1

Dino had finally escaped the clutches of the media pen.

Sadly, his teammate had not.

So he was left to make the walk back to the Ferrari hospitality alone, weaving through mechanics, engineers and the occasional camera crew still hunting for interviews.

Halfway there, he spotted a familiar shade of dark blue.

Not Red Bull blue.

Navy.

The navy of a certain rider's jacket.

Dino couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips.

"Gabriele!"

The shorter man turned immediately at the sound of his voice.

"Ayye, Dino!" Gabriele called back. "You were quick out there today."

He closed the distance almost instantly, falling into step beside him like he'd always belonged there.

"The car is feeling good." Dino shrugged. "I think we have a good chance this weekend."

"That is good then. Hopefully mine is good for next weekend."

Dino snorted.

"I'm sure they'll get it sorted."

Gabriele made a face.

"Eh. Sorted too late. I'm joining Ducati next year anyway."

Dino laughed, shaking his head.

It was true, though.

KTM had been struggling as of late. Mechanical issues, reliability problems, retirements that weren't the riders’ fault.

"Well," Dino started, throwing an arm around Gabriele's shoulders and pulling him closer, "soon you'll get questions similar to mine."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes."

Gabriele groaned dramatically.

Dino ignored him.

"'What's it like replacing a fellow Italian rider and two-time champion?'"

Gabriele buried his face in his hands.

"'What's it like racing alongside Marc Márquez?'"

"Oh, I hate this already."

"'How does it feel knowing the entire nation of Italy expects you to win immediately?'"

"Dino."

"'Do you think you can handle the pressure?'"

"Dino."

"'Are you worried about being compared to–'"

"Dino!"

Both of them broke into laughter.

For a moment, neither bothered moving.

Dino's arm was still around Gabriele's shoulders.

Gabriele was still leaning against his side.

Comfortable.

Easy.

Natural.

Dino glanced down.

The rider was still smiling.

God, he had a nice smile.

The thought appeared so suddenly that Dino nearly tripped over his own feet.

His brain immediately supplied several other observations he had absolutely never considered before.

The way his eyes crinkled when he laughed.

The way his face lit up after a good day.

The way he somehow managed to make every conversation feel effortless.

Dino abruptly looked away.

Dangerous territory.

Very dangerous territory.

"So," Gabriele said, entirely unaware of Dino's rapidly escalating crisis, "am I allowed into the Ferrari hospitality or are they going to throw me out because I technically work for Red Bull?"

Dino barked out a laugh.

"Please. Half the Ferrari guys already love you."

"That sounds concerning."

"It should be."

Gabriele grinned.

Dino's stomach did something strange.

He chose to ignore it.

Entirely.

2

"Dino?"

The voice came from the other side of his hotel room door.

"I am sorry. I know you had high hopes for this weekend."

Dino groaned into his pillow.

Of course it was Gabriele.

He glanced toward the door, imagining exactly what was waiting on the other side.

The Italian standing in the hallway.

Looking concerned.

Probably pouting.

Probably feeling sad about something that wasn't remotely his fault.

The image alone made something in Dino's chest soften.

Annoying.

Very annoying.

With another groan, he dragged himself off the bed and shuffled toward the door.

When he opened it, he found himself completely unsurprised.

There was Gabriele.

Looking worried.

And somehow even more pathetic than Dino had imagined.

"Hi," Gabriele offered.

Dino sighed.

"You're impossible."

"I know."

The rider immediately brightened.

Dino should have shut the door.

Instead he stepped aside.

Gabriele didn't wait for a spoken invitation.

He slipped into the room like he owned the place.

"Charles said you were hiding."

"I wasn't hiding."

"You absolutely were."

"I was resting."

"You were hiding while resting."

Dino rolled his eyes and headed back toward the bed.

Behind him, he heard the door click shut.

Then footsteps.

Then–

A sudden weight landed directly on top of him.

"Oof."

Dino collapsed back onto the mattress as Gabriele flopped across him without warning.

The rider tucked his head into Dino's shoulder and made himself comfortable immediately.

Like a cat.

A very annoying cat.

One that usually hated touching people.

"You're heavy."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm literally smaller than you."

"You are still heavy."

Gabriele ignored him completely.

A minute passed.

Then two.

Neither moved.

Dino stared at the ceiling.

Gabriele's arm was thrown across his stomach.

His head was still buried against Dino's shoulder.

Comfortable.

Trusting.

Easy.

The sort of thing Gabriele only ever did with a handful of people.

Dino knew that.

Everyone knew that.

Which made it all the more dangerous.

Because if anyone else had walked into this room, they would've gotten the wrong idea.

Or maybe the right idea.

Dino frowned.

No.

Definitely the wrong idea.

"...You feeling better?" Gabriele asked quietly.

Dino looked down.

The rider had finally lifted his head enough to look at him.

Those stupid eyes.

That stupid worried expression.

That stupid face.

Dino's heart did something strange.

Again.

"I'm fine."

Gabriele squinted.

"Liar."

Dino laughed despite himself.

And just like that, the frustration from the weekend didn't seem nearly as important anymore.

Which was probably another problem he should be concerned about.

Later.

He'd worry about it later.

3

Isack spoke a mile a minute.

Dino genuinely had no idea how Liam, Arvid or Max managed to keep up with the Frenchman's rambling.

Though considering all three seemed oddly fond of him, there had to be something there.

Not that Liam or Arvid would ever admit it.

And Max rarely showed it.

The poor guy really had no idea what he'd gotten himself into.

"Dino?"

The voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Isack was staring at him, hands frozen mid-gesture.

"Yeah, yeah, go on." Dino waved him off. "Was just thinking about your teammates."

"Liam?" Isack asked immediately.

Technically, Liam wasn't even his teammate anymore.

"Max, Isack. I was talking about Max."

"Oh!" Isack nodded. "Yes. My teammate."

Before he could continue, Dino's phone started ringing.

The name on the screen made him answer immediately.

"Dino!"

Gabriele's grin filled the screen.

"Best of luck with quali today."

Dino couldn't help smiling back.

"Yes, yes. You too."

"Gabriele, hello!" Isack suddenly appeared over Dino's shoulder, enthusiastically waving at the phone.

The rider laughed.

"Hello, Isack."

Before either could say anything else, the door behind Gabriele flew open.

A blur of orange stumbled into frame.

"PEDRO!" Gabriele nearly jumped out of his skin. "KNOCKING. HAVE YOU HEARD OF IT?"

Pedro completely ignored him.

"Have you seen my–”

The Spaniard stopped mid-sentence.

Spotted the phone.

Spotted Dino.

Then grinned.

"Oh. You're talking to Ferrari."

"Pedro."

"Hello, Ferrari."

"Pedro."

"Is he bothering you?" Dino asked.

Pedro gasped dramatically.

"You wound me."

"He is bothering me," Gabriele answered immediately.

"I am literally standing right here."

"You broke into my room."

"I can’t find my charger."

"You’ll have it somewhere in your own room."

Pedro looked genuinely offended.

Then he held up a charger.

"Oh."

A pause.

"I swear I thought that was mine."

The call only lasted another minute before someone outside shouted Gabriele's name.

Then Pedro's.

"Duty calls," the rider sighed.

"Good luck."

"You too."

The call ended.

For a moment, Dino stared at the now-dark screen.

Then Isack tilted his head.

"Pedro is nice, no?"

"He is."

"And funny."

Dino frowned.

A little.

Maybe.

Possibly.

"He is always around Gabriele."

"Well, yes," Isack said. "They're teammates. Like you are usually with Charles."

Dino already knew that.

Of course, they were teammates.

That was a perfectly normal explanation.

A completely reasonable explanation.

An explanation that absolutely did not explain why seeing Pedro constantly attached to Gabriele annoyed him.

"Dino?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you glaring at your phone?”

4

Dino wasn't really watching the sprint.

Well.

He was.

Just not very attentively.

The race played on the television while he scrolled through his phone, occasionally glancing up whenever the commentators got excited about something.

A normal Saturday.

Until–

"Oh!"

The sudden shout from the commentary team made him look up.

A KTM was sliding through the gravel.

Another bike wasn't far behind.

Dino sat up immediately.

The replay rolled.

One rider clipped the rear of the KTM.

Both bikes went down.

Fast.

Hard.

The camera followed the wreckage for a few seconds before cutting to another angle.

Dino frowned.

He couldn't tell whose KTM it was.

The bikes looked too similar when they were tumbling through gravel traps.

The commentators were talking rapidly.

Something about an Aprilia.

Something about contact.

Then finally:

"Gabriele Minì and Raúl Fernández are both out of the sprint."

Dino's stomach dropped.

The timing tower updated.

1. MINÌ.

OUT.

1. FERNÁNDEZ.

OUT.

The broadcast cut away again.

No footage of either rider.

No shots of them getting up.

Just yellow flags and racing continuing elsewhere.

Dino stared at the screen.

Waiting.

The commentators moved on.

The cameras moved on.

The race moved on.

Dino couldn't.

His phone was already in his hand.

His thumb hovered over Gabriele's contact.

For a moment he considered calling.

Immediately dismissed the idea.

Gabriele was quite literally lying somewhere beside a race track.

Instead he typed:

Call me when you can please.

He stared at the message.

Then hit send.

A few seconds later he opened social media.

Nothing from KTM.

Nothing from MotoGP.

Nothing.

Dino exhaled slowly.

Raúl would be fine.

Gabriele would probably be fine too.

Crashes happened.

They were racers.

This was normal.

The thought did absolutely nothing to make him feel better.

So he kept waiting.

Waiting for his phone to ring.

5

"Dino, open up!"

Dino froze.

There was absolutely no way–

"Dino."

That was Gabriele.

Dino was at the door in seconds.

The second he pulled it open, there he was.

One arm in a sling.

Looking entirely too pleased with himself.

"Gabriele?"

"Yes. Now let me in."

Dino stared.

The rider was supposed to be at home.

Resting.

Recovering.

Not halfway across Europe showing up outside hotel rooms.

"How did you find my room?"

"I have my ways~"

Dino narrowed his eyes.

"Do your ways involve making my team members pity you because of the broken bone?"

Gabriele looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"...Yep."

Dino groaned.

"Traitorous bunch."

"I got three free desserts."

"Of course you did."

Gabriele grinned.

Dino hated how relieved he felt seeing that smile.

Five days.

For five days he'd been checking his phone every few hours.

Checking recovery updates.

Checking messages.

Making sure Gabriele was actually resting.

Which, apparently, had been a complete waste of effort.

Because the idiot had somehow travelled to another country instead.

"You're supposed to be recovering."

"I am recovering."

"You are literally here."

"This is recovering no?"

"That is not a recovery plan."

Gabriele shrugged.

Or at least attempted to.

The sling got in the way.

Dino's eyes immediately tracked the movement.

Something uncomfortable twisted in his chest.

Because for a second, all he could think about was the replay.

The bike tumbling through the gravel.

The waiting.

The uncertainty.

"Dino?"

He blinked.

Gabriele was looking at him now.

Concern replacing the usual amusement.

"You okay?"

The question almost made him laugh.

Almost.

Because Gabriele was the one with a broken bone.

And yet somehow he was checking on Dino.

Something warm and terrifying settled heavily in Dino's chest.

For one dangerous second, the words sat right there.

Right on the tip of his tongue.

You scared me.

You scared me so much.

I think I'm–

A door slammed shut somewhere down the hallway.

The moment shattered.

Gabriele looked away first.

Dino exhaled slowly.

"Think some couple had a fight?"

The rider grinned immediately.

"Absolutely!"

+ 1

The thing about deciding to confess was that it sounded significantly easier in theory.

In theory, Dino had spent weeks preparing.

In theory, he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

In theory, this was the perfect opportunity.

Four-week break.

No races.

No media.

No distractions.

Just him and Gabriele spending the afternoon at the rider's apartment.

He was sitting on Gabriele’s bed ‘reading’

Perfect.

Except now Dino was actually here.

And suddenly every possible outcome seemed terrible.

What if Gabriele said no?

What if things became awkward?

What if they stopped talking?

What if–

"Dino."

"Hm?"

"You've been staring at the same page for ten minutes."

Dino looked down.

The book in his hands was upside down.

"Oh."

Gabriele snorted from where he was stretched across the couch.

The cast was gone now.

The arm had mostly healed.

Just a few scars and the occasional complaint whenever he moved it wrong.

MotoGP riders were terrifying.

Dino firmly believed they grew new bones every week.

"You're weird today."

Dino groaned.

"Thank you."

"You are."

Gabriele sat up slightly.

Studying him.

Waiting.

Dino hated that look.

Not because it was bad.

Because it made him want to tell the truth.

The real truth.

The one he'd spent months avoiding.

His hands were sweating.

His heart was trying to escape through his throat.

Ridiculous.

He drove Formula One cars for a living.

And somehow this was scarier.

"Dino?"

The concern in Gabriele's voice finally broke whatever was left of his courage.

Or maybe it gave him some.

He wasn't sure.

"D'you remember Germany?"

Gabriele blinked.

"The crash?"

"Yeah."

The rider nodded slowly.

Dino stared at the floor.

"I was terrified."

Silence.

"When they cut away from the broadcast I couldn't stop thinking about it."

Another pause.

"I kept checking my phone."

His voice sounded strange.

Too honest.

Too vulnerable.

But now that he'd started, he couldn't stop.

"And then when you showed up at my hotel..." He laughed softly. "I wanted to yell at you."

"You did yell at me."

"A little."

"A lot."

"A lot."

That earned a grin.

Which only made this harder.

Dino took a breath.

Then another.

Then forced himself to look up.

"I think somewhere between our first meeting and now..."

His voice nearly failed him.

Not now.

Not after all this.

"...I fell in love with you."

The words hung between them.

Terrifying.

Freeing.

Real.

Dino's stomach twisted.

"I know we're friends."

Gabriele hadn't moved.

Hadn't spoken.

Hadn't done anything.

Which was somehow making Dino even more nervous.

"And if you don't feel the same, that's okay."

It wasn't okay.

It would never be okay.

But he would survive it.

Somehow.

"I just..."

His laugh came out shaky.

"I needed you to know."

Silence.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Then suddenly–

"Come here you idiot."

The rider launched himself forward.

"Oh, what the–"

The impact sent Dino flat onto his back.

The mattress bounced beneath them.

Gabriele immediately grabbed the front of his shirt.

Then kissed him.

Dino's brain stopped functioning.

Completely.

Absolutely.

Gone.

The kiss lasted maybe two seconds.

Maybe twenty.

Dino genuinely couldn't tell.

Then

"Ouch!"

He jerked back.

"Gabriele!"

The rider looked entirely unapologetic.

"You bit me!"

"I got excited."

"You bit me!"

"I said I got excited."

Dino stared.

Gabriele stared back.

Then both of them started laughing.

Eventually Gabriele leaned forward again.

Forehead resting against Dino's.

Smiling.

Soft.

Happy.

"I love you too, idiot."

Dino's heart immediately forgot about the bite.

Which was probably a bad sign.

But that sounded like a problem for future Dino.

Current Dino was far too busy kissing his boyfriend.