Drive to Survive

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Spain was delivering on every aspect so far. The food had been incredible every night, the music was beautiful, and the people were welcoming. Plus, the weather was warming up every day.

Dylan had been granted the first couple days to stay in her room and recover. Max had dropped around the rest of her medication but still sent her text reminders, which had her blushing at his attention and care. Her conversation with Hunter stayed in the back of her head, but she was still hesitant to allow herself to hope that Max returned her feelings. She'd used her rest time to stay busy on her laptop, going over all the footage from the Miami race and getting it uploaded across their various comms channels. 

Max and Sergio had been either stuck in sponsorship meetings or chained to the simulator, getting all the additional practice in. 

Towards the end of the first week, she was feeling pretty much back to normal. The occasional headache or twinge of muscular pain still happened every now and again but she'd regained full mobility and, with the intermittent aid of ibuprofen, had been signed off to start full work and activity again. 

This morning, Andy had encouraged Hunter and Dylan to both use the day to get some content of the city. Dylan had just packed her bag for the day and walked out of her room when she bumped into Max, who almost looked like he'd been hovering around outside. 

"Hey." She smiled, "You alright?"

He nodded, "Where are you off to?"

"Going to do one of those cringey tourist walking tours to hit all the sights in the shortest time possible." She gestured at her camera bag, "Andy's request."

"Oh. Okay." He replied, a slight furrow in his brow. 

They began to walk towards the lift and Max's awkward behaviour made Dylan hesitate. Part of her wondered if she should ask him what she wanted to ask him, but she didn't know where they stood. They'd not really had a chance to speak much since the flight and she was unsure where his head was at. But she wanted to ask him, and so before she could talk herself out of it, she put herself on the line and asked, 

"Do you want to come with me?"

His slight pause was all it took for her heart to jump into her throat and start screaming instant regret but she needn't have panicked so quickly because he nodded firmly and replied, "Yes. I would like that."

"Okay." Dylan smiled shyly as the lift doors closed on them, "Let's go then."

Outside, the sun was shining and the streets weren't too busy. It was a week day, so most people were at work, and only the Red Bull team had pitched up in Spain so far. Carlos and Charles weren't due to come until tomorrow and Lewis wasn't coming until a few days after that. 

"Right, first up is Park Guell. I think it's about a half an hour walk in..." Dylan scanned her phone map and spun around, coming to a stop, "...that direction?"

"I think I trust your navigating about as much as your driving." Max rolled his eyes as they began to walk uncertainly in the direction Dylan had pointed out.

"Excuse me! My driving got us to the right place, didn't it?"

"Yeah, with my tyres just about intact."

"Exactly." She triumphed, "So no complaints allowed."

They chattered on as they ambled down the busy street. Dylan pointed out different shops and markets to Max, explaining the Spanish or the meaning of different things around the town. A couple people noticed him but on the whole, he managed to fly under the radar and nobody approached them, much to his satisfaction.