wave after wave 🌊 [rini au]

winter ; 02

The week after Nic's party was the last week of winter break. Nini wanted to maximise the freedom she had from school work, but Gina was away with her rich lil family on vacation on the mainland and Kourtney was at her grandmother's house in Oahu. She and Ricky had been texting as much as it was humanly possible to, before and after his shifts and during his breaks. In order to free Nini of her pathetic social life, they met up almost every night at his rental apartment or the Roberts house, spending most of their time getting to know each other, and jamming to whatever song came to mind. Each time they parted, Ricky would kiss her goodbye,  the intensity of their kisses growing as the week went by.

Friday night, however, was different. The Roberts had a family tradition of game night every first friday of the month; while it was a Roberts family event, it was not exclusive to the Roberts, any of their friends were welcome to join. Nate's fiancee, Emma, had joined them since she and Nate were dating and it would be the fourth time that Sarah, Nic's girlfriend, joined in the fun. The thought of inviting Ricky along for game night was tempting; since Sarah joined in for game night, Nini had been feeling like a seventh wheel in the equation of 2 young couples and her parents. Of course, no one would have left her out, she was the beloved youngest Roberts that no one would forget. However, it wouldn't diminish the slight twinge she'd feel each time they gathered. Inviting Ricky for Roberts' game night felt a little too intimate and personal still, though the thought crossed her mind more than a few times.

Unfortunately, it was no longer an option when Nic, who was waiting on the porch for her to return from Ricky's, personally extended the invitation to Ricky on Thursday night. "Come on, it'll be fun. Ni can stop being the seventh wheel and we'll finally find out who's better at spicy uno." Ricky had graciously accepted the invitation, not noticing that a blush had risen to Nini's cheeks. He'd taken a step back later on, realising that she might not have wanted him there, which she denied, waving her arms frantically to convince him. She just hoped it would be the right step in the right direction. They didn't get their goodbye kiss that night, neither willing to be intimate in front of the older Roberts.

Friday game night was on.

Their shoulders and knees had never rubbed into each others' that much before, but neither of them minded the contact as they shared a hand of cards in the game of Exploding Kittens. She would lean into him as they shared strategies in hushed whispers, careful that their competitors wouldn't hear their secret plans. In the end, they ran out of cards and drew an imploding kitten; it did not go well for them.

"Nini, would you please be an angel and get more lemonade from the fridge?" Nic plastered a sweet smile on his face. The youngest Roberts rolled her eyes at her brother, and refused to budge from her place on the floor. Sarah, being the sweet girl she was, flicked him in the forehead, "Don't bully your sister, Nicky, get it yourself." Nic shook his head adamantly and stuck his hand out for a game of rock, paper, scissors — truly living up to game night. "Oh, you're on, Nicky." Nini teasingly mocked the nickname her brother's girlfriend had for him, amusing Ricky at the sight of her competitiveness. To no one's surprise, Nini lost again, even in the best of three, just like she did with the card game.

She groaned, accepting her fate and stood to the feet, "Wanna come with?" Ricky looked up her pretty legs, and body as he lifted his head to look her in the eyes, simply shrugging, letting her pull him to his feet. As soon as they were in the kitchen, out of sight of the rest who were in the living room, Nini wrapped her arms around Ricky's neck, her lips meeting his. His arms gripped her waist tightly, thumbs caressing the small of her back. She pulled away after a short while, not wanting to get caught, but he kept his arms around her waist as she cupped his cheeks with her small hands.

"Making up for yesterday's goodbye kiss?" Ricky pecked her lips again. She smiled shyly, and buried her face into his chest, "I just like kissing you."

Ricky laughed at her shyness, "I like kissing you too, Nina," and leaned in to steal another.

"Okay, we gotta get that lemonade for Nic," Ninin turned to open the fridge for a full jug of lemonade. Ricky pressed a kiss in her hair before they headed back to the living room.

Over in the living room, Nate almost squealed like a girl as he leaned into Emma's shoulder, "They are so cute." The older four had been watching Ricky and Nini's interactions the entire night and it was safe to say that they knew that they liked each other, and were more than supportive if they were to pursue a relationship, despite them knowing each other for only one week. "I've never seen you this supportive of Nini in a relationship," Emma teased her fiance. Nic smiled, "Ricky's a good guy, he's cleared with us every night that they hang out and he hasn't talked to me or Nate about our careers yet — it's a good sign." A frown of confusion covered Sarah's face and Emma kindly explained, "So far, every boy that expressed interest in Nini has tried to sneak past them or talk them up. Basically, all the boys except this one have failed to respect Nini's love for her brothers."

Everyone in the Roberts house that night would agree on one thing, Nini and Ricky had something special.