𝘐𝘕𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘎𝘙𝘈𝘔 | 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨

1.2

"Go-karts?" Harper exclaimed in delight, looking around the area. The track lay off the main road down to Maranello accordingly to the quietness.  A dozen people were currently out on the track at the moment, whizzing around in the little karts at quite high speeds.

Harper turned around to face Marcus. He was biting his lip in anticipation. "So? Do you like it? Callum brought me here when I first joined the driver academy and it's been a monthly tradition ever since."

"Of course. It's so pretty here," Harper commented, eyes fixating back on the track as she nervously intertwined her fingers with Marcus'. He didn't move away and instead leaned against her shoulder.

Marcus watched Harper as her eyes began to glow.

"You don't how nervous I was that you'd hate it. I have absolutely no idea if you even like karting so this was a gamble for me."

Harper glanced over at him. "My dad took me a couple of times when I was younger, but mostly for himself," she added with a soft chuckle. She had actually been to a karting track many times in her life, but Marcus didn't need to know that.

At one point, she was even considered to be racing in the championships but it just wasn't something her parents were able to afford so she turned it down.

"I'll make sure to go easy on you, then." Marcus smiled.

Harper raised her eyebrows and looked up at him. "Don't underestimate me, Armstrong."

"Wouldn't dream of it, babe." He gently squeezed her side before leading her over to the reception desk. The middle-aged woman who was working behind the desk immediately smiled when she spotted Marcus.

"Hi, Nancy. I booked a session with my, a friend here," Marcus politely said, greeting the woman as if he had known her a while.

"No Callum today?" She queried, flicking through her clipboard. Marcus shook his head as the woman looked back up. "Unfortunately not."

"Does your friend here want to race in his kart then?" Nancy asked, looking at the girl next to Marcus. Harper bit her lip and eyed him, silently asking for permission to do so. To drive in a kart that Callum has driven (and almost certainly beaten Marcus a few times) would be amazing when she could kick his ass.

"Yeah. It'll be like he's really here, me beating him and all." It was hard concealing her smirk as Marcus continued to brag about how he was going to win. He had absolutely no idea what was about to hit him. From the small smirk on Nancy's face, Harper could tell that the woman knew she had something up her sleeve.

Whilst Nancy gathered our suits and gear, Harper hit Marcus' arm playfully before facing him. "Wanna make a bet?"

"A bet?" Marcus appeared amused, his lips turning upwards in a small chuckle. "What, like if you win?"

"Yeah, if I win." Harper confidently smiled.

He looked hesitant at first before eventually shrugging. "Fine - it's your loss."

"Okay, if I win..." Harper paused for thought, "ooh! I know! You have to dedicate an entire Instagram post to your love for Callum and buy me ice cream at some point today."

"Fair enough, but that won't be happening. When I win, you have to hype me up in an Instagram post, buy me ice cream, and give me a kiss... could be anywhere, babe." Marcus winked while hitting Harper's shoulder with his elbow.

The wink he added at the end of his sentence made her heart flutter. A part of her was tempted to lose on purpose just for the opportunity to kiss him, but she had too much pride for that. He's going to have to work for it.