Throttled (Dirty Air 1)

That went easier than I thought. I need to face him, but I need a game plan first, particularly a Sophie-made plan.

18

Noah

Is this what it feels like to be ghosted? I’ve done it to girls in the past, but I’ve never been on the receiving end. And to be honest, it totally sucks. Karma really is a bitch after all.

I haven’t seen Maya since Monaco. She barely answers any of my messages, which makes me second-guess if I kissed her too soon. Me, second-guessing. What a joke. Sometimes she seems in to me, but stuff she does makes me uncertain. A foreign sensation to say the least.

I land in Baku two days earlier to get acclimated to the city. That and I want to be around when Santi and his sister arrive because I want to catch Maya when he leaves.

Wednesday goes by without a sign of her during our sponsor meetings and ass-kissing specials. But Maya doesn’t come to any of them. I worry she wants to back out of coming to another race because of me.

I give in to my curiosity and ask Santi about her while we walk back to the hospitality suites after our press conference.

“Where’s your sister been?”

He turns his head slowly toward me, revealing squinted eyes and a tight jaw. I don’t get intimidated by him. His scary face comes off like a puppy dog, not threatening like his dad’s.

“Busy. She visited our parents back in Spain. Why?” He glares at me.

“Was curious why she didn’t come to the last Prix. Wondered how it would affect your racing.” My cocky grin seems to placate him. Back to our usually scheduled programming with one another—me being the cocky asshole and him taking it.

He scoffs. “I did fine. I raced without my sister by my side for years while she was in college. You’re the one who struggled this time.”

Santi has a fight in him. Good to know.

“Yup. You win some, you lose some.” I shrug. “Is she coming to this race?” I can’t tell if my voice sounds disinterested enough.

“Yeah. She’s already here.”

I follow Santi to the hospitality suite, disappointed when Maya isn’t there.

“Is Maya hanging out in there?”

He stares at me, his head tilting to the side as his lips press together in a tight line. “Nah, she went to hang out with Sophie. Said something about exploring the city for her vlog.”

My eyes nearly bug out of my head. They’re out alone in a random city they’ve never visited before where the people speak a different language. What if someone recognizes them?

“They should be more careful. Why do you let them go out by themselves? That’s irresponsible.”

Santi’s gaze hardens. “I can take care of my sister. It’s a safe city.”

“I think you forget you’re worth over twenty million dollars now. Why do you think people are kidnapped for ransom? Hint, it’s not always for pretty looks.”

His ignorance grates on me.

Santi’s jaw ticks. He takes a couple of deep breaths while I stare him down. I piss him off, but he can be a real idiot sometimes.

“Thanks for the advice.” He enters his suite and slams the door.

I text Maya to check if she still has a pulse.

Maya (06/19 6:58 p.m.): Thanks for asking. We’re all good. Going to dinner and then bed. Good luck at practice tomorrow.

I need to come up with something to do together that doesn’t include me shoving my tongue down her throat. Which I still want to do, but we have to do fun stuff too. A plan comes to mind so I enlist my friends to help me. She needs to see what she can have if she gives us a chance.

“Grab the girls and meet me at the Baku kart area.”