#max x reader

That question followed you home. The next evening, Max came up behind you in the bedroom, pressing his chest to your back and kissing your neck slowly , his silent “I need you” signal. You were needy too, and the curiosity burned hotter than usual.

You turned into his arms. "Max... about that thing my friend asked. I want to test it but let's turn it into a challenge"

His competitive grin appeared instantly. “Yeah?”

“Whoever taps out first has to be the other’s personal servant for the next two months. Whatever they want, whenever they want. No excuses.”

“Deal,” he said, eyes gleaming. “But I’m not losing, schatje.”

You both loved sabotaging each other. You had secrets to make him lose his mind. He knew your weak spots too. Game on.

You started slow, saving energy. He peeled your shirt off, you did the same to his. Clothes dropped piece by piece until you were naked. He rolled a condom on carefully, then pulled you into soft, deep kisses, hands gentle on your waist as he laid you down.

It was sweet, slow rolls of his hips, lazy making out. Until Max pulled an ace from his sleeve.

While still moving inside you with that unhurried rhythm, his thumb found your clit and started rubbing tight, perfect circles. He knew how easily you got overstimulated there. The gentle session turned electric in seconds. Your breathing grew heavy, hips jerking.

“Max— fuck...” you gasped.

He didn’t stop. He kept the slow thrusts going and rubbed your clit relentlessly until the orgasm hit you like a wave. You cried out, clenching hard around him, thighs shaking. He didn’t let your poor clit rest, drawing out every aftershock until you were panting and dizzy.

It took you a moment to recover. Then you remembered: you had to fight back if you wanted to win.

You pushed him onto his back and straddled him, sinking down onto his cock in one smooth motion. You were in control now.

“No hands,” you ordered, grabbing his wrists and pinning them beside his head.

You rode him exactly how you knew he liked: deep rolls of your hips, then faster bounces, then slowing down cruelly when he got close. Max’s eyes started rolling back, fingers gripping the sheets tightly.

“Please… please let me come,” he murmured, voice strained.

You slowed even more, teasing. “What did you say? Say it louder if you want it.”

Max was too desperate to fight his pride. “Please, Y/N… just let me come, pleasee”

“Good boy,” you whispered, riding him hard and fast until he came with a deep groan, filling the condom.

It was obvious this was only the beginning. Normally you would have stopped here, but your friend was right: pushing limits was addictive. And neither of you liked losing.

Max reached for another condom. You stopped him.

He raised an eyebrow until you slid off the bed and knelt between his legs. His cock twitched at the sight. You rarely did this ,maybe twice in five years, and he knew you weren’t a big fan. That made it even more effective.

“Don’t put it on yet.”

Max needed a bit longer to get fully hard again. You used the time to tease him with your mouth.

He hardened instantly when you kissed the tip. You teased with soft kitten licks and kisses, drawing it out. Soon his hand rested on the back of your head. You let him guide you, relaxing as he pushed deeper.

You gagged and pulled back for air. “Sorry… I’m really inexperienced with this.”

He just stroked your hair gently, breathing hard. You went back in more determined. Your eyes watered, tears slipping down your cheeks as he grew frantic. The ache between your legs became unbearable, so you slipped a hand down and rubbed your clit while sucking him.

Max groaned at the sight. You looked up at him through wet lashes and cupped his balls and that broke him. His eyes rolled back and he spilled into your mouth with a broken moan.

“You don’t have to swallow if you don’t want to,” he rasped.

But you did. You pulled off, opened your mouth to show him, then swallowed.

“Fuck… such a good girl,” he murmured, voice wrecked. His cock twitched hard at the sight.

He noticed your hand still between your legs and grinned. “Is my pretty girl horny? Want me to help?”

“Yes please,” you whispered.

He pulled you back onto the bed, spread your legs wide, and settled between them. He spread your soaked folds, admiring how your pussy clenched around nothing. He toyed with you, circling your clit, sliding fingers along your labia, dipping one finger in only to pull it out.

“Please Max, do something,” you begged, hips humping his hand.

“Naughty girl. Be patient,” he said, then gave your pussy a light slap.

Your whole body jolted and a strangled moan escaped. Max looked surprised but pleased, he’d never done that before. He did it again, a little harder. Your hips jerked and another moan tore from you.

“I see… we’re learning new things about each other,” he said, voice low. He gave one more light slap, then dove between your legs with his mouth, making you see stars.

“How about a 69 if we’re experimenting?” Max suggested with a wicked grin, still catching his breath.

The night became a blur of exploration. You tried positions you’d never bothered with before. Max took you from behind while you gripped the headboard. You rode him reverse cowgirl, grinding back against him. He fucked you against the wall, your legs wrapped around his waist. You switched dominance constantly : sometimes you pinned him and edged him until he begged, sometimes he held you down and made you come over and over until your voice went hoarse.

You both lay there for a minute, catching your breath, sweaty and laughing softly.

“Still good?” he asked, competitive glint still in his eyes.

“Better than you,” you shot back.

“Oh my god, Max, you and your stupid 69 jokes,” you laughed.

“Please?” He gave you the softest, subby eyes and sweet talk until you gave in.

It wasn’t a joke. He was obsessed, eating you out like a man starved while you took him back into your mouth. The mutual pleasure was overwhelming. You both came hard again.

Round… you’d lost count.

You were both exhausted, bodies covered in sweat, legs trembling. But neither would quit. You wanted to break him.

“Don’t take a condom this time,” you said, voice hoarse. “I want you raw.”

Max’s eyes darkened with surprise and lust. You were both clean and you were on birth control. He was more than happy to agree, but you could see he was fighting exhaustion too.

He slid into you bare and you both moaned at the feeling. He found your g-spot almost immediately and hammered into it relentlessly, trying to make you tap out. The raw friction felt incredible, too good. You were sore, overstimulated, and felt like it had been hours, but the pleasure kept building.

You came once more, but this time the overstimulation was bordering on too much. Your muscles were tired. Max chased his own release, thrusting deep until he spilled inside you with a guttural groan. He pulled out slowly, watching his cum drip from your pussy for a moment before collapsing beside you.

You both stared at the ceiling, chests heaving.

You turned to look at each other, shocked, then started laughing weakly.

“I’m quitting,” you said at the exact same time as him.

“So… we both lose?” you asked.

“Technically yes,” Max grinned tiredly. “This time. Rematch in two days?”

You groaned but smiled. “Deal.”

He pulled you into his arms and kissed your temple. You stayed there for a while, enjoying the warmth.

“Okay, I need to go clean up,” you said eventually, trying to stand.

Max reached for you. “Sit back down, I’ll clean you up—”

Too late. Your legs gave out the second you stood. You started falling. Max tried to catch you but when he stood up, his own legs buckled too. Both of you ended up on the floor in a tangled, exhausted heap.

You burst out laughing. “I was just… searching for something on the ground.”

Max's brow furrows as he glances to your left hand. While your wedding ring is still on, slender and golden, matching his perfectly, your engagement ring is nowhere to be found. His heart drops. Not because he's upset at the possibility of misplacing the ring permanently, but because he knows how important the ring is to you.

A few years ago he was scrolling through jewelry websites at 2AM, frantically clearing his search history whenever he heard you so much as shift in your sleep. Then, a few months after that, when he had found the perfect ring—one that screamed your name to him so clearly—he found himself down on one knee, confessing all of his feelings that he had already told you a million times over. You had said yes before he could even finish his speech, and, well, the rest was history.

You've cherished that ring ever since. Not only for how much you're sure it cost your husband, but for what it symbolized. You haven't taken it off once for the past three years. You always had a fear of misplacing it or losing it somehow. Now that your fear is being realized, you're seconds away from tears.

"It's okay—it'll be fine. Just calm down first. You had it on this morning?" Max grabs your hands in his, studying your distraught face. Your fingers brush against his ring, the one that matches yours perfectly. The first tears slip down your cheek.

"It was on when I woke up. I never take it off. You know I never take it off." Your voice trembles as your husband pulls you into his arms.

Max starts hunting the house high and low before you've even stopped crying. He knows that you'll feel less panicked if you know he's already on the hunt for it, triple-checking all your usual spots. You've been scatter-brained recently, which isn't quite like you. He tries to ignore a twist in his gut telling him that something must be causing it. Misplacing your keys or phone, forgetting things you came into the room to get, and now your ring is missing too.

Max's eyes scan the bathroom medicine cabinet and then drop to the counter. Out of anywhere in the house, it's a likely place for it to be. He's about to give up on it entirely when he spots a little gold next to the rug on the floor. Sure enough, it's your ring, intact without a scratch on it. He's about to call you to say he's found it when something else catches his eyes. There's a box in the trashcan.

'Pregnancy Test: Ultra Early. Results 6 Days Earlier'.

He picks it up. There's a used test in it— white plastic, unmistakable. He flips it over in his hand carefully, staring at it like it holds the answers to the universe. There's a dark pink line, and as he squints closer, a faint second line. It's barely visible. Max's almost certain he's imagining it. He holds it up to the light, studying it just to be sure. It's undoubtedly there.

"Honey, I found your ring!" he calls out, eyes unable to leave the small test. He knows you would've told him immediately. You wouldn't hide something like this from him. You're too bad at keeping a secret to do that even if you wanted to, especially with him.

Which means… you must not even know. You must've thrown the test out without noticing the second line.

Your face is flooded with relief when you step into the bathroom. Max sets the test down, smiles at you like nothing has changed, and holds out the ring. You grin.

"Thank God it's not lost for good."

Your husband slips the ring back on ceremoniously, kissing your ring finger for good measure which makes you giggle. You pull him down for a real kiss. You're about to deepen it when he pulls back.

"I found something else while looking for your ring," he whispers, lips still a breath away from yours.

"Hm?"

"Tell me," he starts, reaching behind him to pick up the test again. "I'm not imagining the second line… right?"

Max Verstappen, on the other hand, was a gentleman. Capital G Gentleman. He held doors, carried bags, and insisted on walking closest to the street, even if it meant getting hit by a rogue bird scooter or even Charles Leclerc.

Which is what made dating you . . . a little frustrating for him.

“You’re my girlfriend, schat,” he’d complained to you over and over, “I want to spoil you. Why won’t you let me do things for you?”

And you always laughed, sweet and low. “Because I can do them myself.”

“Yeah,” Max would huff, “But you shouldn’t have to.”

It wasn’t that you didn’t appreciate it—it was that you weren’t used to it. That kind of gentleness had always felt like something from a storybook. But Max was different. He meant it. Every time he tried to make you feel like a princess, it wasn’t performative. It was just who he was.

Still, habits die hard.

Even tonight, after a perfect dinner date—wine, laughter, one too many appetisers—you walked yourself to the car like always. You were scrolling through your buzzing phone, a message from your best friend lighting up the screen as your heels clicked steadily against the concrete of the underground parking lot.

Max didn’t notice you had paused. With a hand in his pocket, he made his way over to the passenger door, expecting you to reach the handle before him like you always do.

Max didn’t realise you were a meter behind. Not really. He was deep in thought—his hand already reaching for the handle on your side, not expecting anything, just doing. His mind was somewhere between Should I take her to that little vineyard next weekend? and god, she looked good tonight, when he heard your steps stop beside him.

You looked up from your phone and raised a brow, amused. “Max?”

He blinked. “Yes, schatje?”

And for the first time . . . he’d opened the door for you.

You smiled. No teasing, no smug quip—just warmth in your gaze as you leaned forward, pressing the softest kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, baby.”

Max blinked again, stunned, and then—he grinned. No. He beamed. And as you slid into the seat, completely unbothered, Max’s mouth stretched into something close to villainous glee.

When he sat in the driver’s seat, he just took a moment, not even starting the car, but looking at you with this cute smile that slowly widened the more he looked between your eyes.

By the time he was driving through the roads of Monaco, he was full on giggling. A "Heh. Heheheheheh." escaped under his breath, a cartoon villain chuckle if you’d ever heard one. It grew louder, more triumphant. You loved it when Max laughed like this, a usual sight in his streams; scrunched nose and crinkled eyes with his teeth showing in his smile.

When he stopped at a red light, he was buzzing. “Did you see that?” he asked like he’d just won a Grand Prix. “I opened the door for you!”

You raised an eyebrow. “You did.”

“You let me.”

You snorted. “I was texting!”

“I won,” he said dramatically, head thrown back in glee as he started driving again once the light turned green. “That was the greatest moment of my life.”

“You literally won the world championship—”

“This is better.” He whispered like it was some sort of secret, “I have four of those championships, but I only have one of this.”

The whole way home, Max couldn’t stop smiling. Grinning like an idiot, eyes crinkled and squinted and nose scrunched, humming to himself like a ma man, eyes gleaming with chaotic joy. You leaned your head against the window, giggling every time he said something like, “I can die happy now,” or “Do you think there’s a trophy for Most Romantic Door Opening?”

But it wasn’t over.

Oh no.

As the car eased into the garage and the engine turned off, you moved to unbuckle your seatbelt. “Alright, come on—”

“NO.”

You blinked. “What?”

“Don’t move,” Max said, already leaping out of the car like it was on fire. “Don’t. Move. Don’t get out, don’t even breathe!”

“MAX—”

“I MEAN IT!” he shouted across the hood, which he had jumped on in hopes of getting to your side of the car faster than just walking around.

You watched, stunned, as your Formula One world champion boyfriend lunged across the hood like a man possessed. Dress shirt half-untucked, what a sight. he slid off the hood at your side.

You crack the door open and start to get out—but you are quickly shoved back in your seat with the door slamming shut in your face.

You blinked up at him, lips twitching.

He held up a finger, signalling “give me a second”, chest rising and falling as he straightened his shirt. Fixed his posture. Ran a hand through his hair like he was about to walk into a royal ball.

Then, with the gravitas of a knight, he slowly opened the car door.

“My lady,” he said with a bow, extending his hand.

You laughed. Laughed. It bubbled up from your chest and spilt out, uncontrolled. “You are so dramatic.”

“Shhh,” he whispered, eyes twinkling. “Take my hand.”

You did.

He helped you out like you were made of glass. Tucked your hand into the crook of his arm like you were royalty. Walked you up to the elevator, then your shared apartment like he was on some period drama set, absolutely giddy with pride.

You were still laughing when you reached the front door. Shaking your head.

“If this is how you get when I let you open one door,” you teased, “I’m never letting you open one again.”

Max stopped. Froze, his jaw dropped.

His face crumbled—comically horrified, like a man who had just realised he’d wished on a cursed monkey’s paw.

“No. No, no no no—wait. You can open some! Not all of them—I’ll pick which ones—WAIT, PLEASE DON’T TAKE THIS FROM ME.” The Dutchman shook you from your shoulders.

You cackled as you stepped inside, him following quickly in step, pleading dramatically. “I’m begging you, schatje. You can open the fridge. Open your own texts. But let me have the doors, PLEASE—”

“You’re so ridiculous,” you giggled, wrapping your arms around his neck.

His hands slid to your waist, still pouty. “I’m ridiculous for you.”

You kissed him again, slow and sweet this time. “Fine,” you whispered against his lips. “You get the car doors.”

Max lit up again.

“I’m going to start timing myself,” he whispered, forehead pressed to yours. “Make it a sport. Beat my personal best to the passenger side.”

“You’re the fastest man in the world, Max,” you said with a grin. “Use your powers for good.”

“Schatje, they call me Mad Max for a reason.”

The paddock always felt like a place you weren’t meant to enjoy. It was too loud, too fast, and filled with too many people acting like a car going in circles was the pinnacle of human achievement.

You adjusted your sunglasses, leaning closer to your manager as the humidity began to mess with your blowout.

“Be honest—if I ‘accidentally’ get lost and end up back at the hotel, how bad would it be?”

“Catastrophic,” she replied, her eyes glued to her phone. “You’re headlining the post-race concert tonight. Try to look like you’re having the time of your life.”

You hummed, unconvinced, watching a camera crew scurry past. A collective hush fell over the nearby crowd, followed by a wave of frantic whispers. It was the kind of energy usually reserved for a surprise drop or a red carpet entrance.

“That’s him,” your manager muttered, finally looking up.

You followed her gaze, uninterested. “Which one? There are fifty guys in matching polos.”

“The World Champion. Max Verstappen.”

He didn’t look like what you expected. There was no dramatic entrance, no ego-flaring energy. He was just… quiet. Hands tucked into his pockets, expression unreadable, walking with a focused stride that suggested he’d rather be anywhere else.

You shrugged, turning back toward the hospitality suite. “The Dutch guy?”

Max heard it. The words were tossed over your shoulder like a piece of confetti—light, colorful, and entirely dismissive.

He slowed his pace, just for a fraction of a second, catching a glimpse of you walking away. You didn’t look back. There was no double-take, no flash of recognition, and absolutely zero interest.

It was a refreshing, if slightly jarring, change of pace.

Later, a PR representative insisted on a formal introduction. It was the "famous singer meets famous driver" photo-op that everyone but the two of you seemed to want.

You offered a polite, practiced smile, your hand feeling small and warm in his when you shook it.

“Hi,” you said, your voice airy and calm. “I think I’m supposed to know exactly who you are. My apologies.”

Max blinked, his blue eyes searching yours for a hint of sarcasm. He didn’t find any. “That would usually help the conversation, yeah.”

You tilted your head, studying the sharp lines of his face like he was a puzzle you weren’t quite sure was worth solving. “They said you’re the best at this?”

A beat of silence passed. Max gave a small, almost shy shrug. “...Sometimes.”

You nodded, accepting that as if it were a perfectly mundane answer. Your eyes drifted toward the garage behind him, where millions of dollars of machinery sat in pieces. “They all look the same, honestly. Does it matter which one you pick?”

Max huffed a quiet laugh before he could catch himself. It wasn't his usual media-trained chuckle; it was genuine. “It matters a little bit, yes.”

You didn’t ask for a picture. You didn’t linger to talk about his stats. You didn’t even try to keep the conversation going once the silence grew thin.

“Well, good luck, I guess,” you added, already stepping back and checking your watch. “Drive safe, or whatever.”

Max watched you leave. Again.

“She just dismissed you,” Lando said, appearing at his side with a grin that was far too wide. “Completely blew you off.”

“I noticed.”

“Called you ‘the Dutch guy’ earlier, too. I heard her.”

Max exhaled, but it wasn't the sigh of someone who was annoyed. His gaze stayed fixed on the spot where you’d disappeared into the crowd. “I’m not thinking about it,” Max said, preempting the comment.

“You definitely are.”

Max didn't answer.

But later that night—when your voice carried over the circuit, clear and effortless, amplified by a thousand speakers—Max stopped mid-sentence in the middle of a technical debrief. He looked up at the monitors, watching you command a stage of thousands with the same casual indifference you'd shown him.

And for the first time all weekend, he wasn't thinking about his lap times. He was paying attention.

-

ynuser

liked by friend1, friend2, f1 and others

ynuser sang, danced, almost passed out from the heat… and apparently met “the dutch guy” 🏁 idk what’s going on but it was fun

friend1 NOT “THE DUTCH GUY” 💀

friend2 girl that’s literally THE max verstappen

user1 THE LAST PIC???? HELLO????

user2 excuse me why is max in her photo dump 😭

user3 max smiling like that??? oh this is serious (it’s been 5 minutes)

user4 new crossover just dropped???

charles_leclerc nice performance 👍

user1 CHARLES WHAT DO YOU KNOW

user5 she said “the dutch guy” like he’s a random man at starbucks 😭

user6 coming back to this when they’re dating btw

ynuser guys relax he was nice 😭

- weeks after

replies:

a - username ain’t no way 😭

b - username HE DOESN’T GO OUT LIKE THIS???

c - username why does he look… soft

d - username that’s literally him I’m sick

-

tiktok

clip: you in your bathroom, phone propped up on the counter. Lipsyncing a love song, you turn to grab something and—in the mirror—there’s a figure behind you. Sitting on the counter, cap low. Scrolling his phone like he doesn’t even realize he’s in frame.

comments:

user1 UM???? PAUSE??? BACKGROUND???

user2 WHO IS THAT MAN

user3 GIRL IS THAT THE DUTCH GUY

user4 he’s just… there. like a side quest character 😭

user5 this is the most accidental hard launch ever

-

-

The studio was stifling.

It was a chaotic mix of expensive equipment, half-empty energy drinks, and a vibrating energy that usually made you feel alive. Today, though, the air felt heavy. You were in the middle of a playback, leaning over a mixing board with Julian, the artist you were collaborating with.

He said something—a dumb joke about a missed note—and you erupted into a laugh, your hand instinctively resting on his forearm for balance. It was the "industry" version of you: warm, accessible, effortlessly charming.

“Okay, okay—run it back from the second verse,” Julian said, grinning back at you.

You nodded, sweeping your hair over your shoulder as you stepped toward the vocal booth. But your eyes drifted to the corner of the room.

Max hadn’t moved in an hour.

He was leaning against the soundproof foam wall, arms crossed tightly over his chest, his Red Bull cap pulled low. He was a silent spectator, watching the scene with the same terrifying focus he usually reserved for a telemetry screen.

You caught his eye and flashed him a quick, bright grin.

He didn't smile back. He just gave a singular, slow nod—the kind that meant he’d seen exactly what he needed to see.

“Five-minute break?” the producer called out.

You pulled your headphones off, the silence of the booth ringing in your ears. You walked straight toward Max, trying to shake off the sudden chill.

“Hey,” you said, stepping into his space. “You’ve been so quiet. What do you think of the track?”

Max shrugged, his eyes finally lifting from the floor to your face. “It’s good. Very catchy.”

“‘Catchy’?” you teased, poking his arm. “I just spent three hours bleeding my soul into that mic and you give me ‘catchy’?”

“It’s your world,” he said simply, his voice flat. “You know if it’s good. You don't need me to tell you.”

You squinted at him, the playful mood dying. “You’re being weird, Max.”

“I’m not.”

He pushed off the wall, bypassing you to grab his water bottle. He didn't look back.

It was nearly 1:00 AM by the time the elevator dinged on your floor. The silence of the hotel hallway felt like a relief after the roar of the studio.

You kicked your heels off the moment you crossed the threshold of the suite, tossing your bag onto the sofa. “Julian is actually a genius,” you said, still trying to bridge the gap between you. “The way he writes melodies on the fly… it’s actually insane. I think this might be a Top 10 hit.”

“You laugh like that with everyone?” The question was so soft you almost missed it.

You froze, your jacket halfway off your shoulders. You turned slowly. Max was standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, the lights of the city casting sharp shadows across his face. He looked like he regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.

“…What?”

“When you’re working,” he clarified, his jaw tight. “Is that just… the standard? The touching, the laughing at things that aren't funny. Is that how it works?”

You stared at him, the realization hitting you like a physical weight. You walked closer, stopping just a few feet away.

“Are you jealous, Max?” you asked. You didn't mean it as a taunt; you were genuinely floored.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You’re the World Champion,” you whispered, taking another step. “You’re the most confident person I’ve ever met. You really think I’m looking at anyone else in a room you’re standing in?”

He exhaled a harsh, jagged breath, his eyes finally snapping to yours.

“It’s different, seeing it,” he admitted, his voice dropping an octave. “I spend my life in a car where everything is logic and data. Then I watch you… and you’re so easy with people. You give them so much of yourself.”

He reached out, his fingers catching your wrist and pulling you into his space. His grip wasn't tight, but it was possessive.

“I know it’s work,” he murmured, his gaze dropping to your lips and then back to your eyes. “Doesn’t mean I have to like watching them think they have a chance.”

You didn't answer with words. You just reached up, cupping his face, feeling the tension in his neck finally start to break.

Max didn't do "subtle" often, but when he did, it burned.

-

ynuser

liked by user1, lanadelrey, charles_leclerc and others

ynuser lost my voice, lost my mind, found my favorite place again 🤍 thank you for screaming with me

friend1 YOU ATE SO HARD???

friend2 i have no hearing left btw thanks

user1 THE LAST SLIDE HELLO???? WHO IS THAT 🫦

user2 she looks so happy lately 🥹

user3 WAIT IS THAT MAX VERSTAPPEN BACKSTAGE OR AM I DELUSIONAL

lando good show 👍

user1 LANDO WHAT DO YOU KNOW

user4 THE DRIVERS IN HER COMMENTS????

ynuser idk who you’re talking about 😭

-

“We’re not serious.”

Max says it like he’s reading a data sheet. Like if he labels the situation, he can keep it from spiraling out of control. It’s a boundary. It’s a safety net.

You always nod like it doesn't matter, your expression as practiced as a red-carpet pose. “Totally. Just casual.”

But "casual" doesn't usually involve sneaking through service elevators at 3:00 AM. It doesn't involve the quiet, heavy click of a hotel deadbolt and the immediate relief of being in a room where nobody is holding a camera.

When you open the door, he’s always there—no announcement, no fanfare. Just Max, leaning against the doorframe with that half-hidden smirk.

“Hi,” you whisper.

“Hi,” he responds, his voice low and raspy from a day of radio comms.

No labels. No questions. Just the way his hands find your waist like they’ve memorized the coordinates. Casual doesn’t feel like the glow of a phone screen in the middle of the night.

[2:07 AM] Max: you’re still awake?

You’re staring at the ceiling of a penthouse in London, the city lights bleeding through the curtains. You smile into your pillow, the heat of the text hitting you harder than it should.

You: jet lag is ruining my life. why are you up?

There’s a pause. The "typing..." bubble appears, disappears, and then comes back.

Max: you have rehearsal at 10. go to sleep.

Your chest feels warm, a frantic little flutter that you try to ignore. You know for a fact he didn't have your tour itinerary—at least, he wasn't supposed to.

You: yes, dad.

Max: shut up. sleep.

You laugh softly, burying your face in the duvet so your stylist in the next room doesn’t hear you.

“Just casual,” he repeats a few days later, almost like a mantra he needs to hear out loud.

You’re in his kitchen in Monaco, barefoot and swallowed whole by one of his oversized Red Bull hoodies. You’re humming a melody that hasn't been released yet, opening his fridge with the casual entitlement of someone who knows exactly where the orange juice is kept.

“Yeah,” you echo, glancing at him over your shoulder. “No strings.”

But "casual" doesn't memorize your flight numbers. It doesn't know exactly what time your soundcheck starts in a different time zone. It doesn't result in a vibration in your pocket five minutes before you go on stage.

Max: good luck tonight.

Max: you’ll be great.

Max: text me after.

Casual doesn’t stay on the phone while you fall asleep.

There are nights when the tour is too much, when the noise of the fans and the pressure of the label feel like they’re crushing you. You’ll call him, and he won’t say much—he isn’t a man of many words—but he’ll stay.

He’ll stay on the line while you breathe, his own steady, rhythmic breathing acting as an anchor. He’ll wait until your voice trails off, until you’ve finally drifted away.

“You did good today,” he’ll whisper into the silence, thinking you’re too far gone to hear him.

One night, you’re sitting on his kitchen counter, your legs brushing his thighs as he leans in to grab a glass. You don't move. He doesn't either.

“You’re actually terrible at 'casual,' Max,” you say, your voice daring him to look at you.

He pauses, his hand hovering near the cupboard. He doesn't look away. “…I’m not.”

“You text me before every single show. You know my schedule better than my assistant does.”

“That’s just being efficient,” he counters, though his voice has lost its edge. “I like knowing where you are.”

“You remember things I don’t even remember telling you,” you press, stepping off the counter so you’re standing directly in his space. “The name of my first guitar. How I like my coffee when I’m tired. That’s not 'casual' behavior.”

“Max.” He looks at you then. Really looks. The World Champion, the man who can navigate a turn at 200 mph without blinking, suddenly looks like he’s hit a wall he didn't see coming.

The silence stretches, thick and heavy with everything neither of you is supposed to feel.

“Just casual,” he repeats, but his voice is a ghost of itself. His hand lingers on your waist, his thumb tracing a slow, deliberate circle against the fabric of his own hoodie.

He doesn't pull away. And for once, you don't let him.

-

lando

liked by ynuser, alex_albon, user and others

lando weekend 👍

10 minutes later… POST DELETED

-

user - username WHY WAS SHE ON HIS LAP LIKE THAT????

user - username I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LANDO NORRIS

user - username NOT EVEN HARD LAUNCH THIS IS FULL ON CONFIRMATION 😭

user - username HE DELETED IT BUT WE WERE QUICKER

-

TIKTOK - EDITS MADE BY FANS

user this won’t last

user she’s too young for him idc

user He’s gonna get bored 🙂

user this is such a rebound situation

user She’s literally an influencer. What is he doing?

user They don’t even match ❗❗❗

user opposites attract but this is too much

user I give it 3 months.

user He’s never been with someone like her…

-

user ACTUALLY REALLY SWEET??? OH

user charles confirming before max does 😭

-

-

ynspam

monaco16 has started following you.

saintalex has started following you.

lilythegolfist has started following you.

12 more users has started following you.

-

ynspam

liked by fastlion, monaco16, saintalex and others

ynspam he said this song isn’t good btw

friend1 HE’S WRONG

friend2 DUMP HIM

saintalex THIS IS GOLD 😭

lilythegolfist he looks so domestic???

-

The apartment in Monaco was too quiet, the kind of silence that felt heavy and expectant, like the air right before a thunderstorm. Max was pacing near the floor-to-ceiling windows, his jaw tight, while Y/N sat on the edge of the velvet sofa, her phone face down on the coffee table as if it were a live grenade.

"I’m just saying, Y/N, you don't have to engage with it," Max said, his voice clipped and frustratingly calm. "Why do you even read the comments? It’s just noise. If you stop posting the behind-the-scenes stuff, the vultures have nothing to pick at."

Y/N let out a sharp, dry laugh, looking up at him. "It’s not 'just noise,' Max. It’s my career. I’m a singer, not a driver who can just put a helmet on and disappear into a cockpit. My brand is my connection to people. If I go silent, I’m 'aloof.' If I speak up, I’m 'dramatic.'"

"Then let the PR team handle it," he countered, stopping his pacing to look down at her. "You’re making yourself miserable over people who don't know you. I’ve been through this for a decade. You ignore the bullshit, you do the work, and you move on. It’s simple."

"It’s simple for you," she snapped, standing up to meet his gaze. The height difference usually felt comforting, but right now, it felt like a wall she couldn't climb over. "You’re the world champion. You’re older, you’re established, and you’re a man in a sport where being 'aggressive' or 'cold' is a compliment. I’m twenty-one. To the world, I’m a girl who got lucky with a catchy hook, and they are waiting—begging—for me to mess up so they can call me a child."

Max stepped closer, his expression softening into that protective look that usually made her feel safe, but today, it felt like a cage. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but she stepped back.

"I’m trying to protect you, Y/N. I don’t want to see you crying over a Twitter thread at 2:00 AM. I’ve seen how this world chews people up. I’m just telling you how to survive it."

"You’re telling me how to be quiet," she corrected, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and exhaustion. "You treat me like I’m some fragile thing that needs to be shielded, Max. Every time I try to vent, you give me a lecture. You talk to me like I’m a rookie who doesn't know the tracks, but this isn’t your world. It’s mine."

Max crossed his arms, his blue eyes hardening again. "I’ve had cameras in my face since I was seventeen. I know what it’s like to be the villain in the headlines. Don’t act like I don't understand the pressure."

Y/N looked at him, really looked at him—the man who had lived a whole lifetime of fame before she’d even graduated high school. The gap between them had never felt wider than it did in that moment.

"You understand your pressure," she said quietly, her voice cutting through the room. "But you don't get what it’s like to be me online. You’ve never had your entire worth as a human being debated because of the shirt you wore or the way you breathed in a ten-second clip. You don’t get what it’s like to be a young woman in this industry, Max. You don't get the vitriol, and you definitely don't get how much it hurts when even you look at me like I’m just a kid who doesn't know any better."

Max opened his mouth to argue, but the words died in his throat. He looked at her—really saw the frustration and the genuine hurt in her eyes—and for the first time in a long time, the man who always had a calculated answer was left in total silence.

-

user - username she’s so pretty but she looks like she’s playing dress up in her kids clothes… idk

user - username the age gap is really starting to show. she looks like a fan he picked up at a concert.

user - username Kelly had that elegance. Y/N is just… a pop star. It’s a massive downgrade in maturity if you ask me. ☕️

user - username Max went from a woman to a girl who still uses TikTok filters. I give it six months.

user - username @ user RT. Max needs someone who understands the pressure of the sport, not someone who’s spiraling over her own album charts every week.

-

-

maxverstappen1

liked by ynuser, charles_leclerc, alexandraleclerc and others

maxverstappen1 My favorite person ❤️

user Still think Kelly was a better fit for the champion lifestyle…

maxverstappen1 @ user Then go follow her. I’m happy with my life, you should try finding one of your own. 👍

-

ynuser

liked by maxverstappen1, lilymhe, friend1 and others

ynuser ocean air, salty hair 🌊

maxverstappen1 Nice 👍

ynuser @ maxverstappen1 max i am literally your girlfriend, "nice 👍" is for a podium finish, not this. this is why we don't let you comment.

user Not the thumbs up 😭 he is such a dad i’m crying

-

-

The air in the Monaco penthouse was thick with the scent of expensive hotel candles and the lingering metallic tang of Max’s race gear, discarded near the door. Suitcases were open like jagged teeth across the floor—hers, packed for the Asian leg of her world tour; his, barely zipped for the triple-header in the Americas.

Y/N was sitting on the floor, her head resting against the side of the bed, staring at a stack of polaroids they’d taken in Ibiza. She looked small, swallowed by one of Max’s oversized Red Bull hoodies.

"I can’t even look at my phone without seeing a side-by-side of us and his 'past life,'" she whispered, her voice sounding thin and frayed. "And tomorrow I’m in Tokyo, and you’re in Austin, and then Mexico... Max, I’m drowning. I feel like I’m dragging you down into this circus with me."

Max stopped mid-motion, his hand hovering over his watch charger. He turned slowly, his eyes narrowing. "You think you’re dragging me down? Y/N, I’ve lived in a circus since I was four years old. I don't care about the noise."

"I do!" she stood up, the movement sudden and sharp. "I care because it’s hurting my music. I care because every time I post a song about being happy, people find a way to make it about your history. Maybe..." she swallowed hard, the word catching in her throat like a shard of glass. "Maybe we should just... take a break. Just until the season is over. Until my tour wraps. Just so we can breathe."

The silence that followed was deafening. Max didn't move. He didn't even blink. He just looked at her with a terrifyingly calm intensity that made her heart stutter.

"A break," he repeated, the words sounding foreign and bitter.

"Just to take the pressure off," she tried to explain, her eyes filling with tears. "So the media stops hunting us. So I can focus on my fans and you can focus on the championship without having to defend me every five minutes."

Max took three slow steps toward her, stopping only when he was inches away. He didn't reach for her. He stayed perfectly still, a statue of cold, hard resolve.

"I’m going to say this once," Max said, his voice dropping into that low, guttural register he used when he was absolutely serious on the radio. "I spent a year alone after Kelly. I spent a year doing exactly what everyone told me to do—focusing on the car, staying quiet, living for the points. It was the most boring, empty year of my life."

He stepped even closer, forcing her to look up.

"I already did the 'break' thing once, Y/N. I’ve seen what my life looks like without the person I actually want to come home to. I’m not doing it again."

"Max—"

"No," he cut her off, his hand finally coming up to cup her jaw, his thumb wiping away a stray tear with a firm, almost desperate pressure. "If you’re tired, we’ll buy you a private jet so you can sleep between shows. If the media is loud, I’ll hire more security to keep them away from your door. But I am not letting you go because some losers on the internet can't move on from my past. You are my present. You are my future. And if you think I’m letting you walk out that door because things got 'difficult,' then you really don't know me at all."

He leaned down, pressing his forehead against hers, his breath hitching just slightly. "Don't ask me for a break again. I don't do breaks. I win, or I crash. And I’m not planning on crashing this."

The tension from the night before hadn't fully vanished, but it had shifted from a sharp, jagged edge to a low, steady hum of mutual understanding. The suitcases were still there, a reminder of the thousands of miles about to come between them, but the "break" was officially off the table.

The drive to the private terminal was silent, but not heavy. Max’s hand was anchored on Y/N’s thigh, his thumb tracing small circles over the fabric of her jeans. It was his way of tethering her to him before the world tried to pull them apart again.

"You're going to kill it in Tokyo," Max said, his voice gravelly from lack of sleep. "And I don't want to hear about you checking the charts at 3:00 AM. You do the show, you go to sleep. I’ll be awake in Austin if you need to call."

Y/N leaned her head on his shoulder. "And you? No 'nice thump up' comments while I'm gone? I need real support, Max. At least a heart emoji."

Max let out a short, huffed laugh. "I think I’ve established my position on the internet for the week. I’m sticking to the 'defender' role for a while. It’s more effective."

Three days later, the media was still buzzing about the "breakup scare" rumors and the deleted comments on Max’s Instagram. During the Thursday press conference, a journalist couldn't help himself.

"Max, there’s been a lot of talk about the 'distractions' in your personal life lately, especially with the crossover between the F1 world and the music industry. Does the intense media scrutiny around your relationship affect your focus on the championship?"

Max didn't even lean into the mic. He just stared the reporter down with that famously blunt "Verstappen" gaze.

"The only 'distraction' is having to answer questions about my private life instead of the car," Max said coolly. "My girlfriend is currently selling out stadiums in Japan. She’s the hardest working person I know. If anything, her 'circus' makes mine look like a playground. She doesn't distract me; she makes me want to be better. Next question."

-

-

user - username Y/N just performed a new song in Tokyo and the lyrics are: "You tell me I’m young like it’s a crime / But you’re the one running out of time / To keep up with me." OH SHE’S TALKING TO THE WORLD CHAMPION. THE AGE GAP TENSION IS CORE TO THE DISCOGRAPHY 🎤🔥

user - username the way they fought, almost broke up, and then Max decided to become her #1 PR manager is the character development I needed

user - username "I don't do breaks" - Max Verstappen, 2026. He really said 'If we're going down, we're going down together.' I'm crying.

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user - username “My boy’s a winner, he loves the game / My lips reflect off his gold chain” OH SHE’S NOT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT ANYMORE. Max literally wears that gold chain every single race day. 😭

user - username “Losing all my innocence in the back seat” AND SHE’S 21/22??? Max Verstappen what have you done to our girl 💀💀

user - username The way Makies is probably having a heart attack over the “fog up the windows in the parking lot” line right now.

user - username Not her writing a whole anthem about a Red Bull driver and mentioning Diet Pepsi… the brand conflict is hilarious.

-

ynuser

liked by maxverstappen1, llilymhe, alexandraleclerc and others

ynuser untouched, xo. 🍒

maxverstappen1 I told you Red Bull tastes better. But the song is good. 👍

ynuser @ maxverstappen1 max please… i am trying to have a "pop star" moment and you’re doing brand deals in my comments. 🙄

charles_leclerc Nice song! But I think the "back seat" part might be a bit difficult in a race car, no? 😂

maxverstappen1 @ charles_leclerc Focus on your own car, Charles.

-

© 2025-2026 lap90. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication, distribution, or modification of this content is strictly prohibited.

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━TRANSCRIPT OF THE 2025 JAPANESE QUALIFYING━

❪ y/n walking into the garage ❫ [ fan ] Y/n, who are you supporting today? [ Y/n ] Umm.. the world champ!

❪ y/n and max in the garage learning your dance challenge ❫ [ Y/n ] so your hand goes like this.. [ Max ] Mhm.. following Y/n’s dance move [ Y/n ] sighs ok but don’t be so stiff! you’re not even moving your chest— [ Max ] You didn’t tell me to move my chest! [ Y/n ] But do you see me going all- awkwardly starts copying the way he moved, before he pushes you away while laughing [ Y/n ] Gosh—all those nights clubbing for what..

━TRANSCRIPT OF THE 2025 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX━

❪ max walking into the garage ❫ [ reporter ] max, what’s the thing keeping you motivated right now? [ Max ] .. listening to my favourite music? shows your song playing on his phone

❪ max at the press conference ❫ [ reporter ] All your fans were cheering for you today, Max, and uh.. you shared a special moment after the win with one of your best friends, Y/n, who’s making her first appearance at the garage! [ Max ] laughs in surprise Well I.. I was certainly glad that she came, you know we’ve been friends for years and.. frankly, she doesn’t have a clue about racing but she said that my car looked the coolest. [ reporter ] do you think with the overwhelming support, you were able to perform better? [ Max ] You know, to be honest, I don’t really show off when I’m racing—I just do what I believe is the best for myself. but today I just.. sort of wanted to show off a little bit more?

❪ y/n leaving the garage ❫ [ fan ] y/n!!!! can you sign my hat? gives redbull cap [ Y/n ] of course~ [ Max ] somehow appears behind you and grabs the hat heyyyy these are supposed to be for me to sign! [ Y/n ] rolling your eyes while fans laugh see how he dramatic he is?

liked by lilymhe, maxverstappen1, madisonbeer and others ynln roses4ruby view comments

user7 oh girl is getting FED liked by author user8 PRETTYYY user9 I AM LIVING FOR THESE SOFT LAUNCHES user10 WHO IS THATTTT GIVE US A HARD LAUNCH 🙏🏻 user11 that last photo miss you cannot just do that to us

user12 babe we need a step by step guide on how you get these kinds of men ynln I fled to Monaco LMAO

user13 Max treating her right I see user14 I still dk how people think they’re together aren’t they like best friends TT user15 Her song ‘get set go’ was literally about a secret relationship with a race car driver? am I the only one not surprised orrrr… user16 max and a wag in the likes is all it takes for me to confirm their relationship 😂

liked by carmenmmundt, maxverstappen1, and others ynln helloooo 2026 view comments

maxverstappen1 ❤️❤️ liked by author ynln love youuu

lilymhe my fav cat parents ynln 🤭🤭

user17 CUTEEEE user18 Called itttt

user19 our first maxyn post 🥹 user20 BABE YN HAS BEEN POSTING MAX LOLL user21 legitttt seeing her old posts and his stories now make me question how we were so clueless 😭

"Tell me what you want." His voice was rough, urgent—the kind that made your stomach flip even after all this time.

"You know exactly what I want," you murmured, running your fingers down the side of his face, feeling the faint stubble beneath your fingertips.

The way his breath hitched when you touched him never got old—like he was still surprised every single time. Max leaned into your hand, his eyes darkening in that way that made your pulse jump.

The corner of his mouth twitched—not quite a smile, but something sharper, hungrier.

"Say it." His fingers traced the curve of your hip, possessive even in that simple touch. "I want to hear you say it."

You could've teased him, could've dragged it out just to watch him unravel, but the way he was looking at you—like you were the only thing in the world worth worshipping—made honesty spill out instead.

"You," you breathed. "Always you."

Max let out a rough laugh, his thumb brushing your lower lip. "Lucky me." And then he kissed you, deep and slow, like he had all the time in the world even though you both knew he didn’t—not with qualifying tomorrow, not with the relentless grind of the season looming.

But right now, none of that mattered. Right now, it was just his hands on you, the way he murmured your name against your skin like a prayer.

When he pulled back, his forehead resting against yours, you could feel the rapid flutter of his pulse beneath your fingertips. "You’re killing me," he muttered, but there was no real complaint in it. Just awe. Always awe.

The moment hung between you like the charged silence before a storm—heavy with anticipation, thick with something neither of you dared name.

Max exhaled sharply through his nose, his fingers tightening imperceptibly on your waist before he suddenly lifted you onto the edge of the nearby counter like you weighed nothing.

Your surprised laugh caught in your throat as he crowded between your knees, his hands bracketing your hips while his mouth found the sensitive spot beneath your jaw.

"You’re ridiculous," you managed, tangling your fingers in his hair just to feel him shiver.

"And you’re mine," he growled against your skin—not a question, not a demand, just a fact he’d carved into his bones years ago.

You could feel the truth of it in the way his teeth grazed your collarbone, the way his palms slid possessively up your thighs.

A sudden buzz from his discarded phone shattered the moment. Max stiffened, his grip turning almost painful for a heartbeat before he deliberately relaxed his hands.

You didn’t need to look at the screen to know what it was—some relentless reminder from the team, the ever-present specter of his other life pressing in.

He rested his forehead against your shoulder with a muttered curse in Dutch, his breath hot through the thin fabric of your shirt.

Max didn’t pull away immediately. Instead, he lingered there, his breath warm against your skin, as if he could carve out just a few more seconds of stillness before reality yanked him back.

You felt the tension coil in his shoulders—the same way it always did when the world outside this room tried to claim him again. His thumb absently traced circles on your hip, a silent apology before he finally straightened, his jaw tight.

“Ignore it,” you murmured, catching his wrist before he could turn toward the phone. His pulse jumped under your fingers, quick and alive.

For a moment, he hesitated, his gaze flickering between you and the buzzing phone like he was weighing the cost of each choice. Then, with a slow exhale, he hooked a finger under your chin, tilting your face up to his.

“You’re trouble,” he said, but his voice was fond, rough at the edges in a way that made your stomach flip.

You grinned, tugging him closer by the collar of his shirt. “You love it.” The fabric wrinkled under your fingers, the same way his composure did whenever you got your hands on him.

Max huffed a laugh—half exasperation, half surrender—before his mouth crashed into yours again, messy and desperate this time. His teeth scraped your lower lip, the sharp edge of pleasure-pain making you gasp, and he took full advantage, deepening the kiss until your head spun.

The phone buzzed again, insistent, but this time he didn’t even flinch.

His hands slid up your sides, thumbs brushing the underside of your ribs in a way that made you squirm. “Ticklish?” he murmured against your mouth, the smirk evident in his voice.

You pinched his side in retaliation, and he laughed—a rare, unfiltered sound that always caught you off guard. It was easy to forget, sometimes, how young he still was beneath all that intensity.

The realization hit you like it always did: this man, who the world saw as unshakable, who could bend physics to his will on track, melted under your touch like he’d never known anything else.

The phone finally fell silent, and Max used the momentary reprieve to nudge your legs wider, stepping impossibly closer until you could feel the heat of him through your clothes. His palm settled over your throat, not pressing, just resting there like a promise.

“Tell me,” he murmured, his thumb brushing your pulse point. “What do you want me to do to you?” The question was low, rough, but his eyes were soft in a way that made your chest ache.

You opened your mouth to answer—to tease, to provoke—but the shrill ringtone of his team manager sliced through the room again. Max stiffened, his jaw clenching so tight you could see the muscle flicker.

For a heartbeat, you thought he might actually throw the damn thing across the room. Instead, he exhaled sharply through his nose and dropped his forehead to yours.

“Godverdomme,” he muttered, the Dutch curse warm against your lips.

You felt the exact moment he decided—his shoulders squaring, the way his fingers flexed against your skin before they reluctantly loosened. Max pulled back just enough to meet your eyes, his frustration warring with something softer.

"Five minutes," he muttered, like he was negotiating with himself more than you. "Then I'm throwing that fucking phone out the window."

The laugh bubbled up before you could stop it, and he shot you a look—half glare, half helpless amusement. You smoothed your thumb over the furrow between his brows, watching as his expression eased under your touch.

"You won't," you teased, leaning in to nip at his lower lip. "You'd miss your precious data."

Max groaned, his forehead dropping back to your shoulder with a thud. "You're evil," he grumbled, but his hands were already sliding down to your waist, lifting you off the counter with effortless strength.

You wrapped your legs around him instinctively, laughing as he carried you the few steps to the couch, his mouth finding yours again before he even let you touch the cushions.

The phone rang again, louder this time. Max tensed, his fingers digging into your hips for a second before he exhaled sharply and pulled away.

"This is cruel and unusual punishment," he muttered, pressing one last, lingering kiss to the corner of your mouth before he finally reached for the damn device.

The word "worship" had never felt so tangible until Max. It wasn’t just in the way his hands moved over you—reverent, deliberate—or how his mouth traced every curve like he was memorizing you anew each time.

No, it was in the quiet moments too: the way he’d pause mid-sentence just to stare, the way his fingers lingered on your wrist after handing you a coffee, as if even that fleeting contact was something sacred.

You saw it now as he stood across the room, phone pressed to his ear, jaw tight with the frustration of being pulled away. His free hand flexed at his side like he was physically restraining himself from reaching for you again.

The team manager’s voice crackled through the speaker, sharp with urgency, but Max’s eyes never left yours—dark and hungry, even as he gritted out clipped Dutch responses.

You arched a brow, deliberately slow, and watched his throat work as he swallowed hard.

He ended the call with a muttered curse and tossed the phone onto the couch like it had offended him. “Liefje,” he sighed, already closing the distance between you, his hands framing your face before you could tease him.

His thumbs brushed your cheekbones, his gaze dropping to your mouth. “Tell me I didn’t ruin the mood.”

You laughed, nipping at his thumb when it grazed your lip. “You? Ruin anything? Never.” The sarcasm was thick, but the way his breath hitched when you bit down softened the edge.

Max exhaled through his nose, his grip shifting to cradle the back of your head as he leaned in, stopping just shy of your lips.

Worship wasn’t a grand gesture with Max—it was the way his fingers trembled just slightly when he unbuttoned your shirt, like he was handling something precious.

It was the hitch in his breath when you arched into his touch, the way his eyes darkened like he’d never get enough.

Right now, with his forehead pressed to yours and his hands cradling your face like you might vanish, it was the way he whispered your name like a prayer before his mouth found yours again—slow, deep, as if he had all the time in the world even though you both knew he didn’t.

He kissed you like he was trying to memorize the shape of your lips, his thumbs brushing your cheeks in rhythm with the languid slide of his tongue against yours.

When he finally pulled back, his breath ragged, he didn’t go far—just far enough to let his gaze rake over your face, lingering on the flush he’d put there.

“Mooi,” he murmured, the Dutch endearment rough with want. Beautiful. Like he couldn’t help but say it, like the word had been clawing its way out of his chest.

You grinned, dragging your nails lightly down his chest just to watch him shiver. “Distracted already?”

Max caught your wrist, pressing a kiss to your palm that made your stomach flip. “Always.” His teeth grazed your pulse point, and you felt the smirk against your skin before he added, “Especially when you do that.”

Max’s mouth crashed into yours again, not with the practiced precision of a man who won races by thousandths of a second, but with the messy desperation of someone who’d been starved.

His teeth caught your lower lip, tugging just enough to make you gasp, and he swallowed the sound greedily, his hands sliding down to grip your thighs like he needed the anchor.

You tasted the coffee he’d drunk earlier—bitter and familiar—and the faintest hint of the spearmint gum he chewed before interviews.

The couch creaked under your combined weight as he pushed you back into the cushions, his body slotting between yours with the same effortless precision he used to carve through corners on track.

One hand cradled the back of your head, fingers tangling in your hair, while the other traced the hem of your shirt, dipping beneath just enough to tease. His touch was electric, even through the fabric—warm and rough and achingly familiar.

You arched into him, biting down on his lower lip just to hear him groan. Max retaliated by dragging his teeth along your jaw, his breath hot against your skin as he murmured something in Dutch too low and rough to translate.

You didn’t need to understand the words to know what they meant—not when his hands were speaking their own language, mapping your body like he was committing every curve to memory all over again.

The phone buzzed again on the couch beside you, vibrating against your hip. Max didn’t even pause—just hooked an arm under your knee and hauled your leg higher around his waist, pressing closer until you could feel the rapid thud of his heartbeat through his shirt.

His mouth found yours again, swallowing your laugh as you tangled your fingers in the collar of his shirt, wrinkling the fabric beyond repair.

“Someone’s impatient,” you murmured against his lips, rocking your hips up just to watch his breath catch. His grip tightened on your thigh, his thumb pressing into the soft skin there in a way that made heat coil low in your stomach.

Max pulled back just enough to meet your eyes, his pupils blown wide. “You have no idea,” he muttered, his voice rough enough to send a shiver down your spine.

Then he was kissing you again, deeper this time, his tongue sliding against yours with a hunger that made your head spin. You could feel the tension in his shoulders—the way he was holding back, like he was afraid he might break something if he let go completely.

Worship wasn’t something Max ever talked about—not in words, at least. It was in the way his hands lingered on your waist when he thought you weren’t paying attention, fingers pressing into your skin like he was trying to memorize the shape of you.

It was in the way his breath hitched when you touched him, as if even after all this time, he still couldn’t believe you were real.

And it was in moments like this, when the world outside this room ceased to exist, and all that mattered was the way your body fit against his, the way your name sounded in his mouth—rough and reverent, like a prayer he’d never tire of repeating. . . .

That night, while my grandmother peeled potatoes for dinner, I couldn’t keep the question to myself any longer.

“Grandma…”

She looked up for only a second.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“Is it true that my mom takes care of other children in England?”

Her hands froze over the cutting board for a few seconds.

“Your mother works.”

“But… taking care of other children?”

“Yes.”

I lowered my eyes to the concrete floor. I remember staring at a tiny crack, unable to understand why such a simple answer hurt so much.

“Then why doesn’t she take care of me?” I whispered.

My grandmother didn’t answer. She simply set the knife aside, walked over to me, and gently stroked my hair with a rough hand, worn by years of hard work. Then she quietly returned to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

As I grew older, I learned that some silences weigh far more than any answer ever could.

When I was twelve, the sweet woman who had raised me my entire life passed away.

Something inside me froze that day. Not even the hot cup of coffee one of our neighbors handed me made me feel anything.

The house was filled with people who, until that moment, had never bothered to show up, and suddenly everyone seemed to have an opinion about what should happen to me.

“She can’t stay here alone.”

“She’s still just a child.”

“Someone needs to call her mother.”

No one asked what I wanted. It was as if being twelve meant I had no right to make decisions about my own life.

Two days after the funeral, my mother arrived carrying a single small suitcase, making it painfully obvious she had no intention of staying for long.

“Tomorrow we’re going to take care of some paperwork,” she said. Those were the first words she spoke after settling into my grandmother’s bedroom.

“What are we going to do?” I asked quietly.

“We’re getting your documents ready. You’re coming back to England with me.” Her voice left no room for questions.

So I stayed silent and let the woman who had spent years away come back and rearrange my entire life.

When we arrived at the Norris family’s house, I finally understood why my mother had chosen to build a life here instead of coming back for me like she’d always promised.

The house was beautiful—bright, spotless, and full of life. It couldn’t have been more different from our little concrete home back in our country, which always felt dark and cold.

My mother showed me the bedroom we’d be sharing, and without another word, she left to begin her daily chores around the house.

I was alone. So I wandered outside into the enormous backyard. Everything felt so unfamiliar… so cold… so depressing.

Or maybe that was simply the way I saw the world now that my grandmother was gone.

My relationship with my mother had always been distant. While we lived in different countries, our conversations rarely lasted more than ten minutes. We spoke only about practical things, never about feelings. That’s why I didn’t trust her enough to tell her everything that was happening inside my head.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a football ball slammed into my arm.

“Ow.” I immediately rubbed the sore spot.

When I looked up, I found myself staring at a green-eyed boy wearing an apologetic smile.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. Those were the only words I understood.

I didn’t speak English. To me, everything else sounded like an endless stream of meaningless sounds.

“I… don’t speak English,” I managed to say.

“Oh…” His eyes widened with understanding. “Lucía?”

He cradled his arms as if rocking a baby, and I quickly realized he was asking if I was Lucía’s daughter.

I simply nodded. I thought that would be the end of our interaction. Instead, he stayed exactly where he was.

First, he pointed at himself.

“Lando.”

Then he pointed at me.

“Y/N,” I replied.

His smile grew even wider, clearly pleased that we’d managed to communicate despite the language barrier.

He bent down, picked up the football ball that had been forgotten on the grass, and held it out toward me. Then he pointed his thumb toward a makeshift pitch a few yards away.

He was inviting me to play.

I wanted to say no. But the simple kindness of someone making such an effort to communicate with me, despite neither of us speaking the other’s language, awakened a warmth in my chest that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. So I said yes.

After that day, our friendship blossomed.

Lando was the one who practically taught me how to speak English, while I taught him bits and pieces of Spanish.

We spent countless afternoons playing on his PlayStation or running around the backyard whenever the sun was out. When my mother grounded me and refused to let me leave my room, he’d sneak candy under my bedroom door. Whenever he got into trouble, I’d do the same for him.

As the years passed, our little friendship slowly became something else. Somewhere along the way, the flame of love had ignited within my heart, and from the way Lando looked at me, I was certain that it burned just as intensely within his.

One ordinary afternoon, in the middle of one of our usual games, we shared our first kiss. It was shy, awkward, and over almost as quickly as it had begun.

Afterward, we avoided each other for days. Neither of us knew how we were supposed to act after crossing that line.

Eventually, though, we slipped back into our old routine. We depended on each other too much to let a single kiss ruin everything, so we quietly agreed to pretend it had never happened.

Until the day we crossed a line no friendship ever should.

We slept together for the first time.

The next morning, Lando tried to act like nothing had changed. He laughed, joked, and spoke to me exactly the way he always had.

But eventually, the weight of the question hanging between us—What are we now?—became too much for him to ignore.

“I’m sorry, Y/N,” he said quietly. “I never meant for this to happen. You mean so much to me, and I don’t want us holding onto hopes we both know can’t become reality… You know we can’t be together.”

As he spoke the most painful words my sixteen-year-old heart had ever heard, he couldn’t even bring himself to look me in the eye.

I simply nodded and forced a small smile. It hurt more than I could ever describe, but I understood. Someone like him—someone with endless opportunities, someone destined to conquer the world—could never be with someone like me.

The daughter of the housekeeper.

The years that followed were some of the hardest of my life. Lando threw himself completely into his racing career, and little by little, we stopped spending our days together.

At home, things weren’t any easier.

My mother became unbearable. To this day, I don’t know whether it was my teenage hormones or her constant need to control every aspect of my life, but every conversation between us turned into another argument.

By the time I turned eighteen, our relationship had reached the point of no return. One fight escalated until it became physical. So I packed the few clothes and belongings I owned, walked out of that house, and never looked back.

For the first time in years, I was ready to start over. Free from my mother’s control and free from the feelings that had kept my heart tied to Lando for far too long.

(…)

Eight long years had passed since that day.

Time had brought maturity with it, and I had managed to heal many of the wounds I’d carried inside me.

Life hadn’t become any easier after leaving the Norris household. I’d had to work incredibly hard just to support myself, and although I still hadn’t reached the goals I’d set for myself, I could finally say I was stable.

My relationship with my mother, while still complicated, had improved somewhat. At the very least, we could now have a conversation without arguing. Sometimes we even laughed together.

Things with Lando were much the same. Every now and then we’d call each other to ask how life was going, but that was the extent of it. I couldn’t even say we were friends anymore. We were simply two people who shared the nostalgia of the past we’d share together.

One ordinary Sunday, I was invited to the Norris house for a small lunch.

Lando was there with his new girlfriend, along with several of his friends.

Watching him be so affectionate with her made my stomach twist. I wasn’t in love with Lando anymore—that had been left in the past—but I couldn’t help mourning what we might have become if social class hadn’t mattered so much.

I was helping my mother clean up in the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Since no one seemed to hear it from the backyard, I decided to answer the door myself.

“Good afternoon,” a blond man with striking blue eyes greeted me.

He looked strangely familiar.

“Hi. How can I help you?” I asked, studying his serious expression.

With that same curiosity, he began studying mine.

“Max! I thought you weren’t going to make it!” Lando’s cheerful voice broke the strange silence between us.

I looked back at the blond man, and suddenly his face clicked into place.

Max Verstappen.

Just like Lando, he was a Formula One driver.

I stepped aside to let him in. He gave me one last lingering glance before following Lando toward the backyard.

The afternoon passed without anything particularly remarkable happening.

Everything felt perfectly normal… Except for the fact that Max Verstappen kept looking at me.

We were all scattered around the garden. Lando’s girlfriend settled beside him on the outdoor sofa and intertwined her fingers with his the moment I walked over to set a few plates on the table. The gesture was far too deliberate to be accidental.

I chose to ignore it or at least, I tried to.

“So, what do you do for a living?” she suddenly asked me.

“I work as a dancer at a theater, and from time to time I also work at art exhibitions.”

I conveniently left out the job that actually occupied most of my time: working as a barista at a coffee shop.

“Really?” She smiled. It was a beautiful smile, but completely hollow. “That’s interesting. I honestly thought you’d still be working here with your mom.”

The silence that followed was almost imperceptible. But it was there. I could feel several pairs of eyes turning toward me. I took a slow breath before answering.

“No. I’ve been living on my own for years.”

“I see…” She took a sip of her drink. “I suppose growing up here must have opened a lot of doors for you.”

She hadn’t raised her voice. She hadn’t said anything openly offensive. But every single person there understood exactly what she was implying.

That anything I’d achieved was because of the Norris family. Not because I’d earned it myself.

Lando opened his mouth.

“She got her job on her own—”

“I was only saying she’s been lucky,” his girlfriend interrupted with a flawless smile.

I didn’t want to stay there anymore.

I picked up my glass and announced that I was going to the kitchen for another drink before turning away, not giving anyone the chance to stop me.

The moment I stepped into the kitchen, I had to take several deep breaths to keep my anger under control.

Who the fuck did that bitch think she was?

Who had given her the right to judge me like that?

I’d worked my ass off these past eight years to build a life for myself. No one had ever handed me anything on a silver platter… Like they most likely had with her.

Stupid bitch.

Stupid Lando.

A few years earlier, I probably would’ve destroyed her with a comeback so brutal everyone around us would’ve been clutching their pearls.

“You’re actually pretty nice, you know? If I were you, I wouldn’t have let that slide.” A deep, raspy voice pulled me out of my murderous thoughts.

I turned around to find Max filling a glass with water.

“Are you trying to start a fight?” I asked, crossing my arms as I looked at him with amusement.

Max simply shrugged.

“Only if you want to.” He took a sip of water as if he’d said nothing unusual.

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. Half disbelief, half amusement.

“I don’t think the Norris family—or my mother—would appreciate me starting a fight in their backyard.” I sighed. “So I’ll just stay in here until I calm down.”

“Then I’ll stay with you,” he decided, pulling out one of the kitchen chairs.

We talked about everything.

Anyone watching us would’ve assumed we’d known each other for years instead of having met barely an hour earlier.

He told me a little about his life, his racing career, and the end of the previous championship.

I told him about my home in my country and all the different jobs I worked.

“How do you manage to have three jobs?” he asked, frowning.

It genuinely seemed impossible for him to understand how anyone could take on that much responsibility.

“Well, I only work at the theater on Friday and Saturday nights,” I explained before taking a sip of my lemonade. “Sometimes Sundays too, if Monday’s a holiday. I only have rehearsals two evenings during the week, which leaves my weekdays free to work at the coffee shop. As for the art galleries, I only work whenever there’s an exhibition, usually on weekend mornings and afternoons.”

Max looked genuinely horrified. I couldn’t help laughing, it wasn’t the first time someone had looked at me that way.

“Trust me,” I said with a shrug, “it’s not as bad as it sounds. It helps knowing it’s only temporary. I’m saving as much money as I can, and once I have enough, I’ll find a job that isn’t nearly as demanding.”

After that, our conversation drifted toward lighter topics. Nothing serious or complicated.

The truth was, Max was an excellent conversationalist, and I found myself genuinely enjoying his company.

We talked until late into the night, until almost everyone had gone home and only the two of us—and a couple of others—remained in the garden.

When we finally said goodbye, it felt like we were old friends. In my mind, I told myself it would be the first and last time we’d ever see each other; but deep down my heart hoped there could be something more.

The next morning, the first person to question me was my mother, as always.

“Remember your place when it comes to men like them. They have money, power, and connections, and they look for women of the same caliber to be with. Don’t get your hopes up over nothing.”

With a disapproving frown, she made it very clear what she thought about how close Max and I had seemed the day before.

“I know that, Mom,” I replied, rolling my eyes as I stirred my bowl of oatmeal with my spoon.

“It didn’t look that way yesterday. Open your eyes, Y/N. You’re far too old not to realize that men like them only want a one-night stand with you.” My mother continued her lecture.

Before I could answer, Lando’s voice interrupted us.

“Can I steal her for a minute?” he asked my mother, nodding in my direction.

She picked up her coffee mug.

“I’m going upstairs to take care of a few things.” Without another word, she left the kitchen.

Lando walked over to the coffee maker, poured himself a cup, and took a slow sip. I simply watched him, trying to figure out what was going on inside his head.

“So…” he began, leaning against the counter. “What did you think of Max?”

Lando was so predictable that I almost laughed.

“I actually liked him.” I took another spoonful of oatmeal, deliberately leaving it at that.

Lando simply nodded and kept watching me.

“What?” I finally asked after a few moments of silence.

“He’s a good guy,” he said after a brief pause. “But…”He stopped, searching for the right words.

I gestured with my hand for him to continue.

“He can be very impulsive.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, narrowing my eyes.

“When he wants something, he usually goes after it without thinking too much. And I don’t want you to get hurt.” He set his mug down and leaned against the kitchen island so we were face-to-face.

I rolled my eyes with a quiet sigh.

“Lando… you don’t have to worry, okay? I know how to take care of myself. I’ve been taking care of myself for practically my whole life, and I’m doing just fine.” I motioned toward myself as if presenting proof that I was perfectly alive and well.

Lando let out a long sigh.

“It’s just…” His voice softened. “You mean a lot to me. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. I want your heart to stay safe.”

For a moment, I could see the sixteen-year-old boy I’d fallen in love with reflected in his eyes. The warmth in his gaze made my stomach twist. I swallowed discreetly before forcing a small smile.

“Don’t worry. We only had one conversation yesterday. It’s not like we’re going to get married.” A nervous laugh slipped from my lips.

(…)

A few days later, it was Tuesday.

Tuesdays were usually the most boring days at the coffee shop. It was always half empty, and time seemed to move painfully slowly. I was restocking one of the display cases when Elena, one of my coworkers, walked over to me.

“There’s someone at that table asking for you.”

She pointed her thumb toward a table tucked away in the corner, occupied by a man sitting with his back to us.

Confused, I made my way over. Customers almost never requested a specific server.

“Good morning. How can I hel—” The words died in my throat before I could finish.

The man looked up calmly and offered me an easy smile.

“Good morning.” His deep voice sent a shiver down my spine.

“Max?” I blurted out. “What are you doing here?” The disbelief in my voice was impossible to hide.

He slowly closed the menu.

“Having coffee.” He tilted his head ever so slightly “Isn’t that obvious?”

I stared at him for several seconds, completely dumbfounded. Shaking my head with a small laugh, I took his order and walked behind the counter to prepare it.

There was no way this was actually happening to me.

A few minutes later, I placed his drink in front of him, unable to hold back the question that had been bothering me.

“How did you find this place?”

“You told me where you worked.” He shrugged before taking his first sip.

“No, I’m sure I didn’t.” I frowned, folding my arms across my chest.

“You told me what neighborhood it was in,” he replied casually. “That was enough. There weren’t that many coffee shops around, so it wasn’t hard to find.”

He took another sip while looking at me over the rim of his cup.

He was lying. We weren’t close to downtown, but this wasn’t some hidden corner of the city either there were plenty of cafés around. There was no way he’d found this one that easily.

“So why did you come here?”

“Because I wanted coffee.” He shrugged like it was the most obvious answer in the world.

But that smile… There wasn’t a single innocent thing about it.

“I don’t believe you.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Fine.” He raised both hands in surrender. “I wanted to see you.”

He admitted it without hesitation. Without embarrassment. Without the slightest trace of shame. It was as if he’d just commented on the weather.

“You’re weird.” I laughed, mostly out of surprise.

“Why?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“Because we barely know each other, and you’re doing… this.”

“Exactly.” He adjusted himself in his chair until he was sitting perfectly straight. “It’s hard to get to know someone if you never see them again.”

I couldn’t argue with that logic. So I laughed once more and went back to work.

Even as I moved around the café, I could feel his eyes following me. He watched every movement carefully, and every time our eyes met, he’d give me the smallest smile.

“When are you finally leaving?” I asked, growing increasingly frustrated with his relentless staring.

“Wow.” A laugh escaped him. “Customer service isn’t exactly your strongest skill.”

When my expression didn’t change, he added,

“I’ll leave as soon as you give me your number.”

For a moment, I was speechless. The man had absolutely no shame.

“Does this little performance usually work on women?” I finally asked.

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I’ve never tried it before.”

He said it so naturally that I found myself laughing again. It was impossible to tell when he was joking, but I had a feeling he wasn’t.

“Are you always this straightforward?”

“Yes.” He answered without the slightest hesitation.

“It’s a little intimidating.” Now it was my turn to admit something.

“Do you want me to stop?”

I studied him carefully. I expected a grin. A joke. Something. But there was nothing, he was simply waiting for my answer.

I slowly shook my head.

“No…” Then I caught myself. “Well… yes. I don’t know.”

A quiet chuckle escaped him.

“Make up your mind.”

“Don’t change the subject.” I pointed a finger at him.

“I’m not.” He defended himself immediately.

I sighed.

“Do you always get what you want?”

“No.” He paused to think. “But I can be very persistent.”

I couldn’t help but remember my mother’s words.

Men like them look for women from their own world.

Then I remembered Lando.

We can’t be together.

Two men from the same world, the same social standing. And yet, they seemed to speak completely different languages.

In the end, I gave him my number. Only so he’d finally leave me alone or at least, that’s what I told myself.

He stood up, took out his wallet, and paid for his coffee. Before leaving, he said with the same calmness he’d arrived with,

“See you in a few days.”

I watched him open the door and disappear before I could even think of a response. I stood there for several seconds, completely frozen.

Elena appeared behind me with the biggest grin on her face.

“Did that man just shamelessly flirt with you?”

I kept staring at the door, still trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

(…)

Sunday of that same week arrived with the usual chaos that came with exhibition days.

People drifted in and out of the gallery, the constant murmur of conversations about artists most of them barely knew, and the clinking of wine glasses every few minutes. It was exhausting, but it was also the only job where I never felt like I was pretending to be someone else.

Here, I wasn’t the daughter of a housekeeper. I wasn’t the barista who served coffee all week. I wasn’t the charming, flirtatious dancer.

Here, I was simply someone talking about something she loved.

I had just finished explaining one of the pieces when I excused myself from the group to get a glass of water.

“So this is where you disappear to on Sundays.” The voice made me turn around immediately.

For a split second, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.

But it wasn’t.

Max was standing beside one of the sculptures, his hands tucked into his pockets and wearing such a calm expression that it looked like he’d been waiting for me for quite a while.

I couldn’t help smiling.

“What are you doing here?”

His gaze wandered slowly around the gallery before settling back on me.

“I came to see you.” He said it with the same ease most people would use to say good afternoon. He didn’t even try to dress it up.

A strange warmth tightened in my chest.

I shook my head, somewhere between amused and bewildered. There was something deeply unusual about him.

He didn’t flirt the way other men did. He didn’t try to impress me. He simply showed up, like wanting to see me was reason enough.

I motioned for him to walk with me as I resumed my tour of the gallery.

For nearly an hour, he didn’t interrupt me once. He simply followed me with his hands in his pockets, listening to every explanation with an attentiveness that genuinely surprised me. Every now and then, he’d stop to study one of the paintings for a few moment. But somehow, his eyes always found their way back to me.

It was unsettling.

When the last group moved on to the next room, I let out a relieved breath.

“So?” I asked as I walked over to him. “What did you think?”

He studied the painting in front of him for a few seconds.

“I didn’t understand much of it.”

I laughed.

“I figured.”

“But I liked listening to you.” The answer caught me completely off guard.

“Why?”

This time, he didn’t answer immediately. He looked at me with that infuriating calmness that seemed to define everything he did.

“Because you’re different here.”

Almost instinctively, I looked around. He was right.

Here, I didn’t measure every word before I spoke, I didn’t worry about being judged, I simply existed.

“It’s the only place where I feel like I know exactly what I’m doing.”

He nodded, like my answer had confirmed something he’d already suspected.

We continued walking among the artwork.

The silence wasn’t awkward. With Max, it never seemed to be.

Until my eyes landed on a group of elegantly dressed women chatting over glasses of wine. They all looked like they belonged there.

Then I looked down at myself. I was wearing a simple black dress I’d bought on sale nearly two years earlier. I felt out of place.

“I don’t understand what you’re doing here with me.” The words escaped before I could stop them.

Max barely turned his head.

“I already told you.”

I slowly shook mine.

“No…” I swallowed. “I’m not the kind of woman men like you usually go for.”

I expected anything, a smile, a compliment, a ‘Don’t say that’. Instead, he simply frowned, like he was genuinely trying to understand what I meant.

“And what kind is that?”

A short laugh escaped me.

“Max…” I gestured around the gallery. “Look at them.”

He did. For several seconds, he watched the women talking nearby before looking back at me.

“What about them?”

I sighed.

It was difficult to explain something I’d believed since I was a teen.

“They belong in your world, I don’t. I spend my week serving coffee just to pay my rent. My mother spent half her life cleaning other people’s houses, and she’s still cleaning your friend’s house too. So I hope you can understand why it’s hard for me to believe that someone like you would show up at two of my jobs just because he wants to get to know me.”

The silence that followed was brief, much shorter than I expected.

“I don’t understand.” His answer was so firm that it completely disarmed me. “Because all of that seems important to you. Not to me.”

Something shifted inside my chest. All my life, I’d been taught that the differences between people were impossible to ignore, that sooner or later, they always outweighed everything else.

Lando had taught me that without ever having to say it aloud.

But Max… Max seemed incapable of understanding why we were even having this conversation.

“You’re used to making decisions for other people.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“You’ve spent the last five minutes telling me what kind of woman I should like.” He took a single step closer, not enough to invade my space. Just enough to make sure I was listening. “And you still haven’t asked me what I want.”

I didn’t answer. Because, I didn’t have one.

A faint smile appeared on his face. The small one he seemed to reserve for only a handful of moments.

“It’s a lot simpler than you’re making it.”

And just like that, the conversation was over.

He didn’t insist, didn’t try to convince me. He simply turned his attention to the next painting like we’d just been discussing something as ordinary as what he planned to have for dinner.

Oddly enough that was what unsettled me the most. Because while I’d spent my entire life turning the differences between us into an impossible mountain to climb, Max didn’t seem capable of seeing that the mountain even existed.

(…)

My third job was, by far, the hardest one to explain.

Everytime I told someone I danced at a late-night theater, they always gave me the same look. The look of people who assumed far too much without asking a single question.

Eventually, I stopped explaining.

The pay was good, I loved dancing, and no one had the right to decide what I did with my own body to make a living.

Friday performances were always sold out.

The theater transformed completely after nightfall. Warm lights replaced the starkness of the stage, and the air filled with the scent of perfume, alcohol, and makeup.

By then, I’d learned how to tell the difference between the customers who came for the performance and those who mistook a stage for an invitation.

I was adjusting the last garter on my stockings in front of the mirror when one of the dancers gave me a playful nudge.

“There’s a really handsome man asking for you.”

I laughed.

“Which one?”

“No… this one’s different.”

I peeked through the side of the courtain and nearly choked on my own saliva.

Max.

Sitting at a table near the stage with a glass of whiskey in front of him.

He was wearing an immaculate dark suit and observing the room with the same quiet calm he seemed to observe absolutely everything else with.

The moment our eyes met, he lifted his glass ever so slightly in greeting.

I shook my head, fighting back a smile.

He was officially a stalker.

I’d never been embarrassed to step onto that stage. Not because I was an exhibitionist. But because, over time, I’d learned that my body could be an artistic instrument instead of something I should be ashamed of.

The music began and he lights did the rest. For several minutes, I completely forgot Max was sitting in the audience. Until one of the choreographies had me walking almost the entire length of the runway.

As I passed his table, I looked at him.

He wasn’t smiling. He didn’t have that smug expression so many men wore when they walked into that place. He was simply watching me, like he was trying to memorize every movement.

And for some reason that look made me far more nervous than all the whistles coming from the rest of the room.

The show ended nearly an hour later and that was when everything went to hell.

I slipped a satin robe over my costume and stepped outside the dressing room to get some fresh air.

I hadn’t even finished closing the door behind me when a man stepped in front of me, blocking my path.

“You dance beautifully.”

I smiled politely.

“Thank you.” I tried to walk past him, but he stepped in front of me again.

“Are you always this hard to get?”

A knot formed in my stomach.

“Excuse me, I need to get back inside.”

This time, he grabbed my wrist hard.

“Five minutes. I’m just trying to talk to you.”

Before I could react, someone forcefully pulled his hand away from my arm.

“She said no.” Max’s voice was colder than I’d ever heard it before.

The man let out a drunken laugh.

“And who the hell are you?”

“The one telling you to let her go.”

There wasn’t any more conversation. Everything happened too fast.

One shove.

Then another.

Then the first punch.

And suddenly several people were trying to pull them apart while someone shouted for security.

“Max!”

It was useless, he didn’t even seem to hear me.

The last thing I saw before walking away was a chair flying through the air.

I turned around. Not because I didn’t care, but because I knew that kind of chaos far too well. I’d spent too many years watching men decide that violence could solve everything and I wasn’t about to stand there and watch another one. I ended up sitting on the curb in the parking lot.

I couldn’t even remember when I’d started crying.

My makeup had to be completely ruined. I was wearing false eyelashes, red lipstick, a sparkly dress underneath a satin robe and I was crying in a parking lot at two o’clock in the morning.

What a depressing picture.

I heard footsteps approaching, I didn’t bother looking up because I already knew who it was.

“If you’re here to explain why you got into that fight, don’t bother.”

A brief silence followed.

“Okay.”

I frowned slightly. I had been expecting an argument, not obedience.

“You’re not going to insist?”

“You said you didn’t want to hear it.”

I finally looked up.

Max’s lip was split open. The corner of his mouth was still bleeding, and a cut above his eyebrow had already begun to swell.

I sighed.

“You look like shit.”

He wiped the blood away with the back of his hand.

“He looks worse.”

I couldn’t help laughing through my tears.

“You’re an idiot.”

For the first time since he’d walked out of the theater he smiled.

He sat down beside me without saying a word. For several minutes, neither of us spoke. We simply listened to the distant sound of passing cars, until I was the one who finally broke the silence.

“So…” I looked over at him. “Did you win?”

He turned toward me.

“I think so.”

“You think?”

“At some point they stopped punching me and started holding me back with four guys.” He shrugged. “I guess that counts as a win.”

I burst into laughter. Completely inappropriate laughter.

He ended up laughing too.

Suddenly, all the drama from the last twenty minutes felt absurdly ridiculous. I wiped my tears away with the back of my hand.

“Now tell me.” I looked at him “Why did you do it?”

His expression turned serious again.

“Because he grabbed you.”

That was it, no speech, no heroic explanation. Just those four words.

Something shifted inside my chest. No one had ever reacted like that because of me, not even the people who’d actually had the right to.

“I’ve spent my whole life trying not to be a burden to anyone.”

He tilted his head slightly.

“You’re doing a terrible job.”

A laugh escaped me.

“Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

“No.” He looked completely serious. “Just an observation.”

I laughed again. It was impossible to stay dramatic around him for very long.

I took a deep breath.

“I’m hungry.”

Max blinked.

“I want sushi.”

He looked at his watch.

“It’s two in the morning.”

“I know.”

“Now?”

I nodded. He stared at me for a few seconds before standing up.

“Alright.”

“Seriously?” I hadn’t expected him to agree.

“Yeah.” He lifted his car keys “Let’s go get sushi.”

I followed him across the parking lot. Halfway to the car, he looked me up and down.

“Are you really going in dressed like that?”

I looked down. High heels, a satin robe over a sequined costume, and mascara streaked all the way to my chin.

I laughed.

Then I looked at him.

His suit was wrinkled, his lip was split open. There was dried blood on the collar of his shirt.

“And you?”

He shrugged.

“We make a pretty good pair.”

I completely agreed.

Half an hour later, we were sitting in a tiny all-night sushi restaurant.

The waitress looked at him, then at me, then back at both of us. Finally, she asked as casually as if nothing were unusual,

“Extra soy sauce?”

Max looked at me. I shrugged.

“Obviously.”

She nodded without asking a single question. I waited until she’d walked away before turning back to him.

“We just ordered sushi dressed like we walked out of a fight in a cabaret.”

Max opened the box of gyoza.

“Because we did walk out of a fight in a cabaret.”

That night I laughed until my stomach hurt.

(…)

After that chaotic night, an unusual calm settled over my life.

Max stopped showing up unexpectedly at my jobs, and as much as I hated to admit it, something inside me withered a little.

Every time the café door opened, my heart would race only to sink the moment I realized it wasn’t him.

I forced myself to forget about him and buried myself in work. It was obvious that, for him, I’d been nothing more than a brief distraction before returning to his real life.

Three weeks passed.

Then one night, while I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, my phone buzzed.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Hi. How have you been?

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Sorry I didn’t text you sooner. Somehow I lost your number.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: I had to fight with this piece of crap technology just to get it back.

I frowned as I read the messages.

Who the hell was this?

ME: Hi, who is this?

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Seriously? 🙄

ME: Well, if I wasn’t serious, I wouldn’t be asking 😒

UNKNOWN NUMBER: I’m the love of your life and your future husband.

The smile I’d been missing for the past few weeks returned instantly. Like an idiot, I kicked my feet beneath my blankets before immediately saving his number to my contacts.

ME: Jacob Elordi?

MAX: He’s dating Kendall Jenner, so I doubt he’d be texting you something like that.

ME: A girl can dream 🥲

ME: How have you been, Max?

MAX: So you did know it was me. Does this mean you’re admitting that I really am the love of your life and your future husband?

ME: I’m admitting you’re the only lunatic I know who genuinely believes that’s possible 🙂‍↔️

MAX: Ha. Ha. Ha. 🤡

MAX: You’re hilarious 😒

MAX: But seriously, I’m sorry I didn’t text sooner. I really couldn’t find your contact.

ME: Don’t worry about it. Although I was starting to think you’d given up on me.

MAX: That’s not a word in my vocabulary. At least not when it comes to you.

My heart skipped a beat as I read the message. He had an incredible ability to send shivers down my spine without even trying. I knew that probably wasn’t a good thing, but I couldn’t help it.

MAX: I’m in Monaco. I had to come back because I have to spend a certain amount of time here every year. You know… taxes and all that.

ME: Yeah, it’s pretty much the same with Lando. I get it.

A couple of minutes passed without another message. I assumed that was the end of the conversation.

Then the three little typing dots appeared.

MAX: Anyway, I wanted to ask if you’d like to come spend a weekend with me. I know you have work and everything, but do you think you could get a few days off?

ME: Max… Work isn’t really the issue. It’s just I can’t exactly afford to pack my bags and fly to Monaco on a whim.

What the hell did he think? That I was rich? I worked three jobs, and even then, if I went two months without work, I’d probably end up homeless.

MAX: Y/N, please. You didn’t actually think I’d let you pay for any of it, did you? What kind of man would that make me? I’ll pay for everything, I just want you to come visit me and spend some time together, not make your life any harder.

ME: Don’t you think that’s a bit much? I can count on one hand how many times we’ve actually seen each other.

I tried to reason with him. Although I already had a pretty good idea of what his answer would be.

MAX: So? I already know your family, I know where you work. Why does it matter how many times we’ve seen each other?

ME: This is all happening way too fast.

MAX: Not at all. If it were up to me, we’d already be married. I’m just trying to move at your pace.

A laugh of complete disbelief escaped me.

This man was insane. But it was the kind of insanity that felt oddly refreshing. Being around him made me feel something I hadn’t experienced in years.

Comfort.

Joy.

A sense that maybe life didn’t always have to feel so heavy. I didn’t want to admit it, but I wanted more of that feeling.

The last few years of my life had felt like I was constantly one step away from falling apart. And somehow, Max felt like a breath of fresh air.

ME: You’re going to have to do a lot more than that. But, lucky for you I accept. So when’s the trip?

It was that very same weekend. Max didn’t want to waste any time or risk me changing my mind. Which, if I was being honest, I had almost done a couple of times.

When I arrived, Max picked me up in Nice, and from there we took a helicopter to Monaco.

Everything about it was completely new to me. I tried my best not to let my amazement show, but it was obvious Max noticed.

He just laughed every time.

It was Friday, and Max had a few media interviews to get through, so he introduced me to a woman who turned out to be a fashion stylist.

Yes.

Max had arranged an entire afternoon of shopping for me.

I wanted to refuse. It felt like this was far too much, but he hadn’t exactly given me a choice, considering the stylist was the one picking out everything and insisting I try it on.

If I tried on a thousand outfits that afternoon, I still think I’d be underestimating it. Once our shopping marathon was finally over, Max came to pick me up and took me back to his apartment.

The moment I walked through the door, I threw myself onto the bed with every intention of sleeping until the next morning.

Max, however had other plans. He practically forced me out of bed and told me to get ready because we were going out for dinner.

I ended up wearing one of the beautiful dresses he’d bought for me earlier that day.

Max looked incredibly handsome himself.

That night was wonderful.

We laughed and drank far too much. By the end of the night, Max decided it was smarter to leave his car in a parking garage.

The two of us practically stumbled all the way back to his apartment.

It must have been a ridiculous sight. Anyone watching us would’ve had no idea whether I was helping Max walk or if he was the one helping me.

On Saturday, we went to the casino.

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon on a yacht.

I felt like I was floating, completely relaxed. Without a single worry in my mind.

Max was the funniest, kindest man I’d ever met. Which was exactly why, on Sunday night, as I packed my suitcase to return to my complicated reality, the apartment felt like sadness itself had settled into it.

“I don’t want you to leave.” Max’s voice was barely above a whisper.

I turned to look at him. He was leaning against one of the bedroom walls, watching me.

“I don’t want to leave either.” My voice caught slightly “But I have to go back to work.”

The moment our eyes met, I had to look away. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold his gaze without bursting into tears.

Max walked over and sat down beside me on the bed.

“Stay this week.” His words came so easily that they sounded less like a suggestion than an inevitability “Take a few more vacation days. There’s still so much I want to show you.”

He smiled softly.

“You can go home next Sunday.”

I looked at him, trying to figure out whether he was joking. He wasn’t.

His face showed nothing but determination.

“Max…” I shook my head. “It’s not as easy as you make it sound.”

“It is.” He crossed his arms. “Unless you just don’t want to spend more time with me.”

Then he looked away with a deep frown, looking every bit like an offended child.

I almost laughed.

“No, that’s not it.” I reached over and took one of his hands. “I do want to stay with you.”

“Then stay.” His voice softened “Please.”

The way he asked completely melted my heart. After letting out the deepest sigh imaginable I gave in.

The smile that spread across Max’s face was so wide it looked like he’d just won the lottery.

I contacted all three of my jobs to let them know I’d be extending my vacation. Fortunately, none of them had a problem with it.

The days that followed were just as wonderful. We did everything. We wandered through Monaco without any real destination.

We visited a nearby town and spent the day sightseeing.

Every moment felt effortless, I felt like I was living inside a dream. But nothing in my life had ever stayed perfect for long, sooner or later reality always found me.

It was Thursday when Max asked me to accompany him to a charity dinner. The event didn’t allow media or unauthorized cameras, so he assured me that my presence wouldn’t attract much attention.

What neither of us had taken into account was that several of the other Formula One drivers would be there.

Including Lando.

Some time after we arrived, my eyes met another pair that I recognized instantly. Lando’s girlfriend, Marie.

The moment Marie recognized me, she raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down. She let out a quiet laugh before leaning toward the man I immediately recognized as Lando and whispered something in his ear.

He turned sharply in my direction, but before our eyes could meet, I looked away.

Max had stepped aside to greet someone, so I forced myself to pay attention to the elegant older woman who had been talking nonstop for nearly five minutes about the venue’s décor. Out of politeness, I smiled a couple of times and made a few meaningless comments.

My heart was racing. I held onto my wine glass so tightly because I was terrified someone would notice my hands trembling.

When the woman finally excused herself, I nearly cried with grief. I didn’t want to be standing there alone.

I was about to go find Max again but that was the exact moment Lando decided to walk over.

“Out of all the places in the world…” His familiar accent caught me off guard. “I never expected to run into you here.”

I turned toward him and offered him a slightly shaky smile.

“It’s a small world.” I shrugged like it was nothing.

Marie appeared beside him wearing the same perfectly practiced smile.

“What a surprise to see you here.” Her eyes slowly traveled over my black lace dress. “I never imagined events like this were the kind of places someone like you would attend. No offense.”

She tilted her head ever so slightly. Not once did her smile leave her face.

Bitch.

“You’re right,” I replied at last. “I usually avoid places with fake people and events like this tend to be full of them.”

Lando covered a laugh with a fake cough. For the briefest moment, Marie’s smile lost some of its shine.

“Did I miss something?” Max’s calm voice interrupted us. His eyes moved from me to Lando and finally to Marie.

She smiled at him with that same rehearsed kindness.

“I was just telling Y/N that I was surprised to see her here.”

Max nodded once.

“I’m not.”

Marie blinked.

“You’re not?”

“No.” He picked up a glass from a passing server’s tray. “Wherever she is, the atmosphere usually gets a lot better.”

Heat rushed to my face.

Marie let out a short laugh.

“That’s very sweet.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.” He answered with complete calm before taking a sip of his drink. “I was just saying what I think.”

As he spoke, his hand came to rest lightly against the small of my back. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Lando’s gaze immediately follow the movement.

“You came here together?” he asked, unable to hide his surprise.

I opened my mouth to answer but Max beat me to it.

“Yes.” He offered no further explanation.

“I had no idea you’d become this close.” Lando’s jaw tightened ever so slightly.

If I hadn’t spent half my teenage years watching him I probably wouldn’t have noticed. But I knew exactly what that gesture meant.

He was uncomfortable.

And somehow his discomfort became mine. I hated seeing him like that.

I shifted my weight and took another sip of my wine, hoping it would settle the knot in my stomach.

Apparently, Max noticed. Because without saying another word, he came up with an excuse to pull us away toward another part of the ballroom.

As we walked away I could still feel Lando’s eyes burning into the back of my neck.

(…)

The awkwardness disappeared as soon as we got back to Max’s apartment and our mouths found each other.

Our hands didn’t stay still for a single moment, and with some effort we managed to get out of our clothes.

Max bent me over the couch, pulled the thin fabric of my underwear aside to get better access to my wet pussy, and without much consideration, thrust into me hard. My eyes fell shut as I felt him hit the deepest part of me.

His thrusts were hard and rhythmic. The pleasure was so overwhelming that moans began spilling from his mouth, and with a quick movement, he gave my ass a hard slap.

That made me arch my back even more, and matching his rhythm, I began moving to meet every one of his thrusts.

At one point, I stopped lubricating and began to feel a slight burning sensation that drove me even crazier. My moans of pleasure grew louder, which made him lose himself in the pleasure even more.

We changed positions a couple of times until the pressure building inside me became too much, and I came hard.

A few more thrusts from Max, and he came too with a guttural sound. He spilled the result of his orgasm across my stomach.

It was the first time we’d had sex, and the son of a bitch had passed the test.

A while later, we were already in bed. Max was asleep beside me, but I couldn’t fall asleep.

My mind kept racing, and with a growing sense of concern, I replayed everything that had happened throughout the evening.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one feeling restless. A few minutes later, my phone lit up with a text message.

From Lando.

LANDO: Can we talk?

LANDO: I’m outside Max’s building. Please come down.

My heart immediately began pounding. This couldn’t be happening.

I looked over at Max.

He was fast asleep, one arm stretched across my side of the bed, a faint crease between his brows like he somehow managed to overthink even in his sleep.

I let out a slow breath.

I grabbed a jacket, scribbled a quick note telling him I’d gone out for a walk, and took the elevator downstairs.

Lando was leaning against his car with his hands buried in his pockets. When he heard my footsteps, he looked up. For a moment neither of us spoke.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked at last.

A tired smile crossed his face.

“I guessed.”

We walked in silence until we reached the edge of the harbor. The lights from the yachts shimmered across the dark water.

“Are you having a good time?” he asked suddenly.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

Silence settled between us again. I knew this kind of silence far too well.

Lando’s silences were never empty, they were always filled with questions he didn’t know how to ask.

“So…” He finally looked at me. “What’s going on between you and Max?”

There it was.

I slipped my hands into my jacket pockets.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

I slowly shook my head.

“We haven’t talked about it.”

“But you’re together.” He pressed a little harder.

“We’re spending time together.”

I watched his jaw tighten.

“That’s not the same thing.”

“Maybe not to you.”

His eyes locked onto mine.

“And to you?”

I lowered my gaze to the water.

The truth was I didn’t know how to answer. All I knew was that, with Max, I never felt the need to question where I belonged.

He simply made room for me.

“You don’t have to answer.” His voice was noticeably colder this time “I’m just trying to understand.”

I smiled sadly.

“Understand what?”

“What’s happening.”

I looked at him for a long moment.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

His breathing changed ever so slightly.

It was barely noticeable. But it was enough for me to realize he was losing his composure.

“Do you like him?”

I didn’t answer.

“Y/N.”

“I don’t know.”

It was a lie. Of course I knew, I just wasn’t ready to say it out loud.

“So you do like him?”

I sighed.

“Lando…”

“Answer me.”

I looked up.

“Why?”

The silence stretched between us. Because he couldn’t answer that question without admitting something he’d spent years burying.

I slowly shook my head.

“You don’t have the right to ask me that.”

I watched his expression change.

“Why not?”

“You’re seriously asking me that?” A bitter laugh escaped me. I took a step toward him. “You have a girlfriend.”

Another step.

“And years ago, you made it painfully clear that there could never be anything between us.”

My voice remained calm.

That was the worst part. I didn’t even have to raise it anymore to remember how much it had hurt.

“Y/N…”

“No.” This time, I interrupted him “Do you know what the hardest part was?”

A knot tightened in my throat.

“It wasn’t losing you. It was spending years believing there was something about me that made me impossible to choose.”

The words poured out on their own. As if they’d been waiting years to be spoken.

“After that day, I started looking at everyone like they belonged to different worlds. I started believing there were doors meant for other people but never for me. That I could work twice as hard, push myself three times harder, and I’d still always be nothing more than the housekeeper’s daughter. Because the only man I’d ever fallen in love with taught me exactly that.”

Lando closed his eyes.

“I never wanted you to feel that way.”

“But you did.” My voice barely rose above a whisper.“And the worst part is I understood. I never hated you for choosing that path, because even I believed you were right.”

He swallowed hard.

“Things changed.”

“No.” I slowly shook my head. “They changed for you. I was the one who had to learn how to live with what you left behind.”

For several long seconds the only sound was the water lapping against the dock.

Then he spoke again.

“You think Max is different.”

I frowned.

“He is.”

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

“No, Y/N. He’s just more impulsive.”

A terrible feeling settled in my stomach.

“What do you mean?”

“When he gets bored, he’ll move on with his life, like everyone else. He’s not taking you seriously.”

My chest tightened.

“Don’t talk about things you know nothing about.”

He took a step closer.

“Do you honestly think a guy like Max Verstappen is planning to marry you?”

The question landed between us like a stone.

“Lando…”

“He takes you on trips, he buys you beautiful clothes, he brings you to events. Don’t you see it? For him, you’re…” He hesitated for only a fraction of a second. “…an accessory.”

Something inside me shattered. But he still wasn’t finished.

“A pretty girl he can spoil for a while. His sugar baby.”

The slap echoed across the silent harbor. I didn’t think, it just happened.

Slowly, Lando lifted a hand to his cheek.

I struggled to catch my breath, tears blurred my vision.

“Never…” My voice broke. “Never degrade me like that again. Because if there’s anyone who knows how hard I fought to build the life I have it’s you.”

He opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him speak.

“For years, I thought my last name was the problem, my mother, my money, my background. But tonight you proved something. The problem was never where I came from. The problem was that you never found the courage to choose me and now you’re trying to convince me that no one else ever could.”

I slowly shook my head.

“I don’t believe that anymore.” I turned around before he could answer.

I didn’t want to go back to the apartment. Not yet.

I needed to walk.

I needed the wind to remind me that I was still breathing. So I kept walking along the harbor without looking back while the tears washed away what little makeup I still had left.

I have no idea how long I walked.

The gentle sound of the water against the docks was the only thing keeping the chaos in my head from swallowing me whole.

My tears had dried a long time ago, but the weight in my chest hadn’t gone anywhere.

“I’ve been looking for you for twenty minutes.” Max’s voice startled me.

He was walking toward me quickly, his hair completely disheveled and a hoodie hastily thrown over the T-shirt he’d fallen asleep in. He stopped in front of me and took a deep breath.

“What happened?”

I shook my head.

“Nothing.”

“No.” His answer came immediately. “Don’t lie to me.”

I looked at him for a few seconds. I’d never seen him like this before.

He didn’t look angry, he looked scared.

“Y/N…” His voice softened. “What happened?”

The knot in my throat returned.

“I talked to Lando.”

I watched his jaw tighten. But he didn’t say a word, he simply waited.

“He texted me… so I went downstairs to talk to him.”

I told him everything. How Lando had come all the way to the building. How we’d walked along the harbor. How, at first, he’d only asked questions. Then I told him about the jealousy. About our teenage years together. About the way he’d rejected us before we’d ever really had a chance. About the argument we’d had that night and finally about the words that still echoed inside my head.

“His sugar baby.” I couldn’t repeat that part without my voice breaking.

Max stood perfectly still through my entire story. He didn’t interrupt me once, only after I’d finished did he finally speak.

“He said that to you?”

I nodded.

He let out a slow breath.

“I’m going to kill him.”

“No, you’re not killing anyone.” A laugh escaped me through my tears.

“Alright.” He corrected himself with complete seriousness “Then I’m just going to break his nose.”

The image was so absurd that I laughed, for real this time.

He frowned slightly.

“I wasn’t joking.”

“I know.”

“I’m completely serious.”

“Please don’t.” I shook my head as I wiped my cheeks.

He sighed dramatically.

“You’re no fun.”

Silence settled between us again. Then he took a step closer.

“Look at me.”

I did.

“Did you actually believe him?”

I didn’t answer. Because part of me had. And, of course he knew it.

“Y/N…” He shook his head in disbelief. “Do you know what the very first thing I thought when I saw you?”

I slowly shook my head.

“That you were beautiful.”

Heat rushed into my cheeks.

“And then I thought you were far too smart to ever end up talking to me.”

I stared at him, completely confused. A small smile tugged at his lips.

“I was wrong about the second part.”

“Idiot.” I lightly punched his arm.

“A little.” His smile slowly faded. “But I never once minded how much money you had, where your mother was, where you worked. Not once.”

He took a slow breath before continuing.

“That doesn’t mean I don’t see everything you do. I do, I know you work harder than anyone I’ve ever met, I know you’ve spent years building your life on your own and I know nobody handed you anything.”

His voice remained calm. So calm that it hurt.

“What I don’t understand…” He paused. “…is why you still believe any of that makes you worth less.”

I lowered my eyes.

“Because for a long time It was true.”

“No.” His answer was immediate. “For a long time, people convinced you it was true. That’s not the same thing.”

The words hung between us. No one had ever put it that way before. I’d spent my entire life believing my insecurities were simply the logical consequence of my circumstances.

It had never occurred to me that they might also be a lie I’d heard too many times.

“Lando didn’t stop loving you because you were the housekeeper’s daughter.”

My head snapped up.

He continued before I could speak.

“He stopped fighting for you because he was afraid and fear always finds elegant excuses to hide behind, sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s family, sometimes it’s social class. But underneath, It’s still fear.”

My eyes filled with tears again.

Not because I was sad, because I felt relieved. For the first time someone had separated my worth from the choice Lando had made all those years ago.

“What if one day you’re afraid too?” The question came out so quietly I almost regretted asking it.

Max smiled. That same calm smile that somehow managed to frustrate me and comfort me at the exact same time.

“Of course I am.”

I blinked. I hadn’t expected that answer.

“You are?”

“Terrified.”

“Of what?”

“That one day you’ll get tired of me.” He slipped his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

A disbelieving laugh escaped me.

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Maybe.” He shrugged “But that fear doesn’t make me want to push you away. It makes me want to be closer to you.”

Something inside me finally gave way or maybe finally settled into place. I still wasn’t sure which.

“I’m not Lando.” His voice was quieter than ever. “And I’ll never ask you to make yourself smaller just to make my life easier. If this ever ends…” He pointed to himself “It’ll be because I did something wrong. Not because your last name is different from mine, not because your mother cleaned someone’s house and certainly…”

He shook his head, almost offended by the thought.

“…not because anyone thinks you can be bought with a dress or a trip. You’re not something that can be bought, you’re not a thing. You’re the woman I’m falling in love with.”

The world seemed to fall completely silent.

There was only him and me.

For years, I’d confused one man’s rejection with my worth as a woman.

I’d allowed a decision born from fear to define the way I saw myself and now, standing in front of me, was another man.

A man who came from that exact same world. But who had never once asked me to change who I was to make room for me in his life.

He had simply made room for me.

I smiled through my tears.

“I think you’re completely insane.”

“I already knew that.” A grin spread across his face.

I laughed, shaking my head.

“And for some reason I still don’t understand I think I’m starting to like all that insanity of yours.”

His eyes lit up instantly.

“Does that mean I can officially say I’m your future husband now?”

The laugh that burst from my lips echoed across the entire harbor.

For years I’d mistaken fear for reality. I’d believed love always came with conditions, with explanations, with sacrifices.

That night, I finally understood something. When someone truly wants to stay they stop looking for reasons to leave. And Lando’s decision had always spoken about his limits.

Never about mine.

(…)

Eight months later, I still found it absurd that anyone could call a paddock “home.”

And yet, there I was.

A cup of coffee in one hand, a paddock pass hanging around my neck, and a team radio that I understood absolutely nothing from, waiting for Max to finish the pre-qualifying engineering briefing.

One of the mechanics walked past me.

“Five more minutes.”

I nodded like that information had been meant for me. Leaning against one of the garage walls, I watched the organized chaos unfolding around me.

The first time I’d ever stepped into the paddock, I’d felt completely out of place.

Now I didn’t.

I still understood barely half the conversations about setup changes, tire degradation, or telemetry, but I’d stopped feeling like I needed to understand everything to deserve being there.

“Have you been waiting for long?” Max had just stepped out of the garage, zipping up the top half of his race suit as he walked toward me.

“Seven minutes.”

He glanced at his watch.

“It’s been nine.”

“I was giving you a little margin so you wouldn’t feel bad.”

“How thoughtful.” A quiet laugh escaped him.

He stopped in front of me and, without saying a word, took my coffee from my hands. He took a sip before casually handing it back.

“Thanks.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

“That was my coffee.” I frowned.

“It’s our coffee now.”

“That’s not how that works.”

“It worked.”

I rolled my eyes.

I’d learned that arguing with Max was an absolute waste of time. Not because he was always right, but because he never seemed interested in winning. He simply kept talking until the other person gave up.

One of the engineers appeared at the garage entrance.

“Max. Time to go.”

He lifted a hand to let him know he’d be there in a second. Before leaving, he turned back toward me.

“Where are you going to be?”

I looked at him, confused.

“Here.”

“Good.” He nodded once “That way I’ll know where to find you when I’m done.”

And then he was gone.

There was no kiss.

No I love you.

He didn’t even look back.

He simply disappeared into the crowd of engineers like it had never crossed his mind that, when he came back, I might be anywhere other than exactly where I’d said I’d be.

And I would be.

I smiled without realizing it. Sometimes I forgot there had once been a time when I believed love meant waiting for someone to find the courage to choose you.

With Max there had never been any waiting.

He had simply shown up.

First at a coffee shop, pretending he’d driven halfway across the city just because he wanted a cup of coffee.

Then at an art gallery, listening to me talk for hours about paintings he probably wouldn’t remember.

Later, sitting beside me on a curb at two in the morning with a split lip, like getting into a fight was the most natural ending to a first date.

And now I was the one showing up at racetracks.

Waiting for him among engines, radios, and stacks of tires, in a world that had once felt completely out of reach but had, little by little, made room for me.

I suppose, in the end we became each other’s favorite coincidence.

“Verstappen!” one of the mechanics shouted from inside the garage. “Move it! Your future wife isn’t going to do qualifying for you!”

Laughter immediately erupted from inside the garage.

I rolled my eyes automatically.

I didn’t even have to look to know exactly what expression Max had on his face.

Pure satisfaction.

I buried my face in my hands as I laughed.

For the first time since I was a little girl, the future no longer felt like a place I needed permission to enter.

Because, in the end, love hadn’t come into my life to give me a place in the world.

“Welcome home, my love,” his wife greeted, who stood at the doorway, with a smile on her face.

“Hello babe,” he greeted her back and pointing to girls, he asks “what happened to these two?”

She chuckles at him. Shaking her head, she answers, “You were away for too long, I guess.”

Max felt his stomach dropping. Was he racing too much which is causing him to miss out being father to his two amazing girls?

“Go take a bath,” she spoke, “I am going to setup dinner.” He nods and turned to the stairs.

“Stop!” She suddenly yelled, making him jerk back.

“What happened?” He asks.

“I have set a bath for you in here,” she points to bathroom downstairs. He narrows his gaze incredulously but then smiles and goes inside.

After shower, he dresses up in his usual clothes. Might as well throw in a red bull t-shirt. He is Max Verstappen after all, couldn’t get over his habits, but she had already handed him clothes. When he comes out dressed up, two plates of delicious looking dinner were already served on the table.

“Just two?” He asked, “What about the girls?”

She slapped the air, “They are asleep. Come quickly, the dinner is getting cold.” She dismissed him so casually as if they were no one to him, as if he was a absent father. And here comes his busy racing career into his mind, which he never took into consideration until now.

“Come!” His wife’s voice interrupted his train of thought. He simply nods and takes a seat on the table.

“But isn’t it too early for their bedtime?” He asks, slowly settling in the chair.

“They were tired.” She stated simply. Simply lovely? Not this situation. It didn’t feel like a race win situation. Instead, it felt like he was missing out something important. And missing out on his daughters’ life was actually something much more important to think about.

“Babe?” Again, his beloved spoke up, “Didn’t like the food?”

“No-no no, that’s not,” he immediately replied and picked up his fork to start eating, trying to shake these thoughts away.

He didn’t realised but he already finished his food super quick. Time passed so quickly, she was busy on her phone so they both didn’t even chat a little. He felt disconnected to his family. She asked if he wanted more, but he refused, didn’t wanted to eat much since his girls weren’t eating with him. Their absence and the thought of being a careless father killed his appetite.

“Love, I only served half for one person,” she insisted, but he shook his head, saying, “I am not in mood for eating any-” when he suddenly noticed Emilie, the oldest one, rushing towards the stairs with a big box in her hand.

“What is that millie?” He interrupted her, making her steps faltering, “What’s in the box?” He asks again. Her eyes darting here and there in nervously, which made it clear she was hiding something.

“No-nothing!” she replied, and immediately rushed upstairs. Max turned and frowned, seeing his wife signalling Emily to go, who immediately stopped her hand signal when she sees him looking.

“Care to explain?” He asks his wife, who went back into texting on her phone. He raised his eyebrows and cleared his throat to catch her attention. She raised her head from the phone to look at him but was immediately interrupted by the sound of cry. He turned to see the youngest one, Kristi, was standing on the doorway, crying. He immediately rushed to pick her up in his arms. She kept sobbing uncontrollably against his chest.

“What happened my little princess?” He asks, caressing her back, “Who hurt my little girl?”

“Pa-p-” she kept sobbing, not being clearly able to say anything, making his heart break at the sight, until she finally spoke up, “I-I-I saw a nightmare.”

“Aww,” he pities and cradled her tightly in his arms.

“Can-can we,” she stammers, “go outside?” Max nods, his lips trebling a little at the sight of Kristi’s tears. He tightly wrapped his arms around Kristi and took her outside.  

The moon shined brightly in the sky as he made his way into the backyard where he had installed a swing some years ago when Kristi was born. She smiled slowly at the sight of him approaching the swing. She looked up at him smiling when he settled into it and he gives her a goofy smile back, which made her let out a low giggle.

She snuggled up to him and he wrapped his arms around her. Caressing her back, they both swayed together on the swing. Max let out a calm sigh, feeling bits of connecting back to the family. He kept swaying her in his arms as they both swing together.

Moments later, Kristi stirred in his arms. He put her besides. The swing picked up the pace and Kristi laughed, enjoying the swinging. The sound of her laughing ringed in his ears, making his grin wider. He laughed with her.

After enjoying the swing, he took her hand and went inside. She tugged on his hand, pointing towards his room.

“Princess,” he frowns, pointing to opposite direction, “your room’s there.”

She shakes her head and says, “Just come papa.” Her voice sweet and innocent, hiding a little secret, he wonders what she wants him to do.

They reach to his room’s door and she knocks gently, speaking into door, “Mama, I brought Papa.”

“Come inside!” A voice replies.

Max looks down at Kristi. “Open the door, papa,” she pointed towards to the door. His eyes dart around in confusion, wondering what is happening. He gives a thought and reaches for the door handle, pushing it down slowly.

Confetti bursts in front of him, making his eyes widen in surprise as he shouts. His wife was standing in the middle where a table was decorated and a big and lovely cake was placed. Emily shouts along with his wife, “Happy birthday!!”

 Kirsti claps and holds his hand, “Happy birthday, papa.” Max’s heart fluttered with joy as he blushed heavily. Kristi guides him toward the table where his beloved and Emily were standing. He looks down at the cake, with a cat sitting on its top.

“Oh hell,” he spoke, cackling when he notices the same box disposed in the corner “That’s’ what you guys were hiding,” he comments, looking around the room, which they had decorated very lovingly, his name sparkling in his favourite colours and the girls' artwork being the main part of it. He noticed a drawing of his recent win, another one of his last year's championship and so many more important memories they held close to their hearts.

His wife chuckled, “Of course, what did you thought?”

“I felt-I just. It felt like I was away for too long and you guys are, you know, mad at me because I am always racing.”

She laughs and pressed a kiss on his cheek. “You are indeed busy racing too much that you forgot it was your birthday.” Max pulled her closer and pressed his forehead against her, “I am sorry,” he spoke. She smiles and replies, “I forgive you.” “I love you,” he said softly. His lips about reach hers but Emily voice interrupted, “Papa! The candles ending!” Both pulled away quickly. Max turned towards Emily and scooped her in his arm, “Of course my love,” he turned around, “and where- uh” and turns to see Kristi looking at him wide eyes. He immediately picks her up in his other arms, “Great,” he comments turning to see his wife smiling at the sight of him holding up both of their daughters.

“Let’s blow the candles, my girls!” He roars and Kristi squeals in excitement.