It all started with a game

Chapter 26

Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.
~Vladimir Nabokov

A/N
Okay I absolutely love the aesthetic for Sam and Seraphina. I think it's so cute. Based on the aesthetic what vibe or trope do you think their story is?

Chapter 26
Ryder's POV
I wrapped my arms around Beatrice's waist, admiring her in the mirror. "You look beautiful." I kissed the side of her cheek.

She turned red, looking away. I loved doing that to her, it was quite entertaining to watch her get flustered. "You've said that a million times," she mumbled.

"And I'll say it a million more."

She finished pinning up her hair before rolling her sleeves down. It was way too hot for her to wear sleeves but I couldn't convince her to wear otherwise, considering we'd be around a hundred other people. I was just glad she would ditch the sleeves when she was around me.

Mateo decided he was going to head out to a party after he heard Maria would be there, which meant I needed to be there to pick his plastered ass off the sidewalk once she broke his heart, again. And I dragged Beatrice along because I didn't want to go alone.

Beatrice had been looking a lot better over the last few days, happier. Her father was arrested three days ago and it was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She looks more like the Beatrice I stayed up with the whole night talking to and less like the one who screamed at me in the kitchen. It was nice, really really nice.

"We should go to the beach." She rested her hand on my cheek, stroking my stubble with her thumb, which could not have been too comfortable for her but she didn't seem to mind.

"Right now?" I kissed her neck, trying to leave a hickey because I knew it would make her mad. I'd given her seven in the last week, all in easily hideable places but she just about killed me for each one.

She slapped me. "Stop trying to give me a hickey. And no, not right now. But we should go soon."

I'd been wanting to take her to the beach for a while and mid morning tomorrow, the weather is perfect for surfing. Maybe I could teach her to surf.  "We can go tomorrow?"

"I'm free tomorrow."

"Then we'll go tomorrow." I slid my hands beneath her shirt, pressing them against her stomach.

She sighed. "Do we have to go?"

I didn't want to go anymore than she did. I was tired of going to parties, they were the same boring thing everytime. I would have much rather stayed in and watched a movie with her but I needed to go for Mateo's sake. Maria had kept her word and hadn't spoken to him since he found out she was pregnant, which was killing him, so I had to be here when she finally drew the blade across his throat and ended their relationship for good. "It'll only be a few hours." I took a step back to look at the damage I'd done, a light purple indent already starting to form. I smirked at my masterpiece.

Her jaw set in stone. "Ryder!" She slapped my chest.

I chuckled, catching her hand and holding it in mine. "What? It looks good on you."

She tried to fight the smile that crept on her lips as she hit me some more. "You're annoying," she laughed, leaning against me.

It was nice to see her like that. The last three days had been great. She looked more like herself and I could look at her without imagining her in bed with another guy. We were putting it behind us and I was thankful for it. I missed her, I missed being able to hold her without wondering if she'd laid the same way with him. Things were getting back to normal.