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I wake up to Ridge's arms wrapped around me.
His hold is tight, warm yet comfortable. I snuggle into him and sigh deeply. His body starts moving, indicating he's up. I look up at him, giving him a soft smile. "Good Morning."
He squints his eyelids, eyes roaming around my room and then finally settling on me. "What am I doing here?"
"You came here last nigh, drunk." I snicker, informing him.
He closes his eyes and groans loudly, putting his face in my neck. "Did I do something embarrassing?" He mumbles against my skin.
I bite my lip to stop myself from smiling but fail miserably. Let's have some fun then. Running my hands through his hair, I whisper, "You professed your love for me, saying that I'm the best thing that has ever happened to. And that you're lucky that you met me."
I can feel his lips form a smile against my skin. "That's fine. At least I didn't strip, like the last time I got drunk. That too in front of the whole neighborhood."
Fuck.
"Ridge listen, you didn't, I was just --" I stutter out, trying to tell him that I was just joking but his loud raucous laughter stops me. Confused, I wait for him to stop his laughter session.
He lifts his face from my neck, grinning at me, dimples on display. "I was just messing with you. Surprisingly, I remember everything I said last night. Especially when I told you that you are the best thing that's happened to me." He teases.
I hit him on his head repeatedly. "You bastard. I'll kill you."
He grabs my hands in his, stopping me effectively. "You like me too much to kill me sweetheart."
I remove my hands from his grip, glaring at him. "It's a school day. Get up and get lost. We have school in two hours."
Abruptly, he gets up. "Wait, what time is it?"
"It's six in the morning." I tell him. Getting up on my bed, I smoothen my hair to untangle them with my fingers. Climbing out of my bed, I walk towards the door and open it, my eyes landing on dad's door. It's closed, which means he's asleep. Good.
"You picked me up so early in the morning." He whines. I ignore him and run downstairs to fetch him some water and Advil. I run back up with the requirements to see Ridge lying down on my bed, sleeping.
"Ridge, get up." I shake him, managing to wake him up. He wakes up and looks at me, blinking twice.
"Here." I hand him the pills and the glass of water. "You must have a hangover."
He smiles, shaking his head. "I don't get hangovers. I just feel heavy." But still, he takes them from my hand and downs the pills and drinks the whole glass in one go. Settling down the glass on the bedside, he pulls me on his lap.
Because I was not ready for it, I end up falling on him, both of us sprawled on the bed, me on top of him. He chuckles, and puts my hair behind my ears. "Now let's talk about last night."
I blush on instinct.
"Wake up lovebirds, it's a fine fine morning." Em's cheerful voice greets us as she barges into my room, with a loud bang of the door opening. Tanner and Em enter my room, making me put some distance between Ridge and I.
"I forgot that these two fools lived here too." He mutters, scowling at them.
"Sorry to disrupt and disturb your moment, but dad's up so it would be better if you sneak out before he catches you here, deflowering his daughter." Tanner exclaims, throwing himself on the couch. Em follows him, sitting on the floor.
"There was no deflowering involved, we were just talking." I retort, rolling my eyes.
"Right, and I saw pigs fly in the morning." Em mutters, sarcasm clear in her voice.
"Okay, I'm out." Ridge puts his hands up, scooting forward and moving out of the bed.
"How will you go back?" I ask him, stopping him in his tracks.
He turns around. "I'll walk." He deadpans.
Bidding him farewell, we all walk out of the room and follow him until he leaves the house. Together, we walk back upstairs to see dad standing outside his room, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
I gulp.
"Ask him to come for dinner tonight. And if he passes the test, he can stay the night." Saying this, he walks back into his room.
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"Look, you can cancel the dinner you know. I'll just tell dad that you are sick, or you already had plans and you cannot join us for dinner. Or you can call and say - " Ridge cuts me off by gently capturing my lips in a kiss. Sighing against his mouth, I kiss him back.
"Stop freaking out. It's just a dinner, not a police interrogation. We'll be fine." He whispers, but there's an underlying amusement in his tone.
"I know. I just don't know what I'll say to him, you know." I confess, looking at my hands.
He holds my face in his hands. "Look, just say that we are dating and we are taking things slow. Rest, I'll handle."
"Okay." I nod and take hold of his hands and together we walk inside my house, straight to the dining area where Em and Tanner are already seated. Ridge lets go of my hand and walks towards them to hug them, fist bump them or whatever.
Dad comes out of the kitchen, making his presence known.
Ridge walks towards him, shoulders straight, steps confident and offers him a hand to shake. "Good evening, sir. I'm Ridge."
Dad shakes his hand, giving him a small, calculative smile. "Good evening Ridge. Have a seat. I have made chicken and lemon rice. Hope you are not vegan or vegetarian?"
Ridge shakes his head. "No sir, it's fine."
Everyone takes a seat on the dining table, while I walk to the kitchen to help dad in setting the dinner. I approach dad and take the bowl of rice from him. "Go easy on him dad."
"You say it like I have a gun hiding in my socks." Dad remarks, picking up the chicken. "Come on, the food's getting cold."
We get seated and start eating the food silently, making small talks here and there, complimenting food and usual pass me the salt.
Dad, sets his spoon down. "So, Ridge what was you first impression of Lydia."
Ridge sets his spoon down and wipes his mouth with the napkin. "When I first saw her, the only thing going through my mind was that this girl is confident. I saw her when she punched Conan, the guy who tried to make a move on her."
My eyes widen in surprise at his confession. Till now, I thought that our first encounter was at the library.
"And then we met at the library where I found out that she loves reading. I think that became my undoing." He finishes. My eyes lock with dad, a silent conversation going on. I think he understood the book part better. Because mom loved reading.
"Right." Dad smiles. "Why didn't you do anything when you saw that bastard harassing my daughter?"
Now this is a test. Fingers crossed.
"Uh, I was about to walk up to them but before I could, she punched him in the face, breaking his nose so I didn't really think that me going to the rescue would've been any useful." He answers, then a dash of scarlet coats his cheeks. "She doesn't need a man to rescue her. She can knock out the bad guys on her own."
"Well, she's my daughter." Dad says proudly, caressing my head affectionately. I give him a soft smile. And I'm proud of that fact!
"So Ridge, one last question because I'm tired of keeping up with this strict father act." Dad mutters, earning laughs from everyone round the table. "I know my daughter is a handful, so answer this question carefully."
Ridge nods.
"How do you even keep up with her?"
My mouth drops to the floor at my dad's question, eyes wide open. "What the hell, dad?!"
Ridge snickers behind his palms but Em and Tanner are having a full blown laughter sessions, tears brimming their eyes, hands banging the table kind of laughter.
Ridge takes a deep breath. "I have special talents sir."
Dad lets out a hearty laughs, patting Ridge on the back. "Welcome to the family boy. And all the best with her."
"Dad!" I hiss, gritting my teeth in annoyance and embarrassment, but still fail to keep the smile away from my face. "You're such a kid, I swear."
"Well, it's not our fault you can't take a joke or someone messing with you." Ridge comments, eyes twinkling with amusement and something else. My mind drifts to our time together in the morning. I blush slightly, but cover it up by sticking my tongue out at him childishly.
"Who's a kid now, huh?" Em snickers. I roll my eyes at her, giving her the finger.
"Okay, I have one last question." Tanner bangs his hand on the table, capturing our attention. A mischievous glint flashes in his eyes. "Who wears the pants in your relationship?"
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"Fuck, I'm tired." Tanner mumbles, throwing himself on my bed like he's wounded. "Why did I have to eat so much?!"
"Because you are an idiot." Em provides, laying on the bed with him. Ridge and I make our place on the floor near the foot of the bed. Ridge sits cross legged so I place my head on his laps and get comfortable.
"Listen guys, since it's a Saturday tomorrow, how about we invite the others here too and have a house party?" Em suggests, already onto picking up her phone to text everyone.
"Fine by me." I stifle a yawn, closing my eyes feeling relaxed a Ridge plays with my hair absentmindedly. It feels good. I snuggle into him, wrapping my arms around his torso.
"Great, we'll ask dad to join us too." Tanner adds, "since he has an off tomorrow, you know."
"Hell yeah, it will be like old times. All of us together." Em beams in excitement. "Lydia, we have beer here, right?"
Before I can reply, Tanner beats me to it. "I've already stocked the refrigerator with beer cans. Always prepared."
"Great, now that everyone's settled, can you guys get the fuck out of my room so that I can sleep?!" I sit up straight, crossing my arms across my chest and glare at Em and Tanner who are sprawled on my bed like it belongs to them.
"Wait, let me think." Tanner makes a thinking expression. "How about no?"
Em laughs but gets up from the bed, dragging Tanner with her. "Let's go or she'll go all hulk on us." Tanner mutters words of protest but obliges quietly once Em gives him death glare. I get up from the floor and stumble onto the bed, burying my face into the soft, silky duvet, releasing a heavy breath. Ah, how much I love my bed.
"Bye, hulk." Tanner yells and then he is out with Em, closing the door behind them with a bang. Ridge lays down next to me, grinning.
"What?" I ask.
"We still haven't talked about a few things you know." He whispers.
"Now is not the time to have a heart to heart Ridge. I'm fucking sleepy. Let me fucking sleep." I groan, rolling onto the bed so that I'm facing away from Ridge. If I look at his gorgeous face anymore, I might ruin my chances of sleeping.
"Always so polite." He teases me, throwing his arms around me, pulling my back to his chest.
"Hmm, good night."
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Another update so soon?! I'm on a roll!
Did you like this chapter? I'm seriously in love with David! Every girl deserves a laid back, chilled out father like him lmao.
Next update super soon!
Until then,
Stay Safe and Stay Happy! <3