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Howard's Way (7)

By Wolfie Steel

It is 6:30 am and my Husky is busy getting ready for the upcoming race, he is all decked out in his team's uniform, I slowly begin to climb from the bed which catches Mason's attention.

"Sorry Tom, I didn't mean to wake you up babe, why don't you get back to sleep for an hour or so?"

I just gently shake my head.

"There is no need Mason, I usually get up around this time anyway. Is there anything that you want me to do while I am here?"

My Husky just shakes his head and makes his reply.

"I told you, Tom, this weekend is an opportunity for you to do absolutely nothing, if you want to watch the race with me then that is fine, your pass will allow it, but I warn you now it will get pretty loud and crazy out there. If you would like you can watch it from the comfort of the Hospitality tent too, or you can just stay here in the motor home, the choice is yours."

I make the decision to watch the race from the timing wall next to Mason, maybe I can be a source of comfort should anything bad happen during the race, or alternatively I can help him celebrate when his team gains a place, in truth I know how important today is to Mason and I just want to be there with him to share in any highs and lows.

I pick out my clothing for the day, a three piece suit that I last wore on the day that my divorce was finalised, I hate the suit itself because of the memories it holds but I know that if I am sitting so close to Mason during the race there is a possibility that there will be a fair few TV cameras in attendance and I don't want to be the one to let Mason's team down by dressing in a shirt and jeans.

Once I am dressed we head out from the motor home and towards the hospitality area so that we can eat a hearty breakfast with the team. As we enter I see that there are tables set out in the tent, a couple of tables in the centre are covered from edge to edge with every possible food that can be classed as breakfast, I notice that the two drivers are taking their pick of the food whilst everyone else is sitting at tables just chatting to each other already having picked out their preferred breakfast and now tucking into it between chats.

Of course, I was already aware of one of the drivers, Daniel McTavish, but I had yet to formally meet the second driver, a Bull Dog by the name of Darnel Rosewood, Mason led me to the serving tables and made the introductions.

"Hey Darnel, I want you to meet Tom Howard, he is the guy who with his UK team is going to build my new speed boat."

The Bull Dog briefly puts down his plate to shake my paw and then collects it back up to continue his forage.

"So you're a boat builder huh? Well if Mr DeLuth is getting a boat built by you then I might just have to put my own order in."

I detected a definite Austrailian twang to his voice as he spoke but I thought nothing more of it after all this is an international team and so it makes sense that there will be some accents that are a little strange to me at first.

"Actually Mr Rosewood, I just design the boats, the team back at the boatyard are the ones who put in the hard work of the actual build."

The Bull Dog lets out a slight chuckle.

"That's what I like about some of you Brits, always passing the praise down the line, anyway, if you will excuse me I need to make this plate of food disappear in double quick time."

With that said the Bull Dog takes his seat at one of the tables and begins to devour his meal, I turn my attention back to the serving tables and I pick out what I need for my breakfast. With our plates now full Mason and I walk to the top table where there are two spaces reserved for the Team Principle and his honoured guest.

As we sit to eat our meals I see that I am directly opposite Daniel McTavish and that he has Max sat by his side, I begin to put two and two together but then I dismiss the thought that they might have something between them as my gay mind making something out of possibly nothing.

After about half an hour the two drivers head off to a quiet room to prepare themselves for the race ahead.

X O X O X O X O

It is just before midday and I find myself sat at the timing wall next to Mason with my headset in place, suddenly there is a massive roar as the engines of the race cars fire up in unison, through my headset I hear a hurried message to Mason.

"Mason, it's Max, I'm in the garage with Daniel's car, the damn thing is refusing to fire up, the guys are working to find out what the problem is and get him going again."

I hear Mason's aknowledgement with just two words, "Aww crap."

The rest of the cars file out towards the race track while the engineers work furiously to fix Daniel's car, I just hope that this is not a bad omen.

The rest of the cars complete their warm up lap just as the satisfying sound of Daniel's engine roaring into life is heard, a new message comes through the headset.

"Okay boss, we got the engine running and we're gonna send McTavish down the pit lane, it sucks but he will now have to start from the end of the pit lane, I just hope nothing else goes wrong."

The race gets underway just as Daniel gets to the end of the pit lane, now he must wait until the last car has passed him before he can join the race. I watch as the last car leaves the starting grid and then I turn my attention to the pit lane exit where I can just make out Daniel's car waiting to be released.

There is a sudden blast of blue tyre smoke as Daniel guns the throttle and finally enters the race. By the tenth lap, Daniel has shown why he is considered to be one of the best drivers on the circuit as he has made it from the back of the pack all the way up to twenty third place.

Lap number thirteen and it really is an unlucky lap for one of the rival teams, both of Harrison Pacific's drivers are fighting over fifth place, they get a little too close to each other and end up crashing out of the race causing a safety car situation.

I hear Mason chuckle dryly through the headset.

"I would hate to be those guys when Jason Harrison gets a hold of them."

It is now entering the final lap and with retirements, (one of which is Darnel Rosewood), and crashes, Daniel has made it up to a respectable fourth place and still has the hammer down to try and claim third place, it soon becomes clear though that all is not well with Daniel's car but he still manages to finish the race while holding on to his fourth place.

I watch from the timing wall as Daniel's car heads down the pit lane, about five hundred yards from his pit garage the engine finally sputters and dies causing Daniel to coast his way to a stop just inside the garage doorway.

Mason slowly removes his headphones and stands from his seat, he clamly walks to where Daniel is standing and gives him a solid pat on the back, the pat on the back is a genuine one but I can tell that there is dissapointment behind Mason's eyes.

Not sure of what to do next I make an executive decision to offer the Husky whatever support that I can, I stand from my seat on the timing wall and walk up behind Mason, I wrap my arms around him from behind and I hug him tightly, oh sure I know that there are many TV cameras around and that maybe an unknown male hugging the male CEO of a racing team might bring up so many news headlines for the wrong reasons, but at this moment I really don't care, my Husky needs me.

I gently nuzzle the side of his neck, there is a slight catch in his breath and his back stiffens considerably, but he then slowly relaxes and I lean in and speak into his right ear.

"Mason, sweatheart, the team may not be on the winner's podium, but fourth place is still respectable and there are plenty more races at which I know there will be at least one of the drivers standing proudly on the podium, another thing to take from this if my understanding is correct, you still earn a fair few points even for coming fourth, and I believe that DeLuth Racing is currently standing in second place and breathing down hard on the first place team....you will win this year, I feel it in my bones."

There is a slight sigh and chuckle from Mason's muzzle.

"You're right sweets, and those are not the only bones that I am feeling at this moment."

I blush to a bright crimson colour as I realise that I have one of the strongest boners in living memory pressing deep into the valley of Mason's butt, the boner, however, does not last long as one of the many TV cameras gets a close up shot of both me and Mason together. I can now imagine just some of the headlines that are waiting to be written.