Throttled (Dirty Air 1)

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you. Drama seems to follow you wherever you go.” Sophie says the words with a smile on her face.

Liam’s smile becomes a full-blown grin. “Keeping tabs on me?”

Sophie’s cheeks flush at Liam’s raised brow before she takes a drawn-out suck from her straw.

I break it up. “All right. Oh look, it’s Noah.”

I grab onto Noah’s arm and drag him into the conversation, no longer wishing to be the third wheel.

Noah looks down at my arm like it offends him. This is going swell.

“Noah, this is Sophie. Sophie, Noah.” I speak without thinking.

“We know each other. I’ve been on her dad’s team for five years.” He gives me a puzzled look that is immediately replaced with one of hunger as his eyes take me in, raking down my red dress. Thank you, Sophie, for the outfit idea.

My stomach dips as I check out his tux, a new weakness of mine. Resist the bow tie, Maya. This weekly situation tortures me. What have I done to deserve this type of punishment?

No matter how many times I tell my brain Noah isn’t worth the trouble, my body won’t agree. Out of nowhere, his index finger drags across my knuckles, an electric connection sparking at his touch. My drink sloshes when I pull my hand away in a jerky motion. Cool liquid trickles down my skin.

Noah’s thumb picks up the droplets before he brings the pad to his mouth, his eyes remaining on mine. Oh my God.

I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with air. He shoots me a telling wink.

I let out a breath of relief as Noah talks, placing his hand in his pocket.

He smiles at Sophie in a caring way. “Nice to see you though, Sophie. Your dad sure sounds happy to have you visiting us. He talked all about it at lunch the other day, not shutting up about you finishing up your degree. Says you should manage my funds.”

Sophie gives a shake of her head. “And he told me lots about his dream team and how smitten he is with all the new changes. Are you playing nice with this one’s brother?” She points at me and smiles.

Thank you for bringing up his rival, Sophie. Is it too late to cancel our friendship?

Noah chuckles. “Don’t insult me, I thought I was his dream racer. But yes. I share all my toys with Santiago, making sure to play nice together at recess.”

I roll my eyes at his smug smile, questioning why I thought bringing Noah here was a good idea. Just when I think he can be normal he turns into an arrogant jerk.

Our exchange is saved yet again by a random guy. Based on his looks alone, I peg him as an F1 racer.

His British accent breaks up the current conversation. “Hey guys. What an event, am I right?”

Sophie and I both swoon at the Englishman in front of us, his accent packing a punch. The Brit greets us with dark eyes, bronzed skin, and roguish curly hair that no brush can tame. His unbuttoned black shirt displays neck tattoos trailing down the small reveal of his chest. He nails the quintessential bad boy look. A tattooed hand grips a glass tumbler, showing off inked knuckles and fingers.

Liam and Noah greet the stranger and introduce him as Jax, Liam’s teammate. No wonder barely any women have jobs in the F1 industry. I doubt I’d be productive working around this hotness day in, day out.

“Who are these lush young ladies? You two have been holding out on me, I see.” He gives Liam and Noah a wild smile and tips his glass up to them.

Sophie blushes, not immune to his charm. F1 hires the lookers of the group. Honestly, I doubt I’m any better off at the moment, with my cheeks matching the color of my dress.

“I’m Maya Alatorre and this is Sophie Mitchell.” Go me for getting the words out.

“Quite a duo you two have here.” He shakes his head at Liam and Noah.

“We wanted to keep them away from your ugly face. Don’t want to scare the girls away before they get to spend more time with us.” Liam tips his beer in Jax’s direction before taking a swig.

Noah suppresses a groan, barely audible over my laugh.

“Who knows, maybe we can have them root for McCoy over Bandini one day. Women tend to be suckers for our accents.” Jax lays the British accent on real thick this time.

“I’d rather die than cheer for your team.” Sophie looks mock-disgusted with a wrinkled nose and wide eyes.