It all started with a game

Chapter 15

I think... if it is true that
there are as many minds as there
are heads, then there are as many
kinds of love as there are hearts.
~Leo Tolstoy

A/N
I hope y'all enjoy the chapter.
Also please let me know if I did the tw right because I don't usually have to do them so I want to make sure I do them right.

***slight tw (mentions blood)***

Chapter 15
Beatrice's POV
I struggled to flip the page of my book with one hand, using my nose as support and still failing miserably. Ryder let out a low chuckle, releasing my hand for a split second to assist in the task and then returning his hand back to where it belonged.

It was quite difficult to read a book when I was tangled up with Ryder, but I was far too comfortable to move. Of course, there was a perfectly good couch behind us but the two of us had chosen the floor to rest while I read and Ryder watched tv.

In theory it seemed like a perfect way to spend an evening: reading. But my cringey romance novel was not as appealing anymore as now everytime I pictured the love interest, Ryder's face popped into my head. It made for many disruptions as I had to stop periodically and rewire my brain to picture the love interest as anyone else, leaving me with a very deformed, inhuman like image that would inevitably revert back to Ryder's face with time.

Ryder yawned, wrapping his arm tighter around my waist, pressing my back further to his chest. I wasn't sure what Ryder was watching, I had checked out as soon as I heard it was a horror movie. I'm all for a good horror movie, but I was a bit squeamish when it came to blood, so I chose to focus my attention on my book.

I set my book down on its pages so that it would stay open to my marked place, before grabbing a random candy wrapper from our pile of wrappers, which continued to accumulate the more junk food we ate, sticking it into my book to hold its place. I flipped to the end of the pages, reading the last page so I could make sure the couple I was rooting for actually made it to the end. There was no point in reading it if they didn't. I always read the endings of books first, I didn't like to be surprised, if only I could do that in real life.

Lucky for me, my ship did make it to the end.

Ryder unweaved our legs, earning a pout from me as it suddenly got ten times colder despite the blanket—my suggestion of course, since Ryder's a weirdo who doesn't use blankets. "I'm going to use the restroom," Ryder tried to excuse himself, key word being 'tried'.

I set my book down, grabbing onto his arms. "No! Don't go."

"I have to," he laughed.

I kissed his adam's apple, and then the side of his neck, and then his chin and then his cheek. "Are you sure?"

It took him a moment to respond. "I'm sure," he responded almost painfully, "Kisses are not going to stop me this time."

I pouted, my face drooping. "It worked forty minutes ago."

"Which is why it won't work this time. I can only hold it for so long." He kissed my temple, letting go of my hand and finally standing up.

I sighed. "Fine." I rubbed my lower back. "But when you get back can we please move to the couch?" My hips were digging into the ground by now and my entire body had begun to ache.

Ryder nodded, stretching out his body. "Definitely. I can't feel my arm anymore."

I stood up as well, my back cracking loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. "I'm going to get a glass of water," I said as if it didn't sound like I'd just broken every bone in my body.