Riptide 》WinWin

Twenty

Marina's POV:

I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling Sicheng's arm around my waist. "Mm, what's wrong?" I heard him say in a sleepy voice as he adjusted his position. "I just thought I heard something outside." I whispered. Before I knew it, he turned me over to face him, his eyes half closed as he sighed. "There's nothing out there and besides, I'm right here, nothing is going to hurt you." He said.

My eyes widened the moment he leaned forward and placed his lips on mine. I slowly closed my eyes and kissed him back, enjoying the feeling of his soft lips on mine. Now that our feelings were mutual, I felt so many sparks as my heart fluttered. He pulled away and smiled before his head fell back down onto the pillow, leaving me to my blushing self.

As he slowly started to drift off to sleep, I grabbed his waist and buried my face in his chest, not wanting to focus on the feeling of someone outside anymore. "Mm you okay?" He said sleepily as he wrapped his arms around me tightly. "Yes, just please hold me." I pouted as I closed my eyes and sighed. Soon enough I drifted off to sleep in his arms, waking up hours later when the sun shined in through the windows.

I squinted as I opened my eyes, realizing Sicheng wasn't beside me. Before I could get up, I saw the door open, revealing Sicheng in only a towel around his waist and his hair still wet, making my mouth drop open. "Oh my god, sorry, I forgot to bring my clothes to the bathroom to change." He said and I looked away shyly as I let him get changed. "You're very handsome." I said, smiling to myself.

He denied it and finished changing before grabbing a comb. I looked at him as he brushed his hair, I admired the way he focused on brushing his hair in the mirror before I noticed his outfit. "You look fancy today." I smiled as I stretched out on the bed. "Well yeah, we're going on a date remember?" He said as he turned to me. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I forgot. What am I going to wear?" I said as I jumped out of the bed and began to freak out, running to the closet to find an outfit.

He laughed before speaking as he finished combing his hair. "You look beautiful in anything." He said, making my heart beat faster. "Thank you Sicheng...but I want to look perfect tonight for you." I said as I found a beautiful dark blue dress. "Don't look, I want it to be a surprise." I said as he turned around. I quickly changed into the dress and put on some black heels before checking myself in the mirror. I straightened up my light blue hair and decided to show Sicheng the outfit.

"Okay, you can look now." I said, turning to him and waiting nervously as he turned around to face me. The moment he did, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "M...marina you're...gorgeous." he said as he looked me up and down while I blushed. "How did I get so lucky?" He said as he walked up to me, putting his hands on my hips as I looked up at him. I was speechless as he looked at me lovingly.

Before I knew it, he leaned forward and kissed me gently. I kissed back as he held onto me tighter. "I don't think I can ever let you go." He said as he pulled away. "I don't think you'll ever have to worry about that." I whispered. "We should go soon, I want to take you somewhere special." He said, taking my hand and rushing me out the door. The moment we walked down the stairs, his parents and brothers looked at us in shock.

"Guys, you know Marina, well she's my girlfriend now." He said confidently as he took me to the kitchen and grabbed a basket, leaving them in shock as I admired him while we left the house, still hand in hand. We made our way to this surprise place Sicheng wanted to take me to when all the sudden, he told me to close my eyes. "Trust me, I've got you." He said as he lead me the rest of the way and sat me down before saying I could open my eyes.

I opened my eyes slowly to see Sicheng in front of me while I noticed we were on the beach. "This is where we first met, after you saved my life." He smiled as he opened the basket, pulling food and drinks out and sitting them on the blanket we were on. "Sicheng..this is so special. I can't believe you put all of this together." I smiled as he handed me a drink. We enjoyed our first date together, laughing and telling stories as we shared food and drinks together, time seemed to go by slowly as it seemed we were there for hours, the sun slowly starting to die down as we continued to walk, now laying next to each other, looking at the cloud.

"Sicheng.." I said as I turned to look into his beautiful eyes. "Hmm?" He said as he took my hand in his. "I think I love you." I said, looking at his eyes. "I think I love you too." He said, leaning in to kiss me. I closed my eyes, awaiting the impact of his soft lips on mine but my heart dropped the moment I heard the words. "Did you really think I would just let you have her that easily?"

Hey guys, thanks for reading! Hope you liked this chapter. This book is close to ending soon 😭

~-winney-