Falling off the cliff, p.42
FALLING OFF THE CLIFF, page 42
Alex ruffled his hair. “That’s our man.”
“You’re a champ,” Cal smiled, grabbing his helmet.
He could only laugh at his friends, accepting other embraces. He got pulled away for the post-race interview and to monitor his weight, though he could only search the crowd for green eyes and a devastating smile.
In a crowded place, Thiago could always find Kamari. She stood at the back with Indy, smiling widely, gaze shimmering with happiness.
He winked, and she winked back.
He listened to the British anthem he knew all too well, standing on the highest step of the podium. He smiled at the sky—at a particular star.
After his moment of glory, he looked down at the World Champion who would receive his trophy at the FIA’s ceremony at the end of the winter. He high-fived his rival, a broad smile set on his lips. “Congratulations, man. Second consecutive title. That’s grand.”
Miles grinned brightly. “You fought brilliantly, too. Have you ever been told you have your father’s driving style?”
“Only a few times.”
He pushed past the crowd, barely glanced at people begging for a photo, barely returned the smiles.
All he could see was Kamari.
His moon.
His anchor.
The love of his life.
His home.
She was walking away from Indy, Alex, and Cal, a radiant smile on her lips. Just as she reached for his shoulders, he grabbed her waist, lifting her off the ground and making them spin around. Soft giggles fled past her lips, and the sound of her delight added to the excitement rushing through him, causing him to be slightly dizzy with bliss.
“Hey, champ.” She tangled her fingers through the hair at his nape, pecking his nose. “I’m so proud of you, Thiago.”
When he looked into her eyes whilst setting her down on her feet, a gloom had misted over, but it was genuine happiness. He had worked hard to see her true façade, and now that he had her, he was intent on spending the rest of his life with her.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he murmured, joy sparkling inside of him—as bright as the fireworks exploding in the night sky.
She shook her head slightly. “I didn’t do anything except hold your hand.”
“Winning the championship was my goal, yes, but in the meantime, I won your heart over. It’s my most prized possession, Kam. You gave me a purpose outside of this universe, and I’m thankful for that. I refuse to never, ever let you walk away because being loved by you is giving me the same adrenaline rush as hitting the apex at full throttle.”
Her gaze dropped to his lips, hand slipping to his chest. “I don’t plan on walking away.”
“So, you want to do this again? Walk by my side in the paddock next season, and the ones after that?”
Her eyes flashed with joy. “How about we do this again without all the pretending, the fake dating, and the rules?”
He raised his eyebrows, taunting her. “Are you sure you want to get rid of the rules?”
She shrugged, rolling her eyes playfully. “Okay, maybe we’ll have to set a few rules.”
“Like what?”
“Like no falling in love.”
He couldn’t stop smiling. “Too late. Too fucking late, Kam. You had me on my knees on the first day.”
Their surroundings didn’t matter. The horde of photographers stealing pictures of their tender moment was a blur. The champagne sticking to his hair was a simple detail. All he could see was Kamari.
She took a step back, extending her hand. “Do we have ourselves a deal, pretty boy?”
He laughed loudly and grabbed her hand, tethering himself to her once again. “The deal of a lifetime. That okay with you, pretty girl?”
“Perfect. I’ll send the contract to your agent first things first in the morning.”
He grabbed her face, grazing his lips to hers. “You’re such an idiot. An idiot I love with every fibre of my being.”
And when their breaths entwined, he felt plummeting into the deepest abyss, felt his world tilt onto its axis before the stars aligned. Felt like falling off the cliff, but only now, there was a safety net at the very bottom to catch him.
FIN.
EPILOGUE
📍LONDON, ENGLAND
Five years later
“Don’t make me drop to my knees and beg for your attention.”
“You know I love it when you beg, Valencia. Though, you always have my undivided attention.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You do.”
“You’re not even looking at me right now.”
Thiago nearly laughed at Kamari’s exasperated expression when she pivoted to face him, brows raised in defiance. Even when her features were stricken with raw anxiety, she was the most beautiful star to him.
He leaned his hip against the counter, folding his arms across his chest whilst letting his lips break into a smirk.
“Stop looking at me like that,” she bit out, returning to her previous occupation, which was making two margaritas.
“You’re terribly sexy when you’re mad.”
She pinned him with a glare. “Stop flirting with me.”
He lifted his shoulders in a coy shrug, a grin touching his lips. “Can’t help myself, love.”
Whilst he listened to the catchy rhythm of the music that resonated through the place, he watched Kamari’s agility, expert hands, and elegance as she slid the two cocktails on the counter, offering a radiant smile to the customer who had ordered them. Complete awe was slowly etching itself upon his face, as though she had been able to bewitch him without so much as meeting his gaze.
“Go and have fun with the boys,” Kamari said then, running a clean cloth over the oak counter. “And tell Alex to stop flirting with my waitress. She can giggle at his foolish jokes when she’s done with her shift. I need a hand over here.”
Thiago peered behind his shoulder to look outside, witnessing Alex throw a roguish smile to a nervous, blushing Sara as she struggled to smoke her cigarette because she was too busy chuckling.
Thiago threw a thumbs-up at his best friend when the latter met his gaze, before turning back to look at Kamari. “Moonbeam, can you look at me?”
Begrudgingly, she set her cloth down and faced him. He could see her shoulders taut with stress, could nearly hear all her racing thoughts ricochet inside her mind. But when green fully met silver, her features softened.
He grabbed her upper arms, then slowly slid his touch down her soft skin until he wrapped his fingers around her hands. “Can I get ten minutes of your time?”
Her expression was blank as she blinked, and her voice lowered when she hissed, “I’m not having a quickie with you again, Thiago. I’m busy right now.”
“You weren’t complaining when you were almost biting my hand to keep you from screaming my name the other night.” He chuckled when she widened her eyes, slipping his gaze down her body. “I wasn’t even thinking about that, but since you’re suggesting…”
“Don’t make me step on your foot so you come back to your senses.”
“So violent.” She stared at his dimples when he smiled broadly. Gently squeezing her hands, he pulled her away from the working space. “Come look at this.”
“But—”
He placed a kiss on the crown of her head. “Kam, everyone has been served by the best manager. Everyone is enjoying their drink and busy having a great time. Take a small break and come with me. Please.”
He heard her sigh heavily but still listened to his command. He pulled her towards the centre of the room where no one was paying attention to them—where, even in a place filled with other people, they still managed to find themselves in a world alone.
Guiding her to pivot until her back collided with his chest, he wrapped his arms around her waist so she wouldn’t run away.
She leaned into him whilst he put his chin atop her shoulder. “Look around you, Kam. Look at the people loving your hard work.”
He tried to follow the route of her perusal as she scanned the room. All tables were occupied by friends catching up around a drink or two, whilst a group surrounded the pool table as they waited to take turns in trying to win the round of eight-ball. Some were watching the television as their undivided attention was brought to the captivating game of football. And others were dancing, singing, and smiling.
Kamari’s second café was her treasure, something more special than Dawn’s. Maybe because she had accepted Thiago’s help when he wasn’t racing. Maybe because they had spent hours painting and constructing and deciding on pieces of furniture together away from prying eyes—supporting each other’s dreams, building an eternity together.
“Dusk ‘Til Dawn is the world’s favourite place,” he murmured as he led her to sway to the rhythm of the now slow music. Still, patrons were screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs. “You need to stop worrying and relax. Look, Sara is back from her date with Alex. No one’s queuing to get your famous drinks. You can breathe.”
“I want everything to be perfect,” she countered, exhaling softly when he placed a kiss behind her ear.
“Everything has been perfect since we opened four years ago, Kam.” He tightened his hold around her. Even after all these years, he knew his heart would always batter erratically in her company. Knew he kept plummeting and falling each day, harder. “I have a suggestion.”
Her hands found his, fingers entwining together like the steady rhythm of their synchronised heartbeats. “What is it?”
His thumb started rubbing soothing circles on her hip, and he swore she started shivering. “I need to go back to Monaco, and you’re coming with me.”
“Sounds more like an order than a suggestion to me,” she huffed.
He kissed her temple. “You love taking orders from me.”
“Really?” she mused. “I think it’s the other way around, pretty boy, but whatever makes you happy.”
“Well, what would make me super, extra, mega happy, is that you’d take a small break. We can go to Italy, stay over there for a few days. There are two more weeks of summer break left, and I intend on spending every minute with you before I leave for the triple-header.”
“I don’t know,” she trailed with uncertainty, sighing softly.
“Everything’s taken care of,” he pressed. “Kieran is going to manage Dawn’s. Sara will stay here—and Alex is supposed to be travelling, too, so he won’t be here to distract her. Everything is under control.”
Slowly, she turned to face him, looping her arms around his neck. The moment her fingers tangled with his hair, he smiled softly.
He flickered his gaze between hers. “Please? I’m willing to get down on my knees in front of those people.”
She shook her head, exasperated, but she looked at him amusedly. “You’ve got no sense of self-preservation. Fine. I think I need that break, anyway.”
“Yeah, you do.” He cradled her jaw with a hand, still not caring about his surroundings. She was his getaway, his favourite place. “It’s killing me to hear you cry out of stress, to see you so anxious without being able to see all the good things you do.”
She blinked, a small line appearing between her brows. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologise for having emotions. For being a human being. Never with me.”
Green irises appeared lighter when a veil of emotions misted over. Dropping her gaze, she grabbed the silver chain around his neck, toying with the pendant.
Three years ago, Thiago had gifted Kamari a set of matching necklaces—only hers was made of pure gold—where he had engraved words with their handwriting on the pendants. Whilst he had “To the moon” embedded on his, she had “and to Saturn.”
“You’re so fucking cheesy,” she had said after opening the gift.
He grinned. “You love me for it.”
“Unfortunately,” she teased. Still, she took the piece of jewellery out of the box, unable to contain her smile.
“Brat,” he snapped, obliging her to turn around to drape the necklace on her.
“Arsehole.”
“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly, grabbing her hand to twine their fingers together.
“Two things.” She smiled, and he suddenly felt weak in the knees. “How amazing you are. You still know how to coax me through my moments of anguish. You can still see me and read my mind when I desperately try to push you away because I don’t want to hurt you. You’re just incredible, Thiago.”
“Keep feeding my ego. I love it.” Warmth flooded his chest as he sighed. “I’ll always see you. Always.”
“I know.”
He raised his brows. “And the second?”
He knew that glint of mischief swirling around her pupils all too well. “Still up for that quickie?”
Throwing his head back, he laughed but tugged her towards the backroom by the hand. “Thought you’d never ask.”
When Kamari opened the door to the small lounge room reserved for employees, she gasped, turning around to bury her face in Thiago’s chest.
Thiago was laughing loudly. He waved at Rowan and Ava, snickering as he observed the latter drag her skirt back down her thighs.
“Come on, you two,” Kamari huffed as she turned towards the pair, trying to scowl despite the small smile playing on the corner of her lips. “That’s where I take naps between two shifts.”
“Enjoying ourselves, are we?” Thiago asked at the same time, leaning against the doorframe.
Ava grabbed the purse she had left on the coffee table. “As if you two weren’t about to do the same.”
Rowan followed his girlfriend out, not bothering to fasten the buttons of his shirt, leaving his tattoos on display. He blew a kiss to Thiago. “Revenge for all the times you shagged in your room whilst I was literally next door.”
📍MONTE CARLO, MONACO
He swallowed her breaths like they belonged to him whilst threading his fingers to hers above her head. Slowly, passionately, he thrust in and out, causing Kamari to gasp softly, arching her back whenever he was about to send her towards the pinnacle of pleasure.
“Eyes on me,” he demanded huskily.
His favourite colour collided with his gaze, making his features soften in a fraction of a second.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
She smiled. “That’s all you.”
He started shaking, his thrusts becoming uneven and nearly uncontrollable when he observed her brows pinch together, pleasurably, as he felt her walls clench around him.
To keep their symphonic cries of pleasure quiet and private, he placed his lips on hers as they unravelled in perfect harmony. Kamari trembled beneath him, catching her breath whilst he continuously moved to ride them both down from their high.
Thiago lay down next to her, pulling her into his chest. He placed a soft kiss on the crown of her head before darting his gaze towards the starry sky. He didn’t know what time it was. All he knew was that he had spent countless hours stargazing with Kamari on the roof of his yacht.
“Do you remember our first kiss?” he asked, smiling.
“It’s a blurry memory, you know that.” She wrapped an arm around his stomach, cheek pressed to his chest. “I wish I hadn’t drunk anything that night.”
“Things would’ve been different if we had been sober.”
Her voice was a euphonious caress along the edges of his soul, cocooning him into a cosmos of solace. “Do you really think so?”
He hummed. “I think I wouldn’t have had the courage to kiss you. You’d have rejected me, let’s admit it. But I do think I would’ve fought and ran after you to get your number.”
“I’m not surprised,” she chuckled.
“I would have done things the right way. You know, take you out on a few dates, bring you to the paddock, introduce you to Mum, all that.”
He felt her gaze on him. “Are you saying you’re regretting we did everything in the wrong order?” she teased.
“Never,” he replied with a broad grin. “I love how we did our thing on our own terms—our own rules.”
The moment he looked down at Kamari, he felt his heart go into overdrive, its pulse rising like wild tidal waves. Her tender gaze catalogued his features, something new, unique brightening her irises—something that promised forever, eternal adoration.
“Marry me,” he blurted out.
Surprise etched upon her face as she slowly rose to sit. She cradled the thin blanket to her chest, her dark hair spilling on her back as her lips parted.
“Marry me,” he repeated more firmly as he sat up, too. Grabbing her left hand, he watched where a diamond—or whatever stone she’d love—would adorn her finger. “I didn’t plan this, so I don’t have a ring yet, but I want forever with you, Kam. Be my partner for life. Be my queen. Be mine for eternity.”
A beautiful smile spread across her lips. “Took you long enough.”
Thiago cradled her face, brushing his lips to hers. She inhaled shakily. “Is this a yes, Monroe?”
“I’ll go by Monroe-Valencia from now on, thank you very much.” She winded her arms around his neck, nodding eagerly. “Yes, Thiago. I’ll marry you.”
When their lips touched, he felt as though their hearts were tethering themselves together, in perfect synchronisation with the stars aligning overhead. He smiled against her mouth. “Took you long enough.”
📍MONZA, ITALY
Five (more) years later
“Well, that was a mega lap you did there, Thiago. How does it feel to be on pole again?”
Thiago’s chest heaved as he lifted the microphone, one hand on his hip as he rapidly glanced at the camera to his left. He waved to the crowd chanting his name before returning his attention back to the sports journalist.
