Trials Of A Heart | ✔️

20

~Brielle's POV~

Phoenix and I sat together at lunch, his large body next to mine as we waited for Matias to arrive. Or at least, that's what I thought we were doing, but as five minutes turned to ten and Matias still hadn't arrived yet, I grew confused. "Where's Matias?" I asked Phoenix, looking up at him. He raised a dark brow at me and tapped his long fingers against the edge of the can in his hand, which was a Monster energy drink.

"Matias isn't here today." He told me, shrugging his shoulders. I blinked and cocked my head to the side, unable to help my curiosity. "He's not here today?" I echoed. "Why not? Is he sick?" I couldn't help but to wonder aloud, growing a little bit worried despite the fact that Matias was a few years older than me, a grown man who could take care of himself. Seemingly amused, I assumed for just that reason, Phoenix smirked. "Trust me, he's just fine." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Mat just had to take care of his little sister. She's sick, not him." He explained. "Oh." I frowned. "Well, hopefully she's better soon." I said as optimistically as possible, causing his lips to twitch into a little smile.

"I say let him stay gone a couple more days." Phoenix shrugged, his voice taking on a flirty tone. "The longer we're left alone, the more time I get to have you to myself." He added ever so casually, catching me off guard. It seemed like he was becoming more and more flirty with me as time went on. By now, he flirted with me at least once every time he saw me, even if it was just winking at me as we passed one another in the hallways.

Unsure how to respond to that aside from blushing down to my socks, I took a large gulp of my Dr. Pepper as a way to occupy my mouth so I didn't have to think of something to say. For a while, a comfortable silence settled between the two of us, but of course, it didn't last very long. "I wanted to ask you something." Phoenix said to me suddenly, causing me to glance over at him. I set down my can of soda and licked some of the sugary drink from my lips, which just made him glance down at my mouth. It almost felt like an instinct to lick my lips, but I managed to refrain, thankfully. "This Saturday is my birthday." He told me, causing me to blink at him, surprised. I couldn't help but to grin and I saw him smile slightly. "Really?!" I gasped, immediately excited. I really loved birthdays, even if it wasn't mine.

He laughed softly and nodded his head. "Yeah. I'll be turning twenty six." He told me, earning a big smile. "You're getting old. Before you know it, you won't be able to box anymore." I teased, obviously only joking. Twenty six wasn't old at all. A little bit of a grin formed on his lips. "Yeah, yeah, I'm getting older but I'm still hot." He boasted, and I knew only half of that sentence was meant as a joke. "But anyways," He continued, peering down at me. "Matias insists on throwing me a party this year at my house. It's not necessarily a surprise and I don't even really like parties anymore, to be honest, or at least not the kinds of parties that he wants to throw for me. You ever been to a rager?" He asked.

Thoroughly confused, I furrowed my brows and he snorted. "What am I saying? Of course you haven't." He answered his own question. "It's basically just a crazy party. Those aren't really my thing anymore. They get to be too much and then I'll have to clean up the mess in the morning." He rambled on, really sounding more like he was dreading his birthday party rather than being excited for it, which didn't seem right to me. However, then he smiled at me. "But I want you to come. I figured it'd be worth all the annoyance and the horrible cleaning I'll have to do in the morning if I get to hang out with you on my birthday." He asked—no, he practically pleaded.

And because I was absolutely crushing so pathetically hard on this man, it wasn't like I could turn him down after he had asked me like that. Though even if he had asked me casually, I probably wouldn't have been able to turn him down then, either.

"Okay, okay." I giggled softly and nodded my head as I stared up at him, a smile on my lips. "I'll come to your birthday party." I agreed, causing him to grin and bite gently on his plump bottom lip. He somehow managed to look both cute and hot at once when he did that, making the butterflies in my stomach batter around. "You'll have to text me, though. I'll probably have to take the bus to your house since I don't have a car. A-And I don't have to dress up, right? That's not really my thing." I unintentionally rambled out all at once, earning an amused smile from him.

"No." He chuckled, shaking his head. "You don't have to dress up. If you want to wear sweatpants, that's fine. It's just my house." He assured me, much to my relief. I'd never really been the type of girl that was into getting dolled up, partly because I didn't know how to do makeup and also partly because I thought it just sounded like too much work. "Oh, but I'm not about to let you take the bus to my house when I live close by. I'll just pick you up and it'll be cool." He said. It came out as if it were merely a suggestion but I had gotten to know Phoenix well enough by now that I knew it wasn't a suggestion but rather a nonnegotiable. I couldn't help but to smile regardless, biting on the inside of my cheek. "Thank y—"

Phoenix grabbed my face in one hand and squished my cheeks together, cutting me off before I could finish speaking. I felt my heart skip a beat and I gasped softly at his sudden grasp, long fingers warm against my skin. "What did I tell you about saying thank you to me about that sort of thing?" He murmured, cocking up a singular brow at me. I didn't attempt to answer him because my heart was beating so quickly in my chest that I didn't even trust my voice, so I stayed quiet instead. That proved to be the wrong choice because his lips tugged up into a playful smirk and he leaned down towards me, so close that I could see the pretty flecks of gold in his brown eyes. My face burned and I felt my hands trembling as he brushed his lips gently against my cheek, causing my entire body to go haywire.

It was truly instinctual when I sighed softly in bliss and anticipation, wondering what it be like if he kissed me elsewhere. I hadn't meant to make the noise at all.

Regardless, I knew Phoenix had heard the noise when he froze, his lips lingering softly on my cheek before he tightened his hold on my face slightly. He teased his soft lips over my jawline and up to my ear, a smirk on his lips all the whilst. I imagined that it hadn't escaped his notice that I was practically trembling from anticipation and that I was blushing and flustered.

Finally, he spoke again but it wasn't what I had expected him to say. "Don't think I didn't hear that. You're so cute when you're so obviously flustered and wound up from me being close to you like this." He purred, another soft noise of surprise leaving me when he nipped my earlobe before he pulled away. I gazed up at him through wide, hazy eyes as he breathed just as heavily as me, which did make me feel a little bit more comfortable to know I wasn't the only one feeling like this. My brain tried to scrounge up something to say but I couldn't even think straight, so I ended up just looking at him like I was dumbstruck—and I was, really.

Laughing softly, Phoenix teased his thumb along the bottom of my lip, tracing over it. "No more thanking me." He murmured as a reminder to me, pulling his hand away from me before he rose from his seat. "Can't wait 'till Saturday, Ellie."