"You should come with us," Lando repeated, not glancing up from his phone.

"Not in the mood," Alessandro grunted, lifting the barbell.

"It'll be fun! Alex and George will be there too."

"Nah. I'd rather stay in. I'm tired."

"Oh come on. Chat, you won't believe what a buzzkill Alessandro is," Lando complained to his fans watching his twitch live stream.

"What's he doing? Alessandro is actually working out," he said, turning the camera towards him.

"Sorry, golf isn't really my cup of tea," Alessandro said, grimacing as he completed another set.

"I'll teach you."

"Top Golf is the easiest form of golf and I suck at it," Alessandro deadpanned, letting the barbell drop onto the padded mat.

Sweat lined his forehead, making his hair curl.

The muscle tee he was wearing stuck to his skin, exposing his biceps.

Lando snickered as the comments flooded with people drooling over him working out.

@dannyric'sshoe omfg do you see his muscles

@formulafan1 lando why aren't you working out

@norrisfan04 charles or sandro? I could never decide

@ln._.4 his girlfriend is one lucky girl

@honeybadger03 @ln._.4 he has a girlfriend?

"The fans really like you, maybe you should feature in my livestreams more often. My views will go up."

Alessandro frowned, swallowing the water in his mouth before splashing what was left in his bottle at Lando.

"Oi, you idiot!"

Alessandro gave him a lazy smirk, flipping him off.

The sun was going to set in about an hours time and Lando and his friends wanted to go for a round of golf.

They were both still in Woking, England working with the team at the McLaren headquarters.

"I'm going for a shower," the Italian informed, swinging the towel over his shoulder as he took a sip of water.

"Suit yourself," Lando sighed, getting up off the floor.

He had only completed half of his workout before he gave up and resorted to checking his socials.

"Chat, Alessandro's the worst teammate ever."

"I heard that!"

"Good!"

The chat on his stream blew up with more comments, but Lando had to say goodbye to get ready.

"Alright, I'll try and get him to stream during the summer break. I'll see you all later, bye!"

He huffed, dropping his phone into his lap.

Now he had a problem.

How to get Alessandro out of his apartment to have some fun?

A mischievous look crossed his face as he pulled out his phone.

"Lil' Lando, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm hanging up."

"Fine by me, you called me in the first place."

"First off, I am not little-"

"Sure."

Lando let out a loud sigh before he spoke up again.

"Wanna go out in the city with us?"

"Who's us?"

"George, Alex, Lily, Carmen, and Alessandro."

There was silence on the other line as Dakota thought about it for a bit.

"Fine. Send me the details."

"Yes! See you soon."

"Bye, Lando," she laughed, ending the call.

She quickly threw her phone on the bed and hopped into the shower.

By the time she came out, Lando had sent her the address and plan for the night.

scenario7 🥛we wanted to go golfing but suns already set, let's go laser tagging?

sounds good, get ready to have your ass beat

scenario7 🥛bet 😏

fine 🙄

50 quid

scenario7 🥛done

She chuckled to herself, dressing in an all black outfit.

Dakota chose a bodysuit she had bought from Aritzia and a pair of leather pants. She wore comfortable shoes that didn't make much noise.

Meanwhile, Lando barged into his team mates apartment building.

"You know people lock their doors here in the UK. For safety," he said.

"I'm aware. But I knew you would come knocking my door down so I left it unlocked," Alessandro replied, rubbing his hair with a towel.

"Anyways, I'm leaving now and I'll be back before 11," Lando said, grabbing his jacket that he'd left there.

"11? How long are you going to golf for in the dark?"

"Oh, we changed plans. It's too late to go golfing. Dakota suggested we go laser tagging."

Alessandro's interest piqued when Dakota's name was mentioned, a curious look on his face.

"Laser tagging?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"It's 10 minutes away."

"I'll come," was all he said before he disappeared into his bedroom.

"Yes!" Lando whispered to himself , pumping his fist.

Minutes later, Alessandro emerged from his room, dressed in dark wash jeans and a black collared shirt.

He stifled a laugh when he noticed Lando was wearing all white shoes. Under the dark lights in the laser tagging arena, Lando would be an easy target.

"So you made it after all," Alex commented, slapping the Italian on the back playfully.

"As long as it's not golf," he replied, smiling slightly.

"Shall we do teams of two?"

"We usually do that," George nodded, jotting his name down.

"We're missing someone?"

"Yeah, Dakota's not here yet."

As soon as Alessandro stepped away, Max Fewtrell, Lando's room mate, motioned for the others to come closer.

"Y'all heard it here first, Alessandro has the biggest crush on Dakota."

"Shut up! You're joking!" Carmen whisper-yelled, her eyes wide in excitement.

"Anyone could've predicted that," Lando rolled his eyes, gesturing to Alessandro who nervously paced as he spoke on the phone.

Dakota quickly parked her car, checking her appearance in the mirror before speed walking into the building.

"Hey, sorry I'm late."

"No worries, you live quite far anyways."

The room was dark, Dakota could barely see 5 feet in front of her. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she giggled at Lando's choice of shoes.

"Mate, those are blinding. I could spot you from a mile away."

"Oh fuck, I didn't think about that," Lando mumbled, staring at his feet.

Her eyes gradually adjusted to the light as she put on the vest.

The laser gun felt heavy in her hands.

"Ready?"

"Hell yeah," she grinned, giving Lando a high five.

She and Lando were a team, Max paired up with Carmen, George and Lily, and Alessandro and Alex.

Alessandro jumped when he felt a hand touched the back of his neck.

He leaned down as Dakota whispered in his ear.

"Catch me if you can."

And with that, they were off.

"What's the plan?" Lando whispered as they crouched behind a pillar.

"Let's try and find a hiding spot so we can shoot from there without being seen."

"Ok, I'll go up on the bridge so they can't see my shoes."

"Thank God, those are a liability for our team."

"Oh shut up," he grumbled, disappearing into the dark.

Dakota's heart beat faster as she spotted a figure crouching by the door. She trained her laser on the glowing green square.

Pulling the trigger, she grinned when the person flinched.

Moments later, she felt her own vest vibrate.

Someone had shot her as well.

Alessandro smirked when Dakota looked around, her heart racing.

Time went by as she pulled the trigger several times, missing only twice.

She herself had been shot 3 times, but she wasn't sure about Lando.

There was about 5 minutes left on the timer when Dakota decided to move locations.

She eyed the center pit, knowing she was exposed and that anyone could shoot her.

A gasp left her lips as she bumped into something.

A soft grunt escaped the person's lips and she felt herself falling forward.

"Sorry!"

"Falling for me already?" Alessandro's voice chuckled.

Dakota shivered as his hands touched her waist.

"Ha, in your dreams," she replied, trying to sit up.

Her cheeks burned as she found herself straddling his waist.

"Hey Alessandro," she whispered, leaning over him.

He could feel her hair tickling his neck.

"Yeah?"

"Tag, you're it," she smirked, shooting him right over the chest before scrambling to get away.

Her laughter rang out in the arena as the lights turned on.

"Oh come on mate, how many times did you shoot me?" Max complained as everyone filed out of the room.

"We'll see on the scoring sheet," Lando teased, nudging his shoulder.

"Who won?"

The group squinted at the scores on the tiny screen before Lando let out a whoop of joy.

"Hell yeah! Dakota, you're amazing."

They had won by one shot, no doubt the final shot she had delivered on Alessandro.

"Fuck," he mumbled in disbelief, running a hand through his hair.

"Ole! Ole, ole, ole! We are the champions!" Dakota and Lando sang, dancing around in a circle.

"You didn't win a world championship, it's just laser tagging," Alex joked as Lily and Caren booed.

"You're just jealous you didn't win," Dakota retorted, flipping her hair.

The group made their way outside, surprised when heavy rain was falling from the sky.

"Bye everyone, see you in Hungary!"

"And then it's summer break!" George cheered.

"Boooo!" Dakota pouted, making everyone laugh.

They all went their separate ways, Lando, Max, and Alessandro walking to the car.

Alessandro glanced over his shoulder at Dakota as she covered her head with her hand. Her tiny figure ran through the parking lot to her waiting white Audi.

"Go on," Max nudged his shoulder.

"What?"

"Go ask to drive her home. It's raining pretty hard."

"How am I supposed to get home then?"

"I'm sure you can afford an Uber. Plus Lando's only got two seats," he said, gesturing to the McLaren.

"I can't just ask her to drive her home in her car. That's weird as fuck."

"Don't knock it till you try it," Max shrugged.

Lando glanced between his two friends. He was worried about Dakota and Alessandro.

Because he knew something she didn't.

"Alright, but don't leave until I sit inside."

"Why, in case she says no?"

Alessandro gave him a pointed look before hurrying towards her car.

Dakota jumped when someone came up beside her.

"Fuck, you scared me you idiot."

"Sorry, not sorry."

"What do you want?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

He smirked, reaching out to dip his hand into her pockets.

"Hey! Wha-"

"Ready for the drive of your life?" he asked, opening the door.

"No, I'm not letting you drive my car."

"Oh come on, don't be a buzzkill cara mia."

Her heart skipped a beat at his words.

"Take me home, Moreno," she sighed, giving in.

----------------------------------------------------

The sound of Dakota's car echoed in the quiet street.

"Alé, stop it! My neighbors are going to kill me," she hissed as he revved the engine once again.

He chuckled in response, doing it once more just to irk her.

She slapped his arm as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Is this how you thank me?"

"You should thank me for letting you drive my car."

"Fine then, what would Miss Sanchez like in return? A bottle of wine? Champagne? A date perhaps?"

"Your McLaren 720s sounds nice," she replied, batting her lashes.

"I offer you the stars and you ask for my car. You truly are a girl after my heart," Alessandro chuckled, tossing her the car keys.

They stood outside her apartment building, the rain still pouring down.

"Do you have somewhere to be tomorrow morning?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

"I have some work at the MTC tomorrow at 10. Why do you ask?" he titled his head, watching her curiously.

"How do you plan on getting back home?"

"Walking. I'm sure I can make it back before 10."

A laugh left her lips that made him smile. Her laugh was the most beautiful thing he'd heard in a while.

"How did your parents put up with you?" she smiled, shaking her head as she pushed the door open.

"I ask myself that every day," he replied, following after her.

"They must miss you a lot," she said quietly, unlocking the door to her apartment.

"They do. I'm going to visit them during the break."

"That's nice. I'm doing the same," she said, hanging up her jacket. "Welcome to my humble abode."

"It's cute," he smiled, looking around.

"Tell me more about your family," she said, grabbing two glasses for water.

He took a seat on the white leather couch and Dakota sat down beside him.

"Think of a typical Tifosi F1 Ferrari fan and that's my dad in a nutshell. I'm an only child, my mother hated kids back then. My father always wanted to race in F1 but he never had the financial means to do it. When I was three, he took me to the track and I fell in love. He worked three jobs before he opened up our family restaurant. And that's how I'm here today."

Dakota listened to him speak, the ghost of a smile on his face. She didn't realize she was staring at him until he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"You look pretty in black," he whispered, giving her a rare smile.

Her eyes widened in surprise and her cheeks turned red.

"I think you mean beautiful," she mumbled, looking down at her hands.

"You mean belissima," he replied with a smirk.

"Stop it," she mumbled, hiding her face in his shoulder.

His chest vibrated with laughter at her embarrassment.

"Thank you for helping me yesterday. And that other day. I felt like I was losing it."

"Alessandro, you need to get help if it keeps happening," she said, leaning back to look up at him.

He sighed, nodding slowly. His eyes flicked between her eyes and her lips.

Slowly, he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers.

Dakota froze and she stopped breathing for a moment.

Her lips moved against his as she returned the kiss.

His fingers tangled in her long hair and he shifted, laying her down on the couch.

A soft gasp left her lips as he gently sucked on the skin on her neck.

His hands travelled under her shirt, the cold feeling making her shiver.

Her mind was in a haze. She couldn't think straight. All she could focus on was the feeling of his lips on her skin. His hands on her waist. The smell of his cologne. The feeling of his muscular build brushing against hers.

"Fuck, che cosa mi stai facendo?"

She could say the same.

"What are you doing to me, Alessandro?"