Drive me Wild, Rival(BL)

Chapter 136: A trip down memory lane

Alaric

It had all happened so fast. One minute, I was completely alone on the edge of the hill, fishing just to pass my time in quiet solitude.

The next, Nico was right here, crashing back into my world and kissing me. And goodness, despite every single wall I had tried to build up over the last three days... I had really, truly missed this man.

​

All the days that we had been apart had made me question everything about the connection between us. Unlike Nico, who seemed perfectly capable of turning around and completely denying what was happening to the world, I couldn’t hide how I truly felt.

That was the exact reason why I had fled to this cabin in the first place. There was no way in hell I was going to stand in front of a wall of flashing cameras and lie to their faces about what Nico and I were.

It would make absolutely no sense.

​And now, he was right here in front of me, kissing me as if he had not spent the entire three days lying to the media that we were nothing.

Not that we were ever anything official aside from being sex buddies, by the way.

I understood the corporate side of it—I really did. After all, he was just protecting his career.

But it still stung.

​Nico didn’t let me spiral into my own head for long. He held my face firmly in place, his fingers digging into my jawline as he tilted my head back to catch my mouth at a deeper angle. He kissed me harder, his teeth grazing and biting down on my lower lip before plunging his tongue inside my mouth, completely taking dominance over the kiss.

Before I could even think to stop myself, a soft moan escaped my throat. My body betrayed my mind entirely; I went as far as pulling him even closer, tangling my arms tightly into his.

​We kissed aggressively at first showing exactly how much we had missed each other, how much frustration had built up over the last seventy-two hours. But then, the desperation shifted. It melted into a slow, deeply passionate kiss that made my toes curl inside my shoes.

I couldn’t help but raise my hands, wrapping them securely around his waist. My logical mind was screaming at me, telling me I should do something else—push him away, demand answers, protect myself—but I didn’t. I just ignored it, continuing to kiss him back, wanting more and more of him until there was no space left between us.

​When he finally pulled away, we were both completely out of breath, panting heavily into each other’s faces. For a few passing seconds, neither of us said a word.

The quiet rustle of the wind washed over us, our breath mingling in the cool air. While my hands were still wrapped around his waist, his palms remained resting against my cheeks, cupping my face with an unexpected gentleness.

​"You look beautiful," Nico slowly muttered. He leaned forward slightly, pressing a soft, lingering kiss against my forehead.

​I let him. I let him because I missed him too much to fight it.

​Then he sighed, his thumbs brushing over my cheekbones. "I am sorry for not coming sooner, Alaric. I wanted to—I really wanted to—but I was actually held back by so many things. The press conferences, the team meetings, the multiple interviews..."

​My eyes widened at his words. Reality came crashing back like a bucket of ice water.

The warmth in my chest vanished as I realized what he was actually talking about—the media cleanup, the damage control, the corporate script. I slowly lowered my hands from around his waist, pulling back from his touch as I heaved a deep, heavy sigh.

​"Truly, what the hell are you doing here?" I asked him, letting the heavy weight of my disappointment ring clearly in my voice. "Just why the hell are you here, Nicholas?"

​Nico’s eyes widened slightly at the sudden shift in my tone, his hands dropping from my face. "I know you probably think I’m a jerk right now, Alaric, but I had no choice. The Red Bull officials were completely on my neck. I had no other choice but to attend those interviews and lie."

​"Lie?" I responded quickly, my heart instantly racing fast.

My mind started spinning. I knew from what I’d gathered that he had confessed to loving me to his own mother, but with everything else happening, I didn’t know what to believe anymore. I didn’t know whether to believe his public face, his private words, or if everything coming out of his mouth right now was just another beautifully crafted lie. But whatever it was, I was desperate to find out what he actually meant by that.

​Nico didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached down, taking my hand firmly in his, and gently pulled me toward the rocky bank overlooking the sea.

​"Yes, lies, Alaric," he responded quietly. "Let’s take a walk, shall we? I know you have so many questions."

​I dug my heels into the grass, resisting his pull even though every single atom in my body wanted nothing more than to follow him. "And why the hell should I go on a walk with you?" I demanded, trying to sound entirely uninterested.

​Nico cheered up slightly, a small, knowing smirk returning to his lips. "Isn’t that exactly what you want? After all, it seems like you are dying to hear what I have to say."

​I scoffed loudly, tossing my head back. "Get off your stupid high horse, Nico! I am not thinking about that at all, so stop making things up!" I yelled at him.

​He let out a genuine laugh, not bought by my defensive anger for a second, and firmly pulled me along to walk alongside him. "Do you want to bet on that, de Villier? Do you want to bet on the fact that you actually wanted to see me?"

​"Shut up and say whatever you want to say, Nico," I snapped, finally giving in and walking step-for-step with him along the edge of the hill. "You want to go on this walk? Fine, let’s take it. But you better not waste my time, or I swear I will call the press myself and tell them exactly where you’re hiding."

​Nico just smiled, his thumb gently rubbing the back of my hand as we started walking.

The sea breeze whipped against our faces, the vast blue water stretching out beside us.

​"Well, just listen to me and hear what I have to say, alright?" he began, clearing his throat slightly. "So... have you figured out how you knew me in the past?"

​I kept my mouth shut. I said absolutely nothing.

Even though Harold had tried to explain the bare bones of how Nico and I had met years ago, I still didn’t know what to fully believe. I couldn’t piece together how or where we had actually crossed paths, and because of all the recent chaos on the grid, I hadn’t found the time or mental clarity to figure out when I had known ’Seo-jun’.

​Nico glanced sideways at me. "I’ll take your silence as a ’no, you don’t know’."

​"Get to the point," I retorted, my impatience flaring up. "Just get to the damn point, Nicholas."

​Nico stopped walking, turning his body to face me, though he kept a tight hold on my hand. "Well, I just can’t say what I want to say unless you are officially using your bet. Since you won the race, after all."

​I scoffed, rolling my eyes angrily at his stubbornness. "Oh, for goodness’ sake," I muttered, cursing under my breath. If this was the only way to get the truth out of him, I wasn’t going to let my pride stand in the way. I cleared my throat, forcing the words out. "If that’s what you actually want to hear... then fine. Yes. I wish to use my bet."

​Nico’s expression softened, a nostalgic, quiet look taking over his eyes as he cleared his throat to begin.

​"Since you already know the story with my family, I’ll keep that part out of it," Nico said softly. "Briefly, before all of that mess happened, I met you one day at a Formula 1 grand prix in Japan. You had come to the track with your father, who was racing that weekend."

​Nico smiled faintly, looking out over the water as he remembered.

​"You were just a little kid. You had excused yourself from the paddock to go to the bathroom, and while I was walking past, I heard a boy crying his eyes out inside one of the stalls. I walked in, knocked on the door, and found you sitting there. When I asked you why you were crying, you looked up at me and said you had lost something incredibly important."