Mechanics of the Heart Ch. 06

"I'm not gonna do it!" Fred exclaimed. "Rob, you're not listening to me! You need to tell Danny everything, NOW."

He put his hands on Roberto's shoulders. "Trust me; he WILL find out, and then it'll only get worse."

Roberto shook off Fred's hands. "And when are YOU gonna tell Jen about the Lamborghini fund?" he challenged.

His best friend was thrown off for a second, but he soon steered back the conversation. "This isn't about me and Jen. Rob, I'm trying to help you. If you can just listen..."

Roberto had enough. "Y'know what? Fuck it," he said, walking away from Fred. "Go home. Forget I said anything."

"Hey, I'm not finished!" Fred grabbed the mechanic's shoulder and spun him around.

"Forget it!" Roberto repeated, shrugging Fred off.

"I'm not gonna drop this because I care, Rob!"

The head technician stopped.

"I care about you, and Danny. I like him a lot." Fred took a breath. "He's the best thing that's ever happened to you."

That made Roberto turn around.

"I don't know why you feel like you have to lie to him about this..." he sighed. "I just know that, as your longest and best friend, I'm gonna be real with you."

He paused, then warned, "Don't fuck this up. Trust me, lying never ends well."

So Fred refused to cover for Roberto. That didn't stop the mechanic stud from going to the racetrack on his day off. He was disappointed that Fred didn't understand where he was coming from.

Things were changing in his relationship with Danny. For the first time, Danny began to reject Roberto's advances in bed, saying he was "too tired" or "too sore from the workout". The mechanic didn't know the real reason for the rejection, so he thought that Danny's passion for him was dwindling. This worried him immensely.

Just as worrying and disappointing were the brunet's impromptu disappearing acts. He believed Danny the first few times he said he was working late, but when Roberto asked him why he didn't pick up his phone or at least update him via text, Danny's vague answers and darting eyes told the mechanic that his boyfriend was lying. Sometimes, with the slim, smooth young man naked and asleep beside him in bed, he would lose sleep obsessing over all the possible reasons Danny had for his dishonesty, all the horrible things he must've been up to that justified the lying in Danny's head. He would feel his heart breaking, and he would ask himself again and again if it was all worth it.

With all that relationship stress weighing him down, racing came back into Roberto's life at the perfect time as much-needed escapism. It made him realize that he longed for a jolt of excitement in his increasingly stable and settled life. He loved Danny, but he was also nostalgic for his younger, single, freer days, when it was more about enjoying the moment and less about the worries that seemed to have multiplied with age. Since he had no intention of cheating on his boyfriend, he decided that racing would be his way of adding spark back into his life. Just being there, at the racetrack, around the bikes and the racers made him feel young, exciting, and invincible again.

When Roberto arrived at the racetrack later that day, he saw four-wheeled hot rods on the track. The motorcycle races were still to come; he was glad he hadn't missed them.

Friday was the first qualifying session of three, before the fastest 16 racers compete for the trophy and cash prize on Sunday. Since it wasn't the finals, the general public was largely absent from the spectator stands. Those who were present were diehard racing fans and the inner circle of the industry.

Like his first visit two months ago, Nadia told Roberto to meet her in the VIP box. When he got there this time, he saw a grey-haired man in a black suit beside Nadia.

"You got here early," Nadia greeted with a hug.

"Yeah, less traffic on Fridays."

"I bet you sped all the way here so you wouldn't miss a single bike qualifier," Roberto's racing mentor quipped.

"Hello Roberto. Do you remember me?" the man with the distinguished air asked in a European accent. He offered a polite handshake.

"Hey Olivier," Roberto replied, reciprocating the handshake. He was the Swiss banker who Nadia connected with, right before everything turned sour. "Long time no see."

"I don't think I've told you yet..." Nadia began with a slight smile. "Olivier is my husband. We've been married for six years now."

"Time flies when life is good," Olivier continued, smiling sweetly at his wife.

"Well, congratulations," Robert offered. "Better late than never, hehe..."

"Thank you,"

Olivier stepped forward and wrapped his arm around the former racer's shoulders. "Roberto, I remember you were quite the rider."

"Well, Nadia was quite the teacher," Roberto replied.

"Why did you stop racing, my friend? You had such a promising career ahead of you. You could've had the sponsorships, the secondary business ventures..."

Nadia gave Olivier a side glance, which promptly shut him up.

"He's got his own garage now," she said. "And a beautiful boyfriend."

"Well, well, now I think I understand!!" Oliver exclaimed. "What's his name?" the Swiss banker asked with a big grin.

"Danny."

"I would like to meet Danny, the man who captured this superb rider's heart, haha!" Olivier declared, patting Roberto's back. "Does he know of your accomplishments?"

The mechanic couldn't help but chuckle. "Olivier, you're too much...yes, I've told him my past. It was a long time ago. Now I've got my shop, and Nadia's got a whole racetrack to run!" he jabbed at his former mentor.

"I must tell you, my friend: this woman likes to be in charge!" The banker guffawed as Nadia rolled her eyes. "Oh, Roberto, you must stay for dinner; we have to make up for lost time, yes?"

At this, Nadia jumped in. "Darling, I just told you he has a garage and a boyfriend to look after. I'm sure he has to be back home at a decent hour..." she surmised, glancing at Roberto.

"But you must stay for the night qualifying session! Nadia told me you were a speed demon late at night on the street," Olivier said.

Roberto couldn't contain his excitement. "You guys do night qualifiers?"

"Yeah we do," Nadia replied. "You gotta see the lighting rigs we installed this year. It's like Vegas compared to what we used to do!" she said with a laugh. Roberto couldn't remember the last time Nadia laughed.

So he stayed for dinner, a decadent five-course meal that totally broke Roberto's diet; he couldn't turn down Nadia and Olivier's hospitality. Their VIP dining room had a great view of the two-lane raceway; as Roberto watched pairs of racers speed down the quarter-mile, the former rider longed to head downstairs to the crew pit, get on a bike, then give it full throttle on that strip of pavement. He could almost smell the exhaust and feel the night air whipping past.

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Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed this intense chapter. We're getting close to the end of this story, and I promise to finish it with a bang! Feedback is always welcomed. Also, feel free to check out my Author Profile for links to more of my work.