Even though it didn't look tiring from the outside, lap after lap took a toll on the body from the inside of the car, and as time continued on in the race, the number ten car was the one to beat.

I shook my head. I told Griffin that I knew he was going to win, but even if he didn't, as long as he didn't come in second place to Tyler fucking Bailey, I could live with that. But no one told Tyler that, and halfway through the final stage of the race, he was still the leader.

Disgusting. But on the bright side, Griffin was in third place, which was significantly higher than Elizabeth in fifteenth.

At a track like Talladega, it was difficult to put the fastest lap times down over and over again, especially since the momentum of lines changed like my mind on a bad day. Eventually it would swing in Griffin's favor. It had to.

On the radio, Griffin's spotter told him about how the ten was much more consistent than everyone else, but I kept my eyes on the screen that kept his car at center focus all the time. There had to be some power in positive thinking since it was just about the only thing that kept me going, and if I was lucky, maybe I could transfer the good vibes to him.

Losing sucked. There was nothing worse besides maybe dating a loser, but I wouldn't tell him that. He wouldn't find that very funny, probably.

The end of the Talladega race was the perfect time to have a massive wreck, especially since every single team had to fight for every single inch of track space with championship hopes on the line. No one was immune to the chaos that track packed into 2.66 miles.

And with the end upon us, I leaned forward in my seat as the cars zipped past. Tyler was still in first, but there wasn't much space between him and the next car behind him and then Griffin after that.

The last couple of laps were going to be a goddamn mess, especially since four drivers were going to be eliminated from the playoffs when the checkered flag waved through the air. But that was what made everyone's heart race and sink into their stomachs. It was what made racing racing.

And it was exactly why I had to swallow my pride and try to make something work with Team Moretti. As the Sacrilege experiment proved, I wasn't cut out for smart people jobs.

Griffin probably would have been pissed that I was half-focused on myself when his season was on the line, but he at least had a guaranteed next season even if this one didn't work out the way we wanted it to. But with only five more trips around the track to go, time wasn't exactly on his side anymore.

Good vibes weren't going to cut it. I needed to get higher powers involved here.

Please let Tyler get into a wreck that injures him just badly enough that he's out for the rest of the season so I can laugh at him. And let Griffin win. Amen.

But as the five laps turned to four and three and two and one, nothing bad happened to Tyler, even though karma should have kicked in and stolen the win from him.

So that was it, then. Griffin's championship hopes were finished officially.

What a bunch of bullshit.

Everything always changed after the winner crossed the finish line, and even though the laps blurred together at one point or another, there was always that one thing that could have changed how it all ended.

What was it for Griffin? I wasn't entirely sure since all of his pit stops seemed good and he didn't lose his patience and he gave it his all. But he knew, and there was no way in hell I was going to get away without him telling me all about it.

He always listened when I had to complain about what went wrong though, so I couldn't even bitch about it.

With Tyler in Victory Lane and everyone else dispersed throughout the trailers and garages, Griffin found his way over to me, and although I wasn't quite sure if I wanted anyone to know that our well-known friendship evolved, I couldn't help but tuck myself in his arms despite the heat.

Even though we weren't even close to being alone, sometimes it was nice to ignore everyone else so we could be the only ones there.

Griffin gave me a tight-lipped smile. "Well, fuck."

"That's pretty much what I was thinking," I said. "I know it doesn't make anything feel better, but I'm still really proud of the fight you put up. I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

"Thanks, Kate. It'll probably help tomorrow, but right now, all I can think about is why the fuck I didn't move the three car out of my way. I had the speed to win, but I fucked it all up. God, I hate losing."

"Imagine being me." I smiled. "Seriously though, there's always next year. Most people don't win one by the time they're twenty-seven. You still have plenty of time."

He didn't reply to that. I knew it wasn't helping, but what else was there to say? I'm glad you didn't win a championship for RTR because we hate Truscott for being an asshole to me? He would appreciate that for sure.

"I guess now we just finish out the season and try again next year," he said. "I fucking hate this."

Of course, I never even had the chance to make a run for a championship, but I didn't remind him of that.

"That's all you can do. And we'll head back to Baton Rouge, and maybe we can finally find my goddamn house key, and Penny will still love you, and—"

Griffin cut me off. "What, you don't want to sleep with a loser?"

I rolled my eyes. "You're not a loser. I swear, you're the most dedicated driver here, but it's over. Over sucks, but not every season can be the one, you know?"

Once again, he didn't reply. He always liked it better when I was the irrational one in the conversation.

"And besides, we've got a whole off-season ahead of us. I'll keep you more entertained than a stupid shiny trophy," I said.

He tried to force a smile off his face, but I caught it anyway. It was the determination he had that made him a better driver than me, but I definitely had a lot more fun in life than he did. that made me a risk some teams weren't willing to take, but with no risk, there was no reward worth having.

"Just tell me that you have good news about Moretti," Griffin said.

I laughed. "I don't even know what happened with that. I think he thinks I'm crazy."

But he was the only person who reached out to me at all during the race. I figured someone else would something to say or ask me. Was I really that irrelevant anymore?

"Well, he's not wrong." He looked down at me and smiled. "I'm just messing with you."

"I told him that we're kind of together now, and he seemed to like that answer. It'd be nice to just be judged by myself instead of who I'm with, but at this point, I just want a fucking job."

"Just don't turn into an Elizabeth, okay? Get your contract and raise some hell on the track."

I gave him a small smile. "Trust me, that's the only thing I know."

***

One thing that made NASCAR different than other sports was that even when someone's championship run was over, their season wasn't. Griffin, the sixty-six team, and I headed back to Louisiana to regroup and make decisions moving forward.

I already had my mind made up about one thing: it was about time I gave in and called Drake back. He wasn't the type to hurt someone just for fun, and if he would let me, maybe I could find it somewhere in my heart to drive Sacrilege one more time.

I wouldn't even have to search that much. It was only a few months out of my life, but that same chaos and destruction in combat robotics would hopefully fill my heart long enough until I got some official word about my standing with Team Moretti. And as long as it wasn't too late, it was worth a shot.

I pressed on Drake's contact on my phone, but it wasn't his voice that answered.

"Josiah?" I blinked a couple times. "Isn't this Drake's number?"

"Well, yeah, but he's busy on another call," he said.

"What's he doing?"

"Like I fucking know. Something about the tournament and you, probably, since you fucked him over by abandoning us."

I bit my lip. "I didn't fuck anyone over. I just wanted the best for Annie and me."

"Okay, Mrs. Gallagher."

I paused. He knew about Griffin? And that probably meant that Drake and a bunch of other people knew too.

I at least wanted to tell Drake myself, even if it wasn't his business.

"But anyway, I'll be sure to not tell him that you called because you're a bitch. He kinda hates you, and rightfully so. You ripped up our hopes for a Giant Nut just because you wanted someone you couldn't have. Your dead parents would be so proud," Josiah continued.

"Well, you don't have her either, and what more—" Click.

That asshole hung up on me?

There was a small part of me that hoped Drake would have kicked Josiah out, but—

How the hell could Drake hate me? We spent time working on the robot together, trying to figure each other out and failing so miserably that we drove ourselves crazy.

There was always the possibility that Josiah was lying, but Drake was pissed the day Annie and I left. And while he was usually so cool and collected, he loved his robot team more than anything, and I technically wasn't a part of it anymore.

I put my head in my hands. Fucking Josiah.

But before I could head downstairs to talk to Griffin, my phone rang.

Drake?

It was either him or Josiah, and I took a chance and picked up.

"I'm so sorry. I literally just went to the bathroom, and of course, that's when you finally called me back. Oh my god, I'm so happy to hear your voice again. How's Annie?"

I hadn't even said hello, but at least it meant that Josiah was just being a piece of shit.

"I don't know. She's in New York City now, and please don't tell Josiah that," I said.

He hesitated. "She's all alone? In New York?"

"That's what she said last time she called me. I don't like it either, but I can't stop her. She's finally doing what she wants for once in her life."

"Did she say anything about me?"

"Wha—why the hell would she say anything about you?"

"Okay, I just—I thought she was with you." His voice was almost panicked, even though he usually was the voice of reason on the team (besides the real voice of reason, Annie).

"Are you okay, Drake? I'm serious," I said.

As much as I wanted to talk about Sacrilege, of course this was the one time that Drake was thinking about something other than the robot. Good God, we never were on the same page.

Something rustled on the other end of the line. "Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"But I wanted to ask about the tournament and who's—" Click.

Two times in a row. Wow.

I knew I told Griffin that I wasn't interested in going back to Team Sacrilege, and maybe I still wasn't, but something was off with Drake, Josiah, and even Annie. Something was very, very off.

-------------------------------------

Hello! I'm so sorry that this is a few days late, but I'm on vacation right now and kind of sick (but that's nothing new, I guess). Thank you so much for your patience! I probably won't have the next chapter out for next Monday in all honesty, but we'll see. Thank you so much for reading!

So for today's question, what do you think is going on here? What about Katie's future?