One Last Fling - Chapter 16
Cam
Cam had slept exactly forty-three minutes. He knew this because he’d checked the clock at least twelve times between Lily’s shallow breaths and the persistent neon glow of Vegas outside the hotel window. Exhaustion sat heavy behind his eyes, but there was a strange clarity beneath it, like he’d crossed a river and found solid ground on the other side.
Lily looked better in the morning. Not good. Pale. A little unsteady when she stood. But her eyes were clear, focused in that way that told him she’d already decided how the day was
going to go.
“I’m racing,” she said.
“I know.”
At the track, Cam watched from the privacy of his driver’s room, arms folded, coffee untouched. Every instinct he had screamed at him to worry, to interfere, to protect. He had no choice but to trust her. Leave her to do what she needed to do.
From the first lap, she was relentless. Clean lines. Perfect timing. No hesitation. She drove like someone who understood exactly what was at stake and refused to let fear have a vote. For a moment, Cam even forgot about his own race. He forgot about contracts and pressure and the fact that his dad was somewhere in the paddock, carrying his expectations.
All he saw was Lily.
She finished second.
For half a second, Cam’s heart stalled—then the points calculation flashed on the screen.
Champion.
He launched himself from his chair and down the hall, out into the paddock. He sprinted to the Academy garages. It was mayhem. Lily climbed out of the car shaking, helmet coming off as the
reality seemed to hit her all at once. She laughed, then cried, then laughed again, hands pressed to her face as people crowded around her, wishing her well.
Cam hung back for a minute. He wanted to leave her to absorb it—years of sacrifice collapsing into one precious moment of joy. He watched her look around like she was searching for someone.
And when she found him, her face crumpled.
That was it. The truth bloomed in his heart, undeniable and pure in its certainty. I love her. Not the
idea of her. Not the thrill of her. He loved her. The stubbornness. The fear she never let show. The way she kept choosing forward motion no matter how difficult it proved.
He pushed through the crowd and wrapped his arms around her before he could think better of it. At this point, he couldn’t care less what the team thought or wanted. He only cared about her.
About them. She clung to him, crying into his shoulder, and for a moment the world was crowded out. There was quiet. The two of them. Alone.
“I did it.” Her voice broke through.
“You did. And I couldn’t be more proud of you.”
Cameras flashed. People cheered. Somewhere in the chaos, Cam knew his own race still waited. As did the consequences. But standing there with Lily, champion at last, Cam realized something clearly. Whatever came next, he wouldn’t regret a single second of being exactly where he was.