Delaney's POV:

I had hoped that my experience with Alex and his connection to William Byron had prepared me for the onslaught of fans that took it upon themself to put themselves in the path of a celebrity, just to say that they saw one. But I was so wrong. Nothing –and I do mean nothing– could have prepared me for the rabid fans that recognized Brantley as soon as he climbed out of my SUV after parking. We had both hoped that by parking near the team garages that we could sneak in without getting immediately recognized, but that was an epic fail. Fans had immediately started yelling his name and cameras had begun to flash wildly. And it only got worse when he ignored them and came around to the passenger side and opened my door.

Boy, did the questions start then. Fans yelling, asking who I was, people wanting to know if he and I were together. Others commented on how I favored Amber in looks. And I'm not going to lie, that one stung a little bit since it was one of the things I struggled with daily even though Brantley had been adamant that my physical similarities had nothing to do with his attraction to me, that it was a mere coincidence that she and I shared some of the same physical characteristics.

And then, like a light bulb had clicked on, recognition hit them as they made the connection to who I was and what I had recently been through with Alex. I did my best to tune out the questions that came then but a few sank in, one of them being if I was the reason that Alex had cheated, asking if I had been seeing Brantley behind Alex's back. Again, that one stung and I wanted to lash out at the idiot that had asked it but instead, I let Brantley huddle me and the kids into him and race us towards the gates. As we got close, I could see Amanda, Layla, and each of their security team members waiting for us.

Once we were away from the fans and safely behind the gates, Brantley stopped in his tracks and spun me so that I was looking into his eyes. He placed both his hands on my cheeks, cupping them, letting his thumbs graze over my skin. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I will be. That was just... a lot." I replied, not wanting to let my anger over the insinuations that the fans had made ruin my day. It had been too long since I'd been at the track, too long since I had hung out with my friends, and too long since I had had a weekend where I could just be with good people and have a little fun.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer, Brantley placed his lips over mine with a quick kiss, causing Amanda and Layla both to whistle with how I turned to jello in his arms. I mean, who could blame me? Any other woman in that situation would do the same exact thing.

Brantley had just broken the kiss but was still holding me to him with one arm while his other hugged Barrett and Braylin to him while Chloe and Colton stood with Amanda and Layla when Amanda said "Let's head back to the haulers and away from the rabbids for a bit. I'm too damn hormonal to deal with them without getting myself a damn charge." Her words made all of us laugh and added some much needed levity to the moment.

"Yeah, I can't have that." laughed Brantley. "Chase might try to kick my ass if I let you get sent to the county jail."

"BG, I think you know damn well Chase can hold his own." said Amanda. "Pretty sure he proved that a few months ago when y'all were messing around in the yard." She turned to me then and added, "who knew that the kids' bounce-house could turn into a damned wrestling ring for the adults."

I couldn't help but laugh, picturing Brantley and Chase rolling around in the bounce house. I liked Chase, and had seen him hold his own in more than one fight when tempers had flared, but no matter what, my money was on Brantley.

"Ryan just texted me. He and Chase are on Chase's hauler." said Layla, nuzzling the little bundle of joy sleeping in her cocoon like sling as we made our way further onto the 'authorized personnel' sections.

"Wait!" I said, stopping in my tracks. "We still need to get tickets."

"Chase has tickets–"

"Already got it covered," said Brantley, cutting Amanda off, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Did them online." he added when I looked at him with confusion written on my face.

"And the tickets that Chase has for you?" I asked, knowing that he usually gives them to some fan so that they get the experience of their life.

"I'll take care of it." said Amanda, already dragging her phone from her pocket. "I have the number of one of the managers at the ticket window. I'll just tell her to pick a fan of Chase's and give them to them and to make sure that they add a little in credits for the vendors for souvenirs and that I'll settle up with them after the race."

"You act like you've done this a few times." I said, looking over at Amanda as she typed rapidly at her phone.

"A few." she said with a wink.

The conversation between all of us kind of died down then, each of us not really talking about much. In fact, only the kids were chatting amongst themselves as they walked in front of us.

We were just about to Chase's hauler when Chloe and Colton both yelled "Daddy!" and took off at a run. Ahead of us, I saw Alex walking with William and his woman, heading in our direction. I couldn't help the groan that slipped past my lips as I laid eyes on Alex, the fight from earlier in the week at my parents still fresh. But any anger I felt over that slipped away when I felt a protective arm slip around my waist from behind. I went willingly, settling into Brantley's hold.

I groaned again–or maybe it was Brantley, or Amanda, or Layla this time– when Alex slipped his phone into his pocket and knelt down, spreading his arms wide open just in time for Chloe and Colton to jump into them. There was what I knew to be a fake smile on his face and I;d be lying if I said that it didn't piss me off. There was no reason that he should be wearing a fake smile when it came to his kids. A genuine smile should absolutely come naturally. But that was Alex, always putting on a show for everyone around him to make him look like the perfect dad, the guy that put family before his job. If they only knew...

Amanda and Layla hung back when I went to greet Alex. But Brnatley didn't. He just laced his fingers with mine and together, we closed the distance between Alex and us. Our hands were still entwined when we stopped a few feet in front of Alex, William, his woman, and the kids.

"Hey Del," said Alex. There was a coldness in his tone when he greeted Brantley.

"Hey." I said, simply.

"This is Dillon," said Alex, draping an arm over his woman's shoulder.

In that way that women have, I gave her a once over. I'd seen photos of her all over social media so I'd know who she was when I saw her. But putting a name and not a screen-name to her face was something different. Dressed in denim cut-offs, a William Byron t-shirt that was knotted just below her bazooka sized breasts, and converses with her long blonde hair loosely curls and hanging down her back, I couldn't help but smile as it dawned on me who she reminded me of –the woman from Talladega Nights, that was married to Ricky; the only difference was, the character in the movie had a much smaller chest.

We all stood there chatting for a few minutes when Alex shifted back into work mode when his phone pinged from his pocket. I watched as he scanned it before turning to William.

"We've got to head to the garage. Drivers are getting ready to start lining up for qualifying." said Alex.

"Mama, can we go with Daddy?" asked Chloe.

Before I could respond, Alex chimed in. "Not right now, Bird." he said, adding fake regret to his voice. "I'm going to be busy with Willie for a little bit but how about I pick you two up after Willie get done with his laps and I tie up any work I have to get done?"

"Okay," said Chloe and Colton with sadness in their tones.

We said our goodbyes then, Alex, William, and Dillon making their way to the garages while we finished our trek to the haulers. As we walked, I noticed the droop in the kids' shoulders, both of them obviously upset over not being able to spend every moment with them.

"Hey, I bet Uncle Chase has some snickers ice cream on the bus. How about we fix you two up with some ice cream cones and then we head over to his pit box and watch qualifying." I said, looking at Amanda as I spoke. She gave me a nod, telling me that Chase had in fact stocked the bus with the kids favorite ice cream, just for them.

"Okay." they both said.

"Can we have some, daddy?" asked Barrett.

"You absolutely can." said Amanda, not waiting for Brantley to answer.

"And then, when y'all all have your cones, we can head over to Chase's pit box and watch qualifying." said Layla. "Or we could go to Ryans." she added as an afterthought. I knew why she added that part, knew it was because Chase and William's pit boxes would be close together since they were teammates and she didn't want the kids to see that Alex could have spent time with them if he had truly wanted to.

"Let's go to Uncle Chase's," said Colton. "I need to tell him all about Chase."

"And I need to tell him about Fudge." Chloe added, a big smile spreading across her face.

"And we need to tell him about Pudge and Princess." said Barrett, referring to the two puppies they had named against Brantley's wishes.

"Well then, we better get that ice cream. Sounds like yall all have a bunch to tell Chase." said Amanda. "And I'm sure Gannon and Maisie are about to drive him crazy asking where y'all are."