Off the Grid (Full Throttle, #1)

by K. Bromberg

You drive to survive.

Like something I desperately need, as if I’m drowning and Camilla is the only thing that can revive me.

“Maybe you proved something to me last night.” “Like?” “Like I can trust you.”

I think of the Japanese track and picture it in my mind. Such a peaceful setting—as almost all the tracks are—but with the potential to wreak so much devastation.

“There are two things I want, Cami. The one you mentioned—keeping a ride in F1—but I can do that myself.” “The other?” My nerves skitter through every part of me. I need to leave. I can’t— “Camilla. Look at me.” He waits for my eyes to flutter up to his, and the serious expression in his eyes shocks me. “You. You’re the other thing I want.”

How did I think she wasn’t my type? Baggy clothes. Some clothes. No clothes. The woman is downright sexy as sin.

What you do to me? Ruin me. Wreck me. Own me.

“Elise, a man can tear you down quicker than shit, but only you can put the work in to feel better about yourself.”

There’s only one person I want to run and hug fiercely. There’s only one man I’m slowly falling for. And that was never supposed to happen.

I’ve never felt that with another woman, like I need to be her strength. The one she can confide in.

If this isn’t a post directed at me, I don’t know what is. “Gasket’s question is as follows: Hey, Riggs. Am I the arsehole for lying to my mates about having to go to a work function when all I want to do is hang with the girl I’ve been seeing?” And when he grins and looks into the camera. I swear he’s looking straight at me and the goofy grin I have on my lips.

He tugs on my hand and when I turn back to look at him with the sunset at his back and his storm-cloud gray eyes staring at me, I know I’ve fallen for this man. I’m in love with him.

“Being in a relationship has a lot of parallels with being a good F1 driver. Always maintain your integrity, always show respect for yourself and your wife, and always win for the team. It’s all about the team.”

Until this moment. Because right now, as I hear his words, I realize that is what Camilla and I have become—a team. And I know which team I must choose.

“Let’s stop playing this game, Gasket.” “What game?” “The no-strings one. I’m in love with you. Can’t you see that?

You’re it for me, Camilla. The kind of it I never expected, I never wanted. I thought love was for weak men and saps. I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong. Hands down. Head over heels wrong. You drive me crazy but fuck if that madness doesn’t make me love you more. You challenge me. You make me the kind of man who would give up his dream because it’s the right thing to do. And that’s fucking saying a lot. Because I would. I did. And I’d do it a million times over if that’s what you needed, because I’m in fucking love with you.”

“We’re a fucked-up pair, but my broken makes you whole. Your broken has made me whole. Now it’s time to let those breaks heal. For the scars to fade like nothing ever was.”