wave after wave 🌊 [rini au]

summer ; 14

Ricky woke up the next day when his alarm went off, before the sun rose, to Nini's hair splayed out across his forehead. They weren't the cuddle-in-bed type of couple, even though it was one of Nini's romance fantasies; she was the type that starfished in her sleep and was too sensitive to sounds when she slept. Her limbs were extended to all four corners of the bed, and she didn't even budge at the blaring sound of his alarm. Ricky took in the view of his sleeping girlfriend before planting a kiss on her temple, then slid out of bed into the bathroom to get ready for his daily morning run.

As he scrolled through his notifications, he realised that his lock screen wallpaper was different from his wallpaper yesterday. Ricky had used a photo of Nini's silhouette against the sunset from their first beach date as his lock screen, home page and chat backgrounds; he was a simple guy, one picture of his pretty girlfriend was sufficient. This morning's wallpaper was a photo of Nini pretending to sleep next to him; she had taken the photo last night when he had fallen asleep first. He chuckled softly at the photo, he had to admit they looked really cute in the photo even though it was completely not representative of their sleeping habits. Ricky took one last glance at his Nina before heading out the door for his run.

Alas, he returned to a similar sight of Nini sleeping, except it was different because she had shifted in her sleep into a rather compromising position. The brunette had escaped the covers, the blanket was tossed over to the side of her body, and she starfished diagonally across the bed, making use of every space available in the absence of Ricky's body. The shirt she was wearing had rode up, exposing her midriff and pj shorts that fit her bum snuggly. The curly-haired lifeguard scoffed when she reached over to her right, in an attempt to find the warmth of Ricky's body, whining when she was met when the feeling of cold sheets. She still didn't stir from her deep sleep though.

Ricky continued with some pull-ups and other body weight exercises; his job required him to stay fit and in shape, not that he was complaining anyway, he loved to exercise. As his breathing got more and more ragged, sweat rolled down his face, Nini's alarm rang rudely throughout the apartment; he was sure that his neighbours would be able to hear it too. He laughed out loud at how her arms flailed around to find the source of noise that was her phone. In the name of being a considerate neighbour, he picked up her phone that was on the dresser opposite his bed, and held it close to her face; her flailing eventually hit his arms, a little too hard, but finally, the loudness of the alarm was replaced by Ricky's breathing, in attempts to catch his breath.

"Morning, babe," Ricky whipped out his phone, smiling slightly at the new wallpaper again, before snapping a photo of the mess of Nini on his bed. She groaned when she realised he was taking photos and sat up immediately. She went over to lean her forehead against his abs but stopped herself when she remembered that he was sweaty, like really sweaty. "You should get up now, the sunrise is really pretty today," He ruffled her hair before he stepped into the shower to rinse the sweat off his skin; she held his hand and kissed the back of his palm right before he left her side, cringing at the taste of his sweat. Ricky laughed again, Nini was just too cute.

Nini dragged her tired body out of the bed, wincing when her calf muscles were sore from wearing heels to the Midsummer party. She went over to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of water as she looked out of the window, at the pinkish sky as the orange sun rose above the horizon. Ricky showered quickly and emerged from the shower in no time, decked in surf shorts and a towel around his neck. The couple made breakfast together and ate as they watched the sun rise into the heights of the sky. They spent a brief part of the morning spacing out as Ricky strummed his guitar lightly and Nini hummed along softly. It was way too early for Nini Roberts to process any thoughts, let alone carry out a conversation; and when she thought about it later in the afternoon, it warmed her heart that Ricky understood and let her be.

Ricky dropped Nini back at her house before heading to Poipu beach for morning duty; she needed to showered and get changed for work at Seas the Day. Nini climbed over the centre console of the car to straddle her driver boyfriend and gave him a long kiss. His left hand caressed her from the small of her back down to the waistband of her pj shorts, his right just on the side of her waist. "Wanna come in for a coffee?" She taunted him. Ricky's apartment only had instant coffee, which he had thrown out ever since getting to know Nini and Nate, who would never let him drink — he quotes the Roberts siblings on this — "brown water that tastes like trash". His staple source of coffee, now, was obviously from Seas the Day or the Roberts' household; he was ever thankful for their generosity to him, as they kindly offer him free drinks everyday of the week.

Their fingers were intertwined as Ricky let Nini lead him to her kitchen and leaned against the counter, watching Nini work her barista magic on the coffee machine. She noticed him staring and blew him a kiss flirtatiously, causing a laughter to erupt from within him. As they sipped on their coffees quietly, Nini fiddled with the ring on her index finger; it had been about three weeks since he'd given her the DIY ring and she was more than used to the feeling of the woven band on her finger. Ricky took her hand in his and kissed the back of her palm softly, like she did with his earlier that morning. He chugged the rest of his coffee and stood up, signalling that he had to go. Nini's lips formed a slight pout, "Your duty doesn't begin for more than an hour, Ricky..." He rubbed her waist comfortingly, "I wanna clock in some swim training before duty starts today, Nina. I'll see you later at the cafe, okay?"

Ricky leaned in to give his girlfriend a goodbye kiss and she held his chin, just so she could kiss him a little longer till they met later that day.

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just pure slice of life fluff in this update , felt cute even imagining this happening eeks... let me know which part of this book/chapter has been your favourite so far, i would love to know <3
thank you for the 2k, i love you all!