Nap time is a precious commodity on the racing circuit, where everyone seems to run on energy drinks and adrenaline. Some of the racers can pull thirty or forty hour stints before ever managing to catch a bit of shut eye, but then it's oh so glorious.
It was three in the morning and Cruz had just backed into her trailer for some well deserved down time. For some reason, Florida International events always left her tuckered out. The race started at two in the afternoon the upcoming day, and she knew she needed to get at least six hours of sleep in order to be mentally coherent.
"If I fall asleep now, I can get… nine! Nine lovely hours of rest before I absolutely have to be anywhere." she told herself, looking at the time.
She settled into her suspension and closed her eyes. Right as she was slipping away into dreamland, she heard a tapping on her trailer's ramp.
"Go away." she grumbled, not considering at all who it might be.
"Come on, Cruz, I wanna talk to you." the familiar voice said, just loud enough to be heard through the metal wall separating them.
She felt a little flutter as he spoke. Things between them had turned drastically different over the last month or so. As much as she'd been looking forward to sleeping, the sound of his voice was ever so slightly more appealing. She groaned, reached out, and pushed the button to lower the ramp again.
He watched her sleepily roll forward and give him a glare that warned him this had better be important. He himself was shaky and jittery from certain caffeine withdrawal.
"Come on, I wanna show you something." he whispered.
"Now?" Cruz moaned. "It's gonna be daylight before long."
"I know, but this is our only chance to do this without getting caught."
"Do what?"
"I'll show you! Just come with me."
Cruz considered being stubborn and reclusing back into the warm depths of her trailer, but how could she say no? She quietly followed him to the edge of the track and beyond. Through a maze of hallways and tunnels, they found themselves up high behind the stands, near the commentators' booths and first class suites. They entered one of these suites and Jackson led her to the window that oversaw the track.
"Look." Storm said, pointing out the window.
Cruz blinked and looked. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. The track was below them, dead quiet. Nothing seemed out of place in the least. In fact, it was impressively in order.
"What am I looking at?" she asked, beginning to wonder why she'd even taken the time to follow him.
Jackson looked over at her and felt a little disappointed. Maybe it was just him that had wanted to see this. He wasn't sure that she'd never had a view like this. His whole life had been spent on or near a track, never above it. He'd never had an eagle eye view before.
"The track. From up here, it's… it's so much more than it looks like on the ground." his voice fell a little. "I dunno, I just thought it would be cool to see it from up here, at night. With the moon shining off the ocean over there and all."
Cruz looked beyond the track and saw what he was talking about. The beach was illuminated, with a silver path leading right up to it across the water, connecting the sand to the moon. It was borderline magical.
"I'm… sorry, this is dumb." Jackson shook himself as if it were going to knock some sense into him.
"No, no. Wait." Cruz stopped him as he started to back out of the suite. "I see it. It's… beautiful."
Jackson glanced out at the ocean again and then back to her as she stared at the sparkling water. The glow of the moon reflected off of her shimmery yellow and blue paint, as if she were a star herself. He didn't fight the feelings that rose within him. He'd stopped denying it long ago.
Cruz let out a little chuckle when she turned to see him looking at her instead of the sight he'd taken her up there to see.
"You remember the first time we were at this track together? You tried to wreck me."
Jackson thought back to that day. Strangely enough, he didn't feel terribly guilty about it. That was who he was then, and mostly who he still was. But something had changed, something entirely different that changed his racing style ever so slightly.
"Yeah. It's what competitors do." he shrugged. "But you know what? This is a place for firsts. First place I had a winning streak broken, first place I raced you, first for this…"
She saw it coming miles away, but didn't stop it. They'd traded little pecks on the fender in brief private moments before, but they'd never really had the chance to do anything more. If this was what he'd really brought her all this way for, she was going to oblige and make the most of it.
It started out soft and gentle, their eyes closed, going by feel. Such a kiss told Cruz that he did feel as strongly as he'd said. Jackson felt her lean into him, giving him the confidence he so desperately needed. That confidence changed things. He became more and more aggressive, and Cruz surprised herself. She reciprocated wholeheartedly.
A sudden noise down the hall behind them brought them to a halt. They glanced at each other, feeling very warm, and darted out the door together without saying a word. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but they both knew they could never be too careful.
Back at Cruz's trailer, Jackson watched her back into it and settle down to sleep. He wanted to put how he felt into words, but found his immediate vocabulary inadequate. He just flashed a smile.
"Next week. Rocker Arms. Reporter's tower."
Cruz grinned and winked at him as the ramp raised. It was a date.