The paddock buzzed with end-of-day adrenaline— sun sinking low, pit crews shouting over the hum of generators, and the unmistakable reek of scorched rubber still clinging to the air. APXGP's hospitality suite, perched just above the garage like some glass-and-steel throne room, pulsed with energy. Technicians laughed over pints. Engineers compared telemetry like gossip. But Joshua Pearce, cocky little bastard that he was, had found his stage near the bar, shirt half-unzipped and confidence turned up to eleven.

He looked like the aftermath of a storm— still damp from the cool-down, his race suit peeled halfway off his hips like it had been an inconvenience. There was grease smudged on his collarbone, though it was hard to tell if it was from the car or someone's fingers.

Pearce was charming, in that irritating, lightning-in-a-bottle way. All cheekbones, mischief, and raw talent he hadn't yet bothered to fully understand. He had something to prove, and a hundred ways to prove it, but mostly he liked showing off. Especially when he had an audience worth showing off for.

He leaned against the bar with something gold and bitter, smirking as he recounted a pass that had been, in fairness, spectacular. "So I cut across Turn Eight like I bloody owned the place. No lift. Flat out. Bastard didn't even see me coming. He must've shat himself."

Laughter rippled through the cluster around him— crew, PR, a couple of thirsty influencers who didn't know the difference between DRS and GPS.

But Joshua wasn't looking at them.

His eyes kept darting over— past the noise, past the mirrors and the soft-lit screens showing replays— to the stranger. The one person in the room not fawning, not performing, just watching. Still. Steady. And that, somehow, made him dangerous.

Pearce liked dangerous.

He tipped back his glass, throat working, and gave a smirk that was all teeth. "Course, you get a move like that wrong, and you're in the wall at 180. But I'm not exactly in the habit of getting it wrong."

That earned him a nudge from someone— a mechanic, maybe— but Joshua was already peeling away from the group like gravity had shifted. Pint left behind, attention locked in.

It didn't take him long to close the distance. He moved like he drove: cocky, calculated, knowing exactly when to feint and when to pounce. He stopped just close enough that the scent of sweat, adrenaline, and overpriced cologne hit.

And with that same crooked, arrogant grin, he said, "You gonna keep undressing me with your eyes, or finally say something, love?"