos alone, the blonde could tell that she was a young, very educated girl - plus funny, after seeing some of her TikToks in the car on the way to her house.

"We've been together for less than twenty-four hours, and you're already trading me in?" Max looked at her, surprised.

"You would trade me for Charles anytime you had the chance," Freya laughed.

"That's not true," Max protested, "I wouldn't trade you. I'd arrange a polyamorous relationship if you both agreed."

"You're unbelievable, Max Verstappen."

After she dressed in dark blue bikinis and threw on a white summer dress, Freya came out of the bathroom. Max immediately turned his attention to her and didn't forget to look her up and down.

"I must have been really good if God sent me a goddess herself," he said, making Freya laugh. She was never good at accepting compliments. She could provoke and give compliments herself, but she always felt awkward when someone praised her. It was probably because her mother never praised her, so she wasn't used to it.

"Who would have thought that Max Verstappen is such a romantic," the girl finally smiled, "I've read about you being insensitive and arrogant, only having one emotion, which is anger. I must say, you surprise me more every day."

"I've read about you too. They said you beat up your boyfriends, but I must be an exception since I haven't taken a single hit from you," he said.

"I can fix that if you want the tabloids to be true," Freya raised her right hand in the air as if she was going to slap him.

"I can do without that," Max took her hand in his and slowly lowered it to her side, "your kind side will be enough for me," he laughed.

"Whatever you say, but you're missing out on a lot," Freya flirted and eventually laughed, finding it amusing herself.

They had a really peculiar sense of humor, but the important thing was that they both understood it and both laughed. And that was what set them apart from others - they understood what made each other laugh. Normal people would be cautious about what they could or couldn't say to the other. Max openly made fun of Freya and her current status. Freya, on the other hand, could make fun of Max and his behavior, which most fans believed to be true. They complemented each other perfectly.

"You have a really nice room, but it looks more like a child's room than an adult's," Max told her once they had calmed down. Freya looked around the room that had been hers for several years.

Three white walls and one lime green. She had it painted when she was thirteen and hadn't repainted it since, even though she had wanted to several times. A large double bed in the corner of the room with a few stuffed animals scattered on it. Framed photos of her and her friends on the shelves - friends she lost as soon as Roberto opened his mouth. She hadn't had time to throw out the photos yet.

"My mom wouldn't let me redecorate," she explained as she headed to the front door to slip on her flip-flops, "she said it didn't matter what my room looked like. That wouldn't affect how I played. I should focus on badminton and not on redecorating my room to be satisfied with it."

"Don't you want to introduce her to my father? I think they'd get along well," Max laughed.

"I'd rather not, because seeing what my mom did to my dad, I don't want that to happen in your family," the girl objected.

"My father might deserve to be tamed a bit," Max muttered.

"Believe me, my mother is Satan incarnate, someone you wouldn't want to meet. Even if I had the worst enemy, I wouldn't wish them a meeting with her," she explained to him. "I'll delay your meeting with her for as long as possible."

"Thank you," Max kissed her on the cheek and headed out of the apartment because they were really pressed for time.

They reached the port within ten minutes. It would have taken longer, but Freya, who decided to wear flip-flops, had to stop about four times because her shoe fell off.

"Our new couple is here, everyone applause," shouted Charles when he saw Max Verstappen and Freya Karlsson approaching his yacht hand in hand.

"Shut up, Leclerc," Max shouted back at him, but he was laughing, which was a good sign. He wasn't angry with his friend for this scene.

When he called him, he told him about his relationship with Freya. It was Charles whom he confided in about his feelings for the girl. And it was Charles who was the first to know that Max wanted to kiss her when she won his badminton tournament in Nice. In fact, he wasn't just the first; he was the only one who knew.

"I thought you'd calm him down a bit, Freya," Charles shouted to Freya.

"Should I throw something at you now or when I get closer?" she asked him.

"See? They were meant for each other," Charles muttered to Pierre and Alex, who were sitting next to him.

Meanwhile, Max and Freya boarded the Monegasque's yacht. It wasn't a large yacht, but it wasn't small either. It was just the right size for occasional parties with a close circle of friends. You certainly couldn't host big celebrations with dozens of guests on it.

"Yell that again, and Monaco will lose its prince and hero," Max laughed as he looked at Charles. Pierre, who was sitting next to him, just laughed but then turned his attention to Freya, whom he was seeing for the first time. He knew who she was. He would be an idiot not to, especially after Charles constantly teased Max about her. He also knew her because, like most Formula One drivers, he played padel, and who wouldn't know the best padel player in the world.

"Hi, I'm Freya Karlsson," Freya introduced herself to the Frenchman and extended her hand. Pierre, however, didn't interest her; she wanted to see his girlfriend, whom she had fallen in love with as soon as she saw her photo.

"Pierre Gasly," the blonde smiled and accepted her hand, "I've heard a lot about you."

"I hope only good things," the girl smiled.

"Don't worry, Max would never say anything bad about you," Pierre reassured her.

"Yeah, that guy is head over heels," Charles chuckled, earning a punch in the shoulder from the brunette.

"Freya!" someone called out behind them. The blonde immediately recognized the voice, so her face broke into a big smile, and she turned around because she wanted to see the boy. Lando Norris stood at the yacht's door with a beer in hand, also smiling from ear to ear.

"Lando!" the girl exclaimed excitedly and hugged the boy. It was a brief hug because they both felt Max's jealous gaze, and Lando, knowing Max well, knew it was better to distance himself from the girl as quickly as possible.

"Lewis," Freya kept smiling, unable to help it when she saw these boys. Seeing the people who had helped her so much during the worst days of her life after so long was heartwarming. They had only seen each other for a few days, but they all grew close to her heart, and she couldn't wait to see them all again.

"I'm glad to see you again, Freya," Lewis smiled at her and gave her a brief hug because he certainly didn't want to risk Max's jealousy either.

"Since all three of you are here, I'd like to thank you for your flowers," Freya said, looking at Lando, Lewis, and Max. "They made me very happy and definitely lifted my spirits."

"You're welcome," said Lando.

"You deserved it," Lewis smiled.

"And now, where is Kika?" Freya turned to Pierre. He looked at her with a surprised expression, so Max chimed in.

"I showed her Kika's photos, and she fell in love with her. She couldn't stop gushing about how beautiful Kika is and how she's going to become her new friend," the brunette explained.

"Then I better not tell you," Pierre chuckled.

"If you don't want to sleep with one eye open, you'll tell me," Freya threatened him, but ended with the sweetest smile she could muster, because she was only joking.

"They're on the bow, I'll take you there and introduce you," Alex finally stood up from her seat, grabbed the girl's elbow, and started walking with her towards the bow.

"Have fun," Max managed to shout after her.

"Ladies, we have a new WAG," Alex exclaimed as they approached the other girls lounging on the seats in their swimsuits, soaking up the sun.

"Hi," Freya greeted them.

"Freya is here, hi," Carmen quickly got up and trapped the girl in a hug. "What did you mean, a new WAG?" she asked, looking puzzled at Alex, who was watching Freya with a mischievous smile.

"Our beautiful Freya has managed to tame Max," she explained.

"You're dating Max?" exclaimed a brunette whom the blonde immediately recognized. That was her new friend.

"It looks like it," Freya laughed nervously, "but I don't see anything special about it. Why are you acting like it's a miracle?"

"Because it is a miracle," Alex laughed.

"No one can last with that guy," Carmen chuckled, "hopefully you can calm him down a bit and maybe even change him for the better."

"I think we change each other," Freya said as she sat down on an empty seat, "since we've known each other, I feel like I've changed a lot, and I think he has too."

"That's good, but I hope you're changing only for the better," Kika smiled. "I'm Kika, by the way."

"Don't worry, I know who you are," Freya said, and Alex laughed.

"What?" Kika didn't understand.

"Max showed her your photos, and she immediately fell in love," Alex explained.

"If you don't mind and you agree, I'd like to propose that we break up with our boyfriends and start dating each other, because you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, and I must say you look even better in person than in the photos," Freya said quickly, but the girls seemed to understand her because they just laughed.

"Thank you so much, but I'm definitely not as pretty as you," Kika thanked her. "Just look at yourself. Who wouldn't want to look like you? I've been following you for a long time and dreaming that one day I'll look like this."

"I certainly can't compare to you."

"Okay, enough with the flattery," Carmen laughed. "How did it even happen that you and Max got together?" she asked curiously.

"I mean, we all saw you at your place, and none of us wanted to believe that you weren't together at that moment. We could even imagine you as a married couple, but how the hell did it actually happen that you got together?" Alex added.

"And how long have you been dating, because Pierre didn't mention that Max found someone after that fiasco with Kelly," Kika joined in.

"We haven't even been dating for twenty-four hours," Freya laughed as she began to answer their questions. "I invited Max to my tournament in Nice, which he came to. He had a hoodie and a cap to avoid being recognized, but it was enough for me to know he was there. After the tournament, everyone who attended the tournament swarmed me."

"I saw the videos," Carmen interrupted her, "it must have been terrible."

"It was awful," the blonde nodded, "luckily, Max managed to get me out of there. He wanted to take me to my hotel, but there were people waiting for me there too, so we agreed he'd take me to his place. I wanted to shower, so he brought me some of his old clothes. When he handed them to me, I thought I wouldn't wait for the right moment and just do it because that's how I felt. I asked him if I could do something I might regret."

"And what did he do?" Alex, as engrossed in the conversation as the other girls, asked.

"I told her she wouldn't regret it," came a voice from behind the girls, belonging to none other than Max. Freya looked him in the eyes and smiled at him. Max returned her smile.

"I asked him why he thought that," added Freya, her eyes still on Max, who continued to gaze at her. The girls watched them with the proudest smiles on their faces—they knew Max and all wished him a nice relationship with a kind and beautiful girl who would make him happy. Seeing Freya, they realized she was the one. They knew this would be a long-lasting relationship.

"And I told her I knew because I wanted to do the same," Max finished.

"Then he kissed me and asked if I would be his girlfriend," Freya concluded.

"Who would have thought our Max is such a romantic," Lando laughed as he walked past.

"Do you want me to act that way with you?" Max asked Lando, while handing Freya a glass of what looked like orange juice—Max remembered that Freya didn't like alcohol. She goes to parties and always gets drunk if she doesn't have a tournament or important training the next day, but she's never been a fan of alcohol. When she doesn't have to, she chooses a non-alcoholic option.

"If you'd be so kind, then yes," Lando nodded, "Would you give me a goodnight kiss?"

"Wait, I want one too," Freya laughed to tease Max.

"Sorry, Doll, but you'll have to get in line. Lando asked first."

"You're mean, Bulldozer."

~•~