War of the heart || Marco Peña Fanfic (The Kissing Booth)

Chapter 5

"She had the most beautiful thing I had ever seen
and it took only her laugh for him to realize
that beauty was the least of her."

                                                          ~Atticus

*~*~*~*

Chapter 5

Marco almost scolds himself for not taking the turn into the arcade more cautiously when he realizes that the one person he wanted to talk to was the one he bumped into.

He tries to hide his smile as she blindly tosses her cup into the bin and doesn't miss it. She fusses with her shirt and tries to keep it away from her skin. And what he liked was that she didn't snap at him for bumping into her; of course, it was both of their faults but some people were just plain rude.

"I am so sorry. I didn't see you there." He was sorry. Not for bumping into her, but for getting slushy spilled all over her white t-shirt.

Marco felt his breath hitch in his throat when her head lifts up and her crystal green-blue eyes clash with his dark brown ones in awareness and surprise. He could barely take his eyes off of her as he watches her pupils dilate slightly and just around the dark ring were slight flecks of orange-brown that could not be seen if one weren't so close to her. There were also very tiny freckles scattered from the small of her nose to the expands of her cheeks.

"Ari?" Noah's voice is soft at this point and goes unheard by both of them.

Slowly, right in front of his eyes, a red hue began to rise on her cheeks and her freckles seem to light up. And he couldn't help but be transfixed by every little small aspect of her face. That was when he realized that he was looking right at her, not down on her, she was perhaps only a centimeter or two shorter than him.

"Ari!"

What made his blood flare with heat was the awe in her eyes as she too admired him with those sparkling eyes of hers. And Marco was almost about to tell her that she should close her pretty pink parted lips soon unless she wants him to kiss her. Because, holy shit, it was screaming at him take it, possess it, and even nibble on it a little and the slight hue of red that was probably from her slushy made him wonder what it would feel like to have her soft lips, cold from the slushy, pressed against his warm ones.

But, both of them were simultaneously broken out of their trance by the sound of a distant male voice coming loudly from her phone that was slightly suspended in the air.

"Ari, answer me! I'm getting worried!"

Marco liked that he wasn't the only one affected as she takes a deep breath in, her eyes widening in a cute way before she brings the phone to her ear. His entire body broke out with shivers as her gaze never leave his as she speaks to the person on the phone.

He really liked that. She didn't get bashful or shy away from him, she stood her ground and held his gaze confidently and boldly. And crap, he really liked that she wasn't too short or too petite. That was normally the kind of girl he went for but she somehow gained his attention. It was probably that bike. And how amazing and confident she had looked when she drove into school and had gotten off of it as if the very air around her was hers to command but not in a snobby way, more in an 'I'm an attractive, strong, and independent woman and I know my worth' sort of way.

"Uh, uhm, I'm here, Noah. I ran into someone and spilled my slushy. I'll call you in a bit, okay?" Then he watches in amusement as she moves to the side, her eyes leaving his and for a second he thought he had observed her wrong when he hears her whisper, "And no setting me up with a guy!"