Chapter Ten

Alex let the water run down his body, washing away sweat and tears. Another nightmare, one he hadn't had in years.

I'm just worried, Alex told himself. It was a mix of nerves for this date with Derek, the race and the thought of the cops showing up.

Ringing brought him back. Alex huffed, "Siri turn off my alarm!" He shouted, turning off the shower. The alarm turned off. Grabbing a towel, Alex wrapped it around his waist.

***

Derek held up two shirts towards Emily and Spencer who were drinking coffee on his living room couch.

"Button down or Polo?" He asked, holding up a white button down and a white Polo. 

Spencer shrugged, he wasn't one for fashion, or well, his fashion wasn't Derek's. "What pants are you wearing?" He asked.

Derek grabbed the pants that were tossed over his shoulder. Blue jeans.

"Polo." Emily and Spencer said.

Derek nodded, turning and heading back to his room. Spencer sighed, running a hand through his hair, "When did we sign up for fashion duty?"

"When we promised Derek to not tell anyone else who could help about Alex." Emily said dryly downing the rest of her coffee.

"More?" Spencer asked, already standing to get himself another cup. Emily handed hers over without a word, waiting for Derek to come back.

The man called both her and Spencer over at 6 in the morning, freaking out over his choice of clothing. Apparently he didn't know if he should dress fancy, casual, or fancy casual, and needed help ASAP. Of course he didn't tell them that until they were already seated in his living room.

No, the man called them and told them to get to his apartment now because it was an emergency.

Spencer had to hold Emily back from killing Derek.

"Alright." Derek came out, "What do you think?"

Spencer looked up from the kitchen, "Nice," he nodded.

"Perfect." Emily agreed. 

Derek grinned, "Okay then," He grabbed his wallet and phone that were on the side table, and pulled out two 20's holding them out to Emily. "Since I pulled you two out of bed, breakfast on me."

Emily plucked the money from his hands, grabbing her coat and pulling Spencer, who returned with both their coffees out the door.

"My coffee!" Spencer whined looking at the two mugs on the table.

"I'll buy you another one." Emily promised, shutting the door behind her.

Derek laughed.

***

Alex slowly went through the movements of getting dressed, his playlist for race day, playing silently in the background. Stella sat on his bed, scrolling through her phone, not bothered that Alex was half naked in front of her.

"I'm telling you, something is going on between them."

"Liam and Jamie?" Alex asked not believing it.

"Yes, Liam and Jamie." Stella nodded, setting down her phone. "I bet you 20 bucks they're at least sleeping together."

Alex laughed, "I'll take that action." He knows he shouldn't bet on his teammates' love lives but it was too good not to. Since he knew that Jamie has a girlfriend, as does Liam.

The two were just playing with Stella, as they had their own bet going on. Was he supposed to know about it? No. Does he care? Also No. But he was going to make some money so it was a win-win. Jamie and Liam get to have their fun, and he gets hush money from them and 20 bucks from Stella.

Stella grinned, taking a photo of Alex with his back to her, standing in front of the mirror holding two shirts.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, tossing the blue shirt on the bed and sliding on the black one.

"Give me a sec," Stella muttered, changing the filter on the picture to black and white, lowering the light to give it some contrast in the photo. "And here. Something for Insta." Stella showed him the photo.

Alex hummed, tilting his head. It was a nice photo, a little more on the thirst trap side with his muscles shown, but still nice. "Okay you can post it to my Insta."

Yes, Stella had his Instagram password on her phone. She was the one taking photos and posting him a lot. He had it on his phone as well, but he mostly just looked through reels leaving the real posting to Stella. She always managed to gain nice photos of him, and post dates of the races. If she wasn't already a business partner, Alex would hire her as his contact revisor.

Stella smiled, opening Insta and switching from her account to his. She posted the photo with the Caption 'Breakfast date ready.' To anyone else it would just be Alex getting ready to go out with her, since it was known Alex doesn't date much.

Oh have things changed, Stella thought with a grin on her lips.

"What do you think?"

Stella set her phone done, turning to Alex, eyeing his outfit and hair for a moment. The black shirt hugged his biceps tightly but not enough to look uncomfortable. The pants hugged his ass right as well. His curls fell right below his brows, stopping just above his eyes. They looked soft and fluffy.

"I think your man is going to lose his mind when he sees you." Stella grinned.

Alex rolled his eyes but grinned as well, as he put on a silver watch and sprayed some cologne. Just as he finished the doorbell went off.

"Lover boy's here." Stella sang watching as Alex grabbed his coat and rushed out the room before stopping and pointing at her.

"Stay here for as long as you want but do not mess anything up." He warned her before rushing off.

Stella laughed, leaning back in his bed and started scrolling again.