Can't Let You Go - A Leonetta Fanfic

Chapter 6

Maybe it was not that good an idea coming here after all, Diego thought for the umpteenth time since he came to the motorcross track. Leon and Andres had just left for the studio a couple of minutes ago. He still could catch up to them. Should he follow his friends or stay back here and sort this thing he had with Lara, the mechanic working with Leon?

That girl hated him. She had not said so but it could clearly be seen from her behaviour. From the day they had met, Diego could not remember a single time Lara had spoken properly, nicely to him. He racked his brains to find out if he had said something, done something to upset her... and came up with nothing. He pissed off his friends too and yes, he could be a little a bit of a pain in the neck but they did not behave the way Lara did towards him, did they? He seriously could not imagine what he had done for her to be so pissed off at him and Diego felt his temper rising.

Leon had not said anything out loud but Diego knew that Leon knew there was something happening between him and Lara. That was why the guy had asked no questions when Diego had said he would stay a while longer. The look on his friend's face before he left told Diego "finally". Yeah... this thing had been going on for quite some time now. Enough that it was going on Diego's nerves.

Not only that but he had been thinking about Lara since the last time he saw her. When he saw her today, Diego realised he had missed her. Crazy huh? He could not believe it either. It bothered him a little, though. Why did it have to be Lara, the girl who hated him?

He looked back at her then. He was facing her back as she worked on a motorbike when she turned around and walked past him to a table behind him. Displayed on it were several tools he could not put a name on. She picked one of them and then walked past him again, acting as if he was not there.

He snapped.

"Did I do something wrong?"

She turned around, brows drawn together. "What?"

"Have I said something wrong?" he asked, ignoring her confused look. "Because I don't understand why you are so mad at me."

She rolled her eyes and said, "Go to the studio, Diego."

Suddenly, several images of Lara and Leon talking together, laughing and smiling at each other flashed through his mind.

Studio. Leon.

How his mind came up with this connection, he did not care. It was too late, anyway. The harm was already done.

"Is it Leon?"

Lara frowned. "Where does he come from?"

"You like him?"

"Where does that come from?"
Lara looked at him like he was crazy or something and said, "Diego, I totally don't know what you are talking about but you should stop here."

Diego stared at Lara for several seconds before turning away and shoving a hand through his hair, frustrated. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Calm down.

Suddenly, Lara's face lit up as though a thought had just occurred to her. She crossed hr arms over her chest and looked at him under her lashes. Diego found the look damned sexy.

"You know," she said, "if I didn't know you, I'd think you were jealous."

Diego was taken aback but he quickly regained his composure. "Jealous?" Lara nodded, a smile on her face. "Me?" Another nod. "Seriously?" Another nod. "Of Leon?" A shrug. "Right. You wish."

But even as Diego said that, he doubted his own words. There was no way he was jealous... Was he?

"Fine," Lara muttered, with a rise of her shoulders before she went back working on the motorbike, giving him once again, her back.

Diego frowned. Did she look...mad? But it was a different kind of anger from before.

He moved so that he could see her profile. There was something about Lara's manner he could not read. He studied her, trying to figure out what it was and when he did, he grinned.

"You do, don't you?!"

She released a sigh, and then a hand on her hip, she raised her head to look at him, a bored look on her face. It was as if she already knew that he was going to say something that would make no sense to her. Or she was just bored.

"You wish I was jealous."

Diego knew that maybe he was wrong but the thought that Lara wished he was jealous was really pleasing to him.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "And why would I wish that?" she asked, still not interested.

"Simple," he said with a cocky smile and a shrug. "You love me."

This time, she was the one taken aback. But like him, she recovered quickly. What intrigued Diego though, was the expression that crossed her face. But he couldn't read it as it was gone the moment it came.

Lara turned completely towards him, the tool and the motorbike forgotten, and crossed her arms. "Love you? I don't even like you, Diego. To me, you're just an arrogant, cocky boy full of himself. All you do is piss me off. There's no way I'll fall for you."

That last part hurt. Diego tried his best to ignore it...with no success. And this came out of his mouth, "And Leon?"

"Stop bringing him up Diego," she snapped at him. "I don't like Leon. Not in the way you mean. Go on like this," she warned him, "and I"m going to."

On that, she turned on her heels, giving him her back. Diego was about to remind her that the guy was already taken when Lara spun around, as though another thought had just occured to her, with a smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes. For an unknown reason, Diego feared what was coming.

"You know what? I think you're right," she told him.

I was right about what? Diego thought nervously.

Lara hooked her thumbs in her pockets and said pensively, "Maybe I'll start seeing Leon that way, and why not? He is handsome. A really nice guy. Good at singing and dancing." She paused and locked eyes with him, before adding, "Really good at motocross."

Diego frowned at the sudden change in Lara's behaviour and at the emphasis of the word "really". It almost sounded like a challenge to him.

Lara looked down and pretended to remove dust from her clothes. "A skill you don't have," she mumbled.

Lara had mumbled but Diego got it clear as crystal.

"Did you just challenge me?"

She looked up. "Oh did I?" she asked with a great air of surprise.

Oh yes she did.

Diego closed the distance between them and stood right in front of Lara. She tilted her head up to meet his gaze.

"I can be as good as Leon is at motocross."

"As good?" Lara scoffed. "Diego. You don't even know how to ride a motorbike."

He smiled. "You can't be sure of that."

"Leon told me."

The only thing Diego got from that was that they talked about him. Leon and Lara did. But he did not let it affect him.

"That was then. This is now." Lara arched an eyebrow and he went on, "I prove to you I can ride a motorbike and you tell me what I want to know."

"And if you can't?"

He chuckled. "Not gonna happen, love."

She scoffed, looking away. "You're so cocky."

She didn't need to tell him something he already knew.

"Deal?" he asked, holding out a hand.

Lara looked down at the hand between them, then back up at him. A smile spread across her face. "Deal," she said as she took his hand and shook it.