One Last Fling - Chapter 17
Lily
Winning, it turned out, was not an event—it was a blur. Lily was pulled from one place to another, congratulated until she was no longer sure what the word meant. Sponsors. Media. Team executives who had barely known her name three weeks ago and now were her biggest fans and wanted her time, her story, her future.
She smiled until her cheeks hurt. She nodded through conversations she barely heard. She even had a quick text exchange with her nan.
I always knew you could do it! Congratulations, my darling.
You stayed up?
The whole bloody village watched from the pub.
She felt overwhelmed by good. By love. And all the while, she wished for Cam.
They didn’t get a moment alone. Not really. A short embrace, an emotional exchange, then he had to go. He had his own race to run. The night before felt unreal now, like something that had happened in another lifetime. They hadn’t talked about it. About how he’d stayed. About how she’d needed him. She definitely hadn’t told him what she’d been thinking. That she might love him.
And they hadn’t talked about what this result meant. Maybe it was unnecessary. They’d discussed it dozens of times, often in half sentences and knowing glances. If she won, she might get his seat. And he had not signed a contract for next year.
When it came time for Cam’s race, she watched from the pit wall, wrapped in a jacket she didn’t remember putting on, team headphones hugging her head, her heart in her throat for an entirely different reason. Every time she heard his voice over the radio, her chest ached. Despite her own success that day, she wished the same for him—for a big win, for a way to tell the team that they were stupid for not being definitive in supporting him.
He drove well—strong, smart, measured.
Fourth place. Just shy of the podium. Close enough to hurt.
He climbed out of the car with a ight smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. When he found her, he pulled her into a quick hug, careful of cameras, careful of everything.
“How’s the champion doing?” he asked softly.
She laughed. She’d have to get used to that. “How are you doing?”
He hesitated. Just a fraction. “Good.”
It was a lie. Not a big one. But she felt it anyway.
“I’m so proud of you. This was a tough race and you were amazing.” She brushed her thumb over his hand where no one could see.
“Lily. Stop. Today is your day,” he said. Someone called his name then. His dad. Cam stiffened. “I need to go,” he said. “I’ll find you later.”
She watched him walk away, posture stiff, bracing himself for a conversation she couldn’t hear but could imagine too easily. Around her, people kept walking up and wanting to congratulate her.
Take a selfie. Get an autograph. Lily worked her way through it all, an invisible crown heavy on her head. She’d earned everything she’d worked so hard for. And yet she was more overcome with the terrible, sinking feeling that she might lose the one thing she hadn’t planned on wanting at all.