Queen of the Grid

~16~

~~

I groaned as I entered the large gazebo within the premises of the resort where we usually had our breakfast.

I'd slept in Hiro and Axel's room last night, who, unlike Khai, had no reservations with me sleeping on the floor with a flimsy comforter. Needless to say, I was in dire need of a back massage.

It was our last day here. We would be leaving in a couple of hours. I felt a pang of sadness at the thought. I breathed in a lungful of the cool and crisp mountain air.

Khai still hadn't come out of his room; he'd still been asleep when I'd snuck in at the crack of dawn to get my bags.

I winced as I recalled our conversation last night, how I'd called him a coward and then stormed out of the room like a petulant child. Now, after waking up with a clear head, the mortification of what I'd said to Khai Sylvan, a fellow racer, was consuming me."

I grabbed a muffin and some sausages from the buffet and made my way to where Hiro and Axel were sitting.

Axel pinned me with an accusing glare as soon as I sat down. I raised a brow and shot him a questioning look.

"You kept groaning and shifting in your sleep last night. I'm an extremely light sleeper." He whipped his sunglasses off his face dramatically and pointed under his eye. "I have dark circles under my eyes thanks to you. I have a shoot this evening!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Well, you try sleeping on a wooden floor for a night, prince charming," I said sarcastically as I bit into my muffin.

He put his sunglasses back on, but I had a creeping suspicion that he was still glaring at me from behind them.

"Not to mention that you're the most hideous sleeper." He drawled, "I woke up in the middle of the night and almost had a heart attack thinking that a monster had crawled out from under the bed."

I had the urge to throw a sausage at him, but I was strictly against wasting food.

"Hello!" An excited female voice interrupted my murderous thoughts.

I looked up and smiled when I saw an adorable blonde teenage girl grinning down at us excitedly, her eyes darting between Axel and me.

"Hey." I greeted her.

Her smile widened. "I'm a huge Formula One fan!" She squealed. She gave us the most precious puppy dog eyes. "Can I have a picture with you guys, please?!"

"Sure, sweetheart." It was Axel who answered. "What's your name?"

"Grace." She answered shyly.

Hiro graciously offered to take the picture.

She thanked us for the picture, and just as she was about to skip away, she turned to Axel and I, "I want to have a relationship just like yours someday." She sighed dreamily. "You both are my favorite ship. Hashtag Olex for life!"

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Oh no, honey, we're not-" I started to correct her, but Axel threw his arm heavily over my shoulder and cut me off.

"Thanks, Grace! It was lovely meeting you!" He said quickly as she walked away.

I gave him a death-glare, and he rolled his eyes.

"What?" He asked innocently, like he had not just given the wrong impression to the sweetest Amaterasu supporter.

"Hashtag Olex?" I asked him pointedly and then pretended to gag.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. I'm way above your league." He sighed like he had the weight of the world on his broad shoulders. "But the fans seem to love the two of us together, and I love making my fans happy." Suddenly, his face lit up. "We have to take a selfie for the Socials! Everyone is going to lose their minds!"