Right here, Right now ~ RINI

Chapter 18

May I present, chapter 18 of this book! I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for reading my book, it means a lot to me! Love you all! 

Hugs and kisses! 

Nini's POV

I didn't know it was possible, but this kiss was even more magical than the last one.

Our lips move slowly and so in sync, we're both savoring the kiss. I feel like I'm melting in his touch I was the one who pulled away first, resting my forehead against Ricky's as I try to catch my breath and try to understand what just happened.

When I finally get what just happened, a little smile appears on my face. A genuine one. I feel this fuzzy feeling in my stomach, I like to call them the butterflies.

I don't open my eyes, scared that then I will realize it is all a dream, that everything that just happened was just something I imagined.

I figure Ricky did open his eyes already when he softly whispers my name. I'm breathing shallow, slightly losing control again.

Hesitantly I open my eyes and I see Ricky still sitting on the bathroom counter, me still standing in between his legs. He's slightly looking down on me with this huge grin on his face. He's still so close, but too far to my liking.

He lifts his hand to my cheek and caresses it. He moves it down my hair and keeps it there. I take his hand in mine and continue staring at him, probably with a scared look in my eyes. I look from his eyes to his lips. They are a little swollen but the cut on his lip and the bruises on his cheek and eye catch my attention again.

"I-I, I better get you cleaned up now", I mutter, while taking the cloth again and wetting it another time. If you haven't noticed, I'm also trying to avoid talking about this again.

Before I can start dabbing his lip again, Ricky grabs my wrist again.

"No", he says.

"No?", I ask. What does he mean?

"No, I'm not letting this go so easily", he says. "You got out of it the first time, but not this time. You can't just kiss me and then completely ignore that it happened. I have feelings too, you know? I don't want to ignore this, I want to talk about it, I want to know what this meant."

"I-", I try, but I stay silent again. Why can't I just talk with him? It used to be so easy.

"Okay, then I'll start", he says. He loosens his grip on my wrist and takes both my hands in his, before jumping of the counter, so we're on the same level. Well sort of, because I'm still tiny compared to him.

"Nini, I like you, I even love you. I told you that on several occasions, but you never seemed to react to that, so I thought you didn't feel the same. But then you kissed me on opening night and I finally had hope that you could feel the same. So I took my chances in that dressing room, I went all in. It felt like I won the lottery when I heard you say you loved me too. I thought my wildest dream became reality.

But you weren't in a good place at that time, you were dealing with a lot of stuff, so I thought you could use some time. Because Nini, I would wait a hundred lifetimes for you. I know this is so cheesy and extremely cliché and I know you're not a fan of all that, but I can't help it.

There is nothing in this world that feels as right as when I'm with you. So please, if I'm misreading this all, just tell me and we'll pretend all this never happened, because even if it's nothing more than friends, I would do anything to stay friends. I can't imagine life without you."

I'm kinda surprised when Ricky stops talking.

I do the only thing I can think of at that point.