The Perfect Gift

Ch. 3

"Is she gone?" Nini whispers quietly as she looks up at him.

He waits until Morgan gets into the elevator and then shuts his door. "Coast is clear," he murmurs, and he moves his hands until they're resting gently around her waist.

She makes a noise of disgust and brushes him off irritably. She walks to his couch and falls over backwards, knees hanging over the arm of the couch."You're the worst," she whines feebly. "Morgan's going to round up all the other girls in the apartment building and they're going to kill me," she mutters, covering her face. "They're going to break into my room and kill me in my sleep," she moans pathetically.

Ricky rolls his eyes and joins her on the couch. "You're exaggerating!" he laughs. "You'll be fine!" And then his laugh starts to subside as he begins thinking about his somewhat unofficial fanclub, consisting of the insane residents from the building. "Maybe..." he winces uncertainly as he looks down at her apologetically.

She jerks her hands down until her fingers are curled into tiny fists underneath her chin. She looks up and glares at him. "If they find my mangled body within the next few weeks, it's going to be all your fault," she says seriously.

He laughs again and studies her stern features. "I won't let them hurt you, okay? I'll do whatever they want; I'll even sleep with all of them if I have to," he jokes.

"You brave soul," Nini sighs dreamily, fluttering her eyelashes demurely.

"But please don't make me do that last one," he pleads desperately with a shudder.

She shakes her head. "Anything to keep me alive," she declares dramatically.

He rolls his eyes but nods understandingly. "Okay, okay," he murmurs lowly, reaching out to gently brush a strand of hair off her forehead, before his fingers slowly trail down to her cheek and curl into a loose fist, knuckles brushing against the side of her face lightly. "Anything to keep you alive," he promises quietly with a soft smirk.

Nini stills from the touch, eyes widening in mild alarm.

Ricky quickly jerks his hand back and mumbles a small, barely audible, "Sorry."

They lock gazes until she tears her doe eyes away first. She clears her throat a little and sits up to hop off the couch. She turns back to face him and takes a step back, lowering herself into an awkward lunging position. "Well, I guess I should be going!" she says with a nervous, pitchy laugh as she jerks a thumb behind her shoulder repeatedly. "It's, uh, it's getting late! Or whatever," she whispers the last part under her breath.

He looks at her bemusedly and then chuckles. "Okay," he says with a small grin.

"Great!" And then she loudly claps her hands together jumps back up into a standing position, turning back around to face his door. "I'll just let myself out!"

"Sounds good," he drawls lazily, leaning back into his couch with a smirk, waiting for her to realize one important detail.

She makes it to his door and is back within a few seconds. "I forgot—"

"Your jacket, purse, and keys?" he snickers, looking at her with a brow arched in amusement.

Nini gapes at him soundlessly and red blooms across her cheeks. "Shut up," she manages dejectedly as she goes to retrieve her things.

In this time, Ricky gets up off the couch and waits for her by the door, hands in his pocket as he whistles merrily. He stops and grins when she's back at the door, this time with the appropriate items in hand. "Got everything?" he teases lightly.

"Shut up," she repeats, blushing again.

He chuckles and opens the door for her. She steps through and is about to wave good-bye when he follows, closing the door behind them with a tiny click. She looks at him, confusion in her eyes.