Epals

Chapter 20

Ace POV

It's 5:30 pm when I am finished getting ready to leave; dressed in a plain black suit and red tie. I had tried to fix my hair but it was futile, so it stayed in its messy state. Running a hand through my hair, I turn and leave the small bathroom and grab my keys. Thankfully no one will be stopping by today to give Marco and I some time alone. Of course, I don't expect this to happen every time I am with him, but it is appreciated.

Shutting the door, I quickly go towards my motorcycle and get ready to leave the driveway. The motorcycle was a gift from Shanks, an old friend of Luffy's. The bike is done in black with a mix of red and blue flames licking up the sides. The helmet is pure red in color, a black skull on the back covered in blue flames. I don't drive it very often, preferring to hitch a ride with one of the others, due to not wanting to damage it. There's also the narcolepsy to think about.

There's a part of me that wants to impress Marco though, and I can't really stop myself from grinning as the bike speeds down the road to the restaurant.

I reach the building with 15 minutes to spare, and after tossing the keys to a nearby male I walk into the building.

"Name, please." The female at the desk asks, and a grin at her.

"Vinsmoke, reservation for two at 6."

"Very well, the other person arrived minutes ago and is waiting at the table for you. Please follow Eric, he will take you there." She motions to the skinny male who appears next to her.

"Thank you," I give her a small nod before following the other male. It only takes a few moments and rows of full tables to reach the back, where there is table hidden by heavy curtains. Eric parts one slightly and gestures me through before walking away.

"Marco, glad to see you again!" I am grinning, a blush taking over as I see what he chose to wear. It's a simple suit, a deep navy color and a pure white tie on the black undershirt. There's a silver watch on his left wrist as well and it takes a lot of effort to tear my eyes away. Clearing my throat, I sit down in the other chair, "I hope you got here okay."

"Hello, Ace. I did, Law was happy to drive me here since he had the time and nothing else to do." Marco took a sip of the red wine in his glass, a similar drink in front of me and I stare at it wondering why I was given wine. I told Sanji it messes with my medication. Marco must have noticed me frowning at the glass and continued, "Sanji is the one who is taking care of our food and drinks. He notified me that you have some sort of pomegranate juice instead of the red wine."

I blink at him momentarily, before I realize what he said before that, "who's Law?" The jealousy that flows through me suddenly nearly knocks me breathless. Taking a deep gulp of the juice to calm down, I note that it is pomegranate; one of my favorites. I glance up in time to see Marco smirking at me, before he begins speaking and my eyes drift down to his lips.

"Law is the writer I edit books for, he is also asexual and too focused on his writing to pay attention to anyone else. Well, maybe Perona but she's more like his sister than a romantic interest. Besides, I have my eye on someone else."

"Who?" my frown deepens, realizing I might not have a good chance after all. However, the thought is shoved from my mind when I am greeted with a desire filled look from Marco. All I can really do is swallow heavily, whipping my suddenly sweaty hands across my thighs. Did they raise the heat in here? Okay, well, I'm going to take that expression to mean me. If he keeps that up, I am going to have a very big problem, "o-oh. Fuck, Marco if you keep looking at me like that- "

Unfortunately, I didn't get to finish, and the last thing I heard before blacking out was a chuckle and the movement of my glass.