paring paul aron x fem!reader, word count 596, genre fluff, ( masterlist )
the morning sun peeked through the sheer curtains casting an angelic haze in your shared hotel room. the mishaps of forgetting that the balcony door is open letting the curtains dance in the light breeze. children’s laughter as they kick around a ball in a fun-hearted game just across the street.
hair sprawled across the pillowcase. your elbow digging into the plush mattress underneath you propping yourself up. you took the chance to admire your boyfriend something that you don’t get the chance to do often. normally, either you're rushing or he’s rushing not getting a mellow moment. even at times, the other side of the bed is empty and cold when you don’t share hotel rooms or he doesn’t sneak into your hotel room late at night. usually, in the paddock, it’s fleeting glances and very minimal grazes. by this point, you’ve memorized every single part of his features even with the short amount of time that you have to do so.
he lays on his back with his arms underneath his pillow. his blond hair unruly and disheveled. he gained the new nickname "blondie" after a few dates and refuses to reference him as another thing else. your nail lightly grazing on his skin connecting the light freckles that scattered across his back.
you raised your body sitting on the edge of the bed. your fingers fiddling with the buttons to slowly unbutton his shirt that you wore to bed last night to discard to take a shower and get ready for your spontaneous plans.
behind you, the blond shifts underneath the sheets. a frown appears on his lips as he feels disappointed that you're not cuddled up right beside him. normally, when he wakes up your pressed right against him almost entirely on top of him even though you’ve fallen asleep on your respectful side on the bed. his eyes fluttered open attempting to adjust to the sunlight beaming in. though he couldn’t see your face. he is only visible to your unruly hair and his oversized shirt slipping off your shoulders he found you incredibly pretty.
his gaze held so much love and fondness that it would terrify someone who wasn’t sure that he was the one but to you. you knew he was one when they first met eight years ago whilst karting around italy that he was the one that you wanted to marry. now, you never put any thought into your perfect wedding until the first time you saw him smile with sun-kissed skin and rosy cheeks.
you aren’t fond of the tan lines on your arms and thighs, but he was. you got offered a solution by him yesterday morning of just basking in the sun naked on the balcony, but you talked yourself out of that. you always sweet-talked yourself out of situations. you were particularly good at that and though it was quite annoying at times. it’s a quality that he loves.
oh, how he missed so dearly how your freckles adorned your sun-kissed skin that scattered across your slight reddened cheeks due to spending time on the boat more recently during his short period of a break. he missed adoring them in the colder months.
he lifted on his elbow gently moving your hair to the side to press a kiss on the back of your neck which was already littered with love marks from last night's activities that you had a slim chance of actually covering. he pulled you back into his warm arms and underneath the sheets once again.
Posts that either you or the drivers post about your relationship.
Pairing: Group 7:
Post 1: Lando Norris x Reader
Post 2: Oscar Piastri x Reader
Post 3: Max Fewtrell x Reader
Post 4: Sebastian Montoya x Reader
Pictures are from Pinterest, Tumblr, or Instagram
a/n: Sorry I haven't been posting... Between college and other stuff, I haven't had much time and I've been going through a creative block... I don't know how often I'm going to post, but we'll see
@/Y/N.Y/L Thank you for the date night, baby. Happy anniversary! I love you!
Tagged @/landonorris
Liked by @/landonorris, @/yourbestfriend, and 31,947 others
landonorris Happy anniversary, darling! I love you!
Y/N.Y/L <3
yourbestfriend Congrats! How was the food?
Y/N.Y/L It was great and the dessert was even better
yourbestfriend I'll have to go there sometime
user1 Congrats
@/Y/N.Y/L Baseball Break Thank you, @/cardinals, for the invitation to the game
Tagged @/oscarpiastri, @/cardinals
Liked by @/oscarpiastri, @/cardinals, and 20,593 others
oscarpiastri ⚾
Y/N.Y/L ❤️⚾
user1 New sport?
cardinals Hope you had a great time
Liked by @/Y/N.Y/L
user2 You look so good!
Y/N.Y/L Thank you!
@/maxfewtrell Carnival Night
Tagged @/Y/N.Y/L
Liked by @/Y/N.Y/L, @/landonorris, and 38,471 others
Y/N.Y/L Thank you for the amazing time, babe. I love you <3
maxfewtrell Glad you had a good time. I love you too
user1 They are so cute!
landonorris What did Y/N name the panda?
maxfewtrell Why don't you think I named it? ...Po, based on Kung Fu Panda
landonorris I knew it!
user2 She looks so happy, I'm glad they're together
@/Y/N.Y/L My boyfriend is cuter than everything
Tagged @/sebasmontoya58
Liked by @/sebasmontoya58, @/yourbestfriend, and 259 others
sebasmontoya58 I found someone cuter
Y/N.Y/L Huh? Who?
sebasmontoya58 You :) <3
yourbestfriend You've broken her. She's giggling and kicking her feet as I type this
prompt: your lover leans in for a kiss, but they just kiss you tenderly and pull back to see your reaction, only then to crash their lips against yours passionately
arthur couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. you couldn’t understand why.
it was late. last time you had checked the time, it was around 8:30 pm, but that was hours ago, and even arthur was tired now.
“staring holes into my head won’t make me finish any faster,” your eyes flickered up from your textbook, “you can go to bed if you’re tired, turo.”
arthur gave you a gentle smile, head resting on top of his crossed arms, “i’m okay, belle. ‘m not tired, promise. you can take your time.”
“then why are you staring?” you uncapped your highlighter, “if not to get me to hurry up.”
“because you’re beautiful.”
your movements faltered, the highlighter bleeding through the pages of your notebook. your eyes met his, so full of love and admiration. you felt yourself blush under his gaze, quickly averting your eyes back to your papers.
you hissed, picking up the highlighter and noticing the obvious hole it had formed in the paper. you frowned, “turo, you distracted me.”
“ah,” he leaned forward, a sheepish smile on his lips that you couldn’t see, “‘m sorry, amour.”
you shook your head dismissively, “‘s okay, it was a fresh page. i can start over.”
he didn’t bother you for the next few minutes, eyes still watching your every move. you will yourself not to look at him, cheeks still hot from when you had caught his gaze. you didn't get it.
arthur leclerc was like an enigma, so loving that you couldn’t understand him. you were just another person in this world full of people, but for some reason, arthur always looked at you like you painted the sky blue every morning and held the stars up every night.
to him, you were everything. and at this moment in time, with your hair in a mess, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, and hands stained with pens and highlighters, to him, you were the only person in the world. and the prettiest, too.
he watched as your head flicked back up, the lack of sleep catching up. after the third time, he decided to break the silence.
“y/n?” his voice was quiet, and so, so soft as he watched you blink at him blearily, “let’s go to bed, d’accord?” okay?
your own response was a mumbled whine, “but ‘m not done studying.”
arthur leaned over the table, “and you won’t be if you fall asleep on the table, ma belle. let’s go to bed.”
he watched you turn to your notes with a frown, eyes sweeping the paper from top to bottom as if to see proof of his claim. and it was there, with your notes near the bottom of the page barely legible in comparison to the top.
you met his eyes again, a pout on your lips. arthur let out a short chuckle, you were about to bargain.
before you could open your mouth, arthur leaned forward and placed a soft kiss against your lips. so tender, you felt your resolve melting before it could even cement.
he pulled back, a quiet giggle escaping at your blissful expression and half-lidded eyes. you blinked, staring back at him with a newly ignited passion in your eyes. you moved closer slightly, and arthur closed the distance again.
his lips were so soft, and so, so enticing, as if you were kissing the clouds goodnight. you felt yourself melt as he moved his hand to cup your cheeks. his hands were warm, like a blanket. it was like arthur was doing everything he could in his power to make you admit that you were tired. to admit that you wanted to go to sleep in his arms.
you were the one to pull away first this time, a happy sigh escaping your mouth. the open textbooks and assortment of writing supplies were a distant memory, your head clouded with arthur and arthur only.
“okay,” you smiled, eyes unwavering from arthur’s, “let’s go to bed.”
summary: you finally understand what is your safe place
words: 1k
It has been a few weeks since you went back home. Things weren’t perfect but it was going great. You found a new job, with more hours and more money. Living in Monaco was very great, but wanting to move out with any financial help was a nightmare and you could only rely on yourself. Having to keep studying wasn’t helping at all, but luckily, you had found someone to help you
“What about this one?” Arthur shoved his phone screen to your face. “It’s cute, affordable and… close to my place”
You sighed, closing your textbook to take Arthur’s phone. “Yeah, I like it” you said as you looked through all the pictures. Arthur was right, it was affordable, thanks to the money you managed to save and the financial aids you were eligible for. “I will call” you said as you wrote down the offer reference and the phone number to set up a visit.
“We make a great team” Arthur proudly said, a giant smile appearing on his face, sitting on his bed. You were studying at his place for one of your exams and he decided to help you in your apartment hunt while you were ‘kicking ass and getting good grades’
“We do,” you replied, sitting next to him. “Honestly, I’m thankful for everything you did, and are doing for me” Arthur was slightly blushing and it made you smile. He was about to say something when your alarm went on. “Shit, I have to go to work” you hurried up, grabbing all your stuff you shoved in your backpack.
“Good luck” Arthur said as he was closely following you to walk you to the door.
Before leaving you felt your brain connecting and you turned around “Shit, I won’t have time to see you before you leave right?” you asked Arthur, as you remembered he had to leave early tomorrow morning to attend another of his race weekends.
“Nope. What a bummer you can’t come with me because of work. What will I do without my lucky charm?” Arthur grinned and you couldn’t help but smile.
“No matter where I will be, you can be sure I will be cheering for you” you said before waving goodbye and running to work.
Saturday morning, you’re working the morning shift at work meaning you were set to miss Arthur’s sprint race. Luckily you weren’t working for his feature race and he was starting from a good position. Throughout the morning, your mind was lost, only focusing on Arthur, and you spent a good part of your shift, wishing for it to be over soon, so you could see how the race went.
As soon as your shift ended, you hurried to get your phone and your heart literally missed a beat, when you read the notifications on your phone ‘F3 Sprint Race: big crash from Arthur Leclerc’. It was like the world was spinning around you, and your brain was already thinking the worst. As you were walking home, you tried to call Arthur many times, you texted him like crazy and you checked social media for updates. You knew he was out of the car but cared way too much about Arthur, not to worry.
As you were about to reach your house, your phone rang and you sight in relief when you saw it was Arthur calling you.
“Oh god, Arthur, are you okay?!” you asked right away, not giving him the time to speak first. You heard him chuckle at the other side.
“I’m fine. The car took the big hit”
“My heart dropped when I left work and read what happened. I-I should have come, you said I was your lucky charm, maybe it wouldn’t have happened!”
“Calm down Y/N. I am fine. I did a check up at the medical center and I’m totally fine, even fit to race tomorrow morning. I’m super strong, I’ll even get on the podium tomorrow, I can feel it.” Arthur tried to reassure you but you stayed silent. “How was work by the way?”
“Boring. But on Monday after school I’m going to visit the place you showed me. I have a feeling it’s going to be good.”
“Really? That’s amazing! I’ll be crossing my fingers. I’m flying back home on Monday, so maybe we can meet after the visit so I can have the privilege of being the first one to know everything?” Arthur asked
“Okay, deal”
“Great. Okay I gotta go, but we’ll talk later”
Monday was quick to arrive and you were glad, not just because you were one step closer to being without your parents, but because Arthur was meeting you after the visit and you were dying to see him again. After the scare you had Saturday, you just wanted one thing and it was hugging him and being near him.
The visit went well, it was small but cozy and had everything you could need. You had met the owners of the place and the feeling went really great so you were hopeful they would pick you. You were making your way outside when you got a text from Arthur saying “I’m outside :)”. You didn’t bother to reply and simply ran outside the building to find Arthur on his phone, leaning against a pole.
“Arthur!” you called him excited. Arthur looked up from his phone and his face lit up when he saw you running to him. He barely had the time to put his phone away before you threw your arms around him. “I’m happy to see you” you said, breaking the hug
“In one piece you mean?” he joked, making you gently hit his shoulder “Okay, okay not funny”
You both stood there, in silence for a few minutes before Arthur decided to speak again.
“So… You think this could be your safe place?” he asked, pointing at the building behind you.
“Not really…” you mumbled
“Why? I thought it was perfect” he asked, his face showing signs of confusion.
“Oh no I meant… I really like this place, I could see myself living there but… I don’t think it is my actual safe place” you explained. Funny because you thought it could be the safe place you and Arthur have been talking about, but when Arthur asked, it all changed.
“Oh…”
“Arthur, you’re my safe place” you blurred out. “I’ve never felt safer than when I am in your arms or near you or in the same room”
“Y/N I-”
“No please… Just let me speak” you insisted and Arthur closed his mouth right away. “I don’t know, I think it’s when I found out about your crash that all the pieces got together in my head and my heart. Arthur you make me so happy, you make me laugh, you’re basically the sunshine of my moody days. You’re always on my mind and at first I thought it was just because you were checking up on me, helping me but no. Arthur, I like you. I really really like you. A lot. And not as a friend. I think I’m falling for you” you confessed to Arthur, feeling a big weight dropping from your shoulders. You looked at Arthur, unsure of his reaction.
“Can you say it again?” Arthur asked you, leaving you confused.
“Uh? You- what? The entire thing? Because I- I don’t think I can, you know it was really spontaneous”
Arthur put his body closer to yours. “No, just the last part,” he said with a smile.
“I’m falling for you,” you replied firmly.
“Good” he said, bringing his face a few inches from yours. “Because I already fell for you. And I fell hard”
“Your staring Leclerc…” the y/h/c young girl mumbled her eyelids closed, hiding the gorgeous y/e/c orbs from the early Monaco sun. “It’s creepy even if you’re cute.” Y/N added scrunching her nose slightly at the young Driver’s grunt of disagreement. “Euh it’s not creepy… It's romantic.” Arthur retaliated childishly, grabbing gently at the peaceful girl’s side. Arthur was a touchy person, something that was evident to anyone who spent more than two minutes with the Monégasque. There were countless Prema videos with the Ferrari Junior absentmindedly placing his hands on other Drivers but his need to have skin on skin contact was amplified with Y/N. Finally there wasn’t a phone screen or miles between them and the French speaker wasn’t going to waste a second.
“What time is it?” Y/N mumbled quietly running a y/s/c hand over her face rather enjoying the soft rays of sunlight making paths along her face, she’d never admit it, especially to Arthur but waking up in Monte Carlos was one of the best ways to awaken. Grabbing his phone the brown haired young man winced a little, the harsh electronic light of his phone highlighting his exhausted pale features. “8:30” Arthur stated a small smile settling on his tired face at his girlfriend's heavy sigh. “It’s too early Artie” Y/N groaned, turning on her side to snuggle back into the pillow and disrupted bedsheets.
“Too early for a present?” The young Driver questioned teasingly, placing butterfly-like kisses on the girl's exposed shoulder. Debating whether to engage in the man’s cry for attention the y/h/c girl frowned. “For me?” Y/N asked sleepily, her tone soaked in confusion. “No for Charles.” Arthur exclaimed sarcastically, his warm breath tickling Y/N’s shoulder blade. “Of course for you, don’t get me wrong I love my brother but not that much.” Arthur said plainly, slipping into a small rant about the older Leclerc. “Can it not wait a couple of days? Christmas is less than a week away?” the y/h girl mumbled finally opening her eyes again, this time the y/e/c orbs more accepting of the December sun. Rolling his eyes Arthur chuckled “Do you want it or not?” the Driver asked, reaching over to his bedside cabinet. Arthur couldn’t help another sleepy chuckle vibrating from his chest as Y/N complained bitterly about his movement stealing the sheets she’d attempted to cocoon herself in.
“You're not asking me to marry you are you?” the y/h/c girl mumbled quietly her y/e/c orbs narrowing at the small black box the Driver held in his grasp. “You don’t even know what it is yet and you’re already complaining ah.” Arthur retaliated, preparing to return the little box to the drawer it had been sitting in for at least 2 weeks. “Arthur, you can’t take it back now.” Y/N whined slightly making grabby hands towards the simple package. “I want you to move in with me.” Arthur declared, hesitantly opening the little box to reveal a newly cut key. “You what?” Y/N mumbled softly. “I want us to move in together.” the brown haired young man replied, running a hand up the girl's exposed thigh seeking reassurance. Perhaps this wasn’t a good idea, it certainly wasn’t the reaction he’d been expecting. “Your poor Mother.” the y/h/c objected in silent shock. “No.. No, I got us an apartment on the other side of the city. I just didn’t want to move in yet in case you said no…. Or yes” Arthur mumbled timidly, the youngest Leclerc normally oozed confidence but right now he was feeling any but. “I’m tired of you not being here with me. You always have to leave and then I have to wait forever to see you again.” the Ferrari Junior explained softly, his pale hand currently sat on the girls exposed tight trembling slightly at his confession. “I know you have family back home and you can say no… I thought I'd just ask?” Arthur rambled, his accent getting thicker the more uncertain he became. “Merde. I’ve messed up, haven't I?” Arthur groaned, dropping the small black box like it had burnt him. “Say something Y/N/N… anything. You can even call me a twat if you want euh.. Just say something.” Arthur begged, his eyebrows furrowed in stress. “Never say that word again.” Y/N replied laughing at the British insult falling from the young man’s lips, it sounded odd, foreign. “Now take a deep breath and shut up.” the y/h/c girl added in mock sternness.
Now wide awake the y/s/c girl couldn’t take her eyes off her boyfriend of 3 years, she’d never seen Arthur this flustered. “Did you think I’d say no?” Y/N whispered shuffling forward to wrap her arms around the bashful boy. “Well you didn’t say anything…” Arthur muttered sadly. “Yeah. That’s because I couldn’t get a word in edgeways with you spiralling” Y/N laughed lightly. “I’d love to move in with you Arthur.” Y/N added, pressing a kiss on the young man’s cheek, brushing his messy brown locks reassuringly.
Posts that either you or the driver post about your relationship.
Pairing: Group 4:
Post 1: Carlos Sainz x Reader
Post 2: Alex Albon x Reader
Post 3: Sergio Perez x Reader
Post 4: Paul Aron x Reader
Pictures are from Instagram, Tumblr, or Pinterest
@/carlossainz55 Beach <3
Tagged @/Y/N.Y/L
Liked by @/Y/N.Y/L, @/charles_leclerc, and 249,851 others
Y/N.Y/L <3
carlossainz55 <3
user1 She is so pretty!
charles_leclerc Can I join next time?
Y/N.Y/L I don't know, maybe. Maybe not
charles_leclerc What? Why?
user2 You two are adorable together
@/Y/N.Y/L Alex was trying to help me study for exams. Honestly, didn't help a lot and was a bit distracting. 3/10. Would not ask to be my study buddy again, but was pretty cute
Tagged @/alex_albon
Liked by @/alex_albon, @/yourclassmate, and 18,349 others
alex_albon I tried, I failed. You are much stronger than I am. Sorry for the distractions... Good luck and I love you!
Y/N.Y/L It's fine. Thank you! I love you too!
user1 What are you studying?
yourclassmate What did you get on the first part of the exam? Also, can I borrow some of your notes?
Y/N.Y/L I got a 91%. You? And yeah, sure. Text me which pages and I'll email them over
yourclassmate Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver! I got a 87%
user2 How do you keep your notes so organized and neat?
@/Y/N.Perez He said he didn't like the first one... Then he bought me two others to match. Thank you, mi amor!
Tagged @/schecoperez
Liked by @/schecoperez, @/maxverstappen1, and 25,983 others
schecoperez Yeah, they're cute, I guess. You're welcome, sol
user1 That's so cute!
maxverstappen1 He keeps that buddy on his desk all the time. He even named it Sol. If he could, he would bring it in the car with him
Y/N.Perez Thank you, Max, for this very important information
schecoperez You are giving my secrets away, Max. You promised not to tell
user2 He is so in love
@/Y/N.Y/L We did get lost... but got there eventually
Tagged @/paularon_
Liked by @/paularon_, @/dinobeganovic_, and 8,395 others
paularon_ We weren't lost... just taking the scenic route
Y/N.Y/L Sure, yeah, definitely
user1 Where did Paul get the suitcase?
dinobeganovic_ Was it Paul's fault?
Y/N.Y/L Partly, yeah. But it was my idea for him to be in charge of the GPS
Warnings: None, that I know of, just a jealous Paul. Also, there is one weird time skip and a section that I was debating on deleting... I'm not sure if I should (the section between the skipping of the race and the skipping of the rest of the celebrations), if you want, please give your thoughts
I walk through the paddock, trying to get to the Prema garage as quickly as possible, holding a bag of stuff in my hand. As I turn towards the garage, I run into someone.
"Oh, hey Paul" I rush out, "Have you seen Dino?"
"Hey. Yeah, he's in his driving room. Why?" he answers.
I start to walk towards his driver's room, yelling back, "Have to drop something off." I lift the bag up as I continue walking, "Sorry, got to go, but I'll talk to you after. Thanks!"
I run off and hurriedly knock on the door. I hear a muffled "come in" from Dino before I turn the knob.
"You left some stuff at my house," I say as the door shuts behind me, "I wanted to return it as soon as I could"
"Thank you so much" Dino responds as he grabs the bag from my hand.
I sit on one of the chairs in the room while we continue talking for a bit. After, once Dino has to start getting ready for his race, I walk out to the rest of the garage.
I jump as I'm tapped on the shoulder and turn around to find Paul behind me.
"Oh, hi Paul," I say, blushing and holding my hand to my heart, "You scared me"
"Sorry, Y/N. I thought you heard me," Paul smiles and then it drops a bit before asking, "Did you find Dino?"
I nod and answer, "Yeah, I did. I just had to drop some stuff that he left at my house back to him. Sorry for running off while talking to you"
"It's all good," Paul responds, "I have to go with the team, sorry." He finishes in a rush and starts to speed walk away.
"Ok, bye," I say to where Paul was.
I see Dino walk up to me and take Paul's spot.
"Why did Paul just sprint away? What were you talking about?" Dino asks, looking in the direction that Paul left.
I shake my head, "I don't know. I told him that I had to drop off the stuff that you left at my house and then he rushed out of here. I don't think I said anything wrong."
"Ooo. Maybe he's jealous," Dino gives his idea on the issue, "He likes you. I was at your house. Maybe he thinks we like each other. That might get him to tell you that he likes you."
I blush before responding with, "He definitely doesn't. Why would he like me? If he could have anyone he wants, why would it be me?"
Dino laughs, "No, he does. You don't see the looks he gives you or the amount of blush when your name is the one on his phone screen. We are going to try and get him even more jealous. Then he's going to tell you he likes you or you will tell him."
"If you think this will work. I'll just go along with what you do," I say as Dino and I start walking to his side of the garage.
---SKIP PRE-RACE AND RACE---
I jump and celebrate as Dino crosses the finish line in first place. Paul crosses soon after in 5th place.
As Dino stands on the podium, he points at me and then pops the champagne after the announcer finishes the anthems.
I look up to Paul and see him glaring at Dino. He glances to me and smiles, but it doesn’t reach all the way.
---SKIP CELEBRATION---
I am set to meet Paul and Dino in the garage after their cooldown.
Paul arrives first and I say, "Congrats!" I run up to him and hug him.
He hesitantly puts his hands around my back and hugs me back. I look up and see him blushing before pulling away slightly. I know that I have a similar, although less red, face.
Dino comes in at this moment, causing us to jump apart. I also run up to hug him. "Congrats, Dino! First place!"
As we are hugging, Dino whispers in my ear, "He's glaring at you..."
I giggle, drop the hug, and step away. I turn to see that Dino was right, Paul was glaring at us, but as he sees me looking, his face softens and he gives a forced smile.
Dino looks at both of us before saying to me, "There's a dinner party tonight, with some of the other F3 guys, to celebrate the race. Do you want to join us?"
"Oh, cool. Yeah, that sounds really fun. What time?" I respond.
"It starts at 5:30 tonight. I'll pick you up at 5:15 at your hotel room, if that works for you," Dino looks down at his phone, "Oh, no! Ok, I have a meeting to go to, but I'll pick you up. See you guys later."
He walks out of the garage towards the meeting rooms. I turn around to see Paul staring after Dino.
"What's wrong?" I ask.
He looks at me and then says, "Nothing, just thinking."
"Oh," I taper off before going, "I'll see you at the dinner, then?"
"Yeah, yeah," Paul sighs, sounding kind of out of it, "See you then."
---SKIP TO PICK UP---
I am putting the final touches on the outfit as I hear a knock on the door. I grab my phone, purse, and hotel key before opening the door to see Dino on the other side.
"You look beautiful," Dino complements while motioning over to the room next to me.
Paul walks out the door just before I lock mine and I could tell that he heard the compliment. He was frowning and didn't look up at us when we walked up to him.
"Hey, Paul," I say and blush before continuing, "You look handsome." He was wearing a white button down and some black dress pants.
He looks up at me, then looks back down at his feet and mumbles a "thank you" before we all start walking towards the elevator.
While walking towards the restaurant, we don't say anything. It's some uncomfortable silence, except for the birds on the light posts and our feet against the sidewalk.
We reach the restaurant and then join everyone else around the table, Dino on my left side and Paul on my right. All of us are chatting and eating as the night progresses.
I chat mostly with Dino, just to help with his plan, but also some of the other drivers. We talk about racing, their families, and the plans for the upcoming weekend (since there isn't a race).
I could see Paul getting a bit more sad and introverted as the night went on and I kept talking to everyone but him. By this moment, based on all of what I saw, I could guess that what Dino said was true.
I didn't want to put Paul through much more and whisper to him, "You want to blow this popsicle stand?"
He laughs a bit and says, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, let's get out of here," I respond before saying bye to everyone and thanking Dino for the invite.
Paul and I walk out of the restaurant and start our way to the hotel. It was only about a 5 minute walk, but I'm glad that I decided not to wear heels.
We walk to the hotel in silence until Paul breaks it as we are walking towards the doors.
"You look really pretty," he says shyly.
I feel my cheeks heat up and say a "thank you" before asking him, "What was wrong back there? You seemed really down." At this point, we were riding up the elevator towards our floor.
"Umm. I just don't want-" he starts before getting cut off by the ding of the elevator, "Do you want to go into my room to talk?"
"Sure, if that's okay with you," I respond.
We start walking towards his room and his hand is shaking as he swipes the key card to unlock the door.
He closes the door once he lets me in and we both sit down on the edge of his bed. I look up at him, waiting for him to continue with his train of thought.
"So, umm," he tries, looking a lot more nervous than before, "I was wondering. Are you and Dino together?"
I try to hold down a smile, basically knowing where this was going, and answer back, "No, we are not together. Why?"
"Well, I- IlikeyouandIdidn'tknowifyou'dlikemeback, butIthoughtyouwerewithDino,soIdidn'tsayanything," he rushes through, jumbling most of what he said into a mess of words.
"Woah," I say, "I couldn’t understand any of that. Can you repeat?"
Paul takes a deep breath and tries to calmly repeat, "I like you, as in more than friends, but I didn't know if you'd like me back. I thought you were dating Dino, so I didn't say anything."
Instead of giving him an answer yet, I reach up to his cheeks and pull him in for a kiss.
As we pull away, he continues to hold onto my hands and puts them together on his lap.
"I like you too. As more than friends," I finally say.
Paul lets out a sigh of relief and then grabs my waist to sit me on his lap. I reach my hands up to thread my fingers through his hair and pull him in for another kiss.
When we both pull away again, Paul asks, slightly out of breath, "Do you want to stay in my room tonight?"
I nod, tell him that I'll be back and that I'm just grabbing a few things from my room for the night.
Once I'm all settled in his hotel room, we get changed into PJs and lounge in his bed before going to sleep. We are both cuddle together and I take a picture of the two of us.
I send the photo to Dino with the message 'Thank you. Your plan actually worked for once.' just before falling asleep in Paul's arms.
