Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 405

The next morning, when the sky began to brighten with the Sun’s rays reaching the Earth, someone was awakened from their slumber.

Lina’s eyes fluttered open and a soft smile appeared on her lips when her eyes adjusted to the brightness in the room.

Sleeping beside her was the man whom she was liking more and more each day.

‘We still have time before we begin our day.’ She surmised after taking a glance at the wall clock only to find that it was barely six in the morning.

Reuben did not have to get to work before nine and she was not in a hurry to be anywhere.

Therefore, snuggling closer to him, she rubbed her cheek over his chest and closed her eyes once again.

‘Let the alarm wake us up.’ She abandoned this responsibility to the alarms they had set on their phones.

The man next to her felt her movements and hugged her closer in his arms though he had not yet awakened.

Sensing his unconscious actions, she smiled once again and buried her face in his chest to get some more sleep.

__

The events that took place last night,

After Reuben had let go of the long hug that he did not know he needed but was glad that she had accommodated him without asking any questions, he gazed into her eyes.

Once they had separated from each other’s warmth, Lina looked at him with curiosity brimming in her eyes which he just could not avoid.

Rubbing the space between his eyebrows, Reuben sighed as he pulled his Kitten in his arms.

He sat with his back resting on the couch with her laying sideways, placing her head on his broad and muscular chest.

“I feel that there is something strange about your brother and his friend.” He began to touch upon the topic that had gotten his emotions out of whack.

Lina tilted her head upwards as she tried to gauge his expressions.

“Strange how?” She muttered in question.

‘Does he also think that Tristan is closer to big brother than I am?’ She was worried that the mocking words Tristan had spoken in their last call were indeed true.

The thought that she had lost the special place in Wind’s heart to Tristan was causing her mood to sour with every second that Reuben remained silent.

However, this young man was lost in his own thoughts to figure out the distressing notions that were swirling in her mind.

‘How should I tell her that this Tristan guy makes me feel uneasy?’ Reuben wondered as he had no apparent reason to feel that way towards the other man.

Since they had never met and only this afternoon had he heard of that man’s name so there was no valid justification to explain his strange thoughts.

“Why is it that they are together at all times? They even disappeared together. That’s what I felt was weird.” He made up an excuse to validate his reason for feeling odd.

But this only fueled Lina’s rage about what Tristan had said on that day.

‘You are no longer the top girl in his heart.’ His ridiculing words echoed in her ears, making her narrow her eyes.

“He is just a clingy old friend of my brother’s who likes to stick to him like glue!” She corrected him with a huff.

Reuben glanced down in surprise at her agitated behavior and caressed her head to calm her down.

“Hmm… Also, your mother called Benji today.” He diverted the conversation elsewhere.

‘Kitten also doesn’t seem to like that man.’ He noted and felt relieved that he had been worrying for nothing at all.

Lina’s eyes widened in surprise but it soon faded when she recalled the missed call she had found in her call logs.

“Ohh…” She nodded and did not speak further.

‘I’ll know why she called when I call her back later.’ She assumed and was not prod about it anymore.

However, Reuben had knowledge about this matter which he was more than happy to share with her.

‘After all, Benji seemed very excited to share this news with me.’ He sneered thinking about that man’s smirking face as he retold about the conversation he had with Lina’s mom.

Benji was waiting to see his flustered face but he had underestimated the power of The Ice Emperor’s ability to appear indifferent even when the conversation was about his future mother-in-law.

Though he was nervous to hear news about Lina’s mom, he never let it appear on his face, thus wrecking Benji’s plans of having some fun at his expense.

“She is going to visit soon.” Reuben revealed with a smile as he glanced down at his Kitten.

The expression of joy that took over her face made him glad that he had decided to share this news with her rather than waiting for Benji to relay this information to her later.

‘Sorry, Benji. Looks like I beat you to it.’ He apologized though he did not seem sorry for what he had just done.

Lina sat up straight and was practically jumping in her seat for excitement of what she had just heard.

‘Mommy and Daddy will be here soon!?’ She giggled at the thought of her sweet yet strict mother and her doting darling father coming to meet her.

Reuben smiled when he saw her jubilant face and was sure that he had made the right decision of telling her before Benji could.

“Did they tell you when they would arrive?” She inquired, elated and curious about their itinerary.

However, Benji had not spoken to him in this regard so he could only shake his head to give her a negative answer.

Lina pouted for a second but shrugged it away as she would know this information the moment she left her closed-door cultivation.

‘One more reason to finish my work faster!’ She declared and pumped her fists in the air.

She had no idea about their travel plans and hoped that she was not stuck in this hotel room when they arrived in the country.

Hence, the only proper solution to her problem was to finish her work faster and return to Yang Manor.

“Ruby, I will go into hyperdrive starting tomorrow morning.” She announced, resolute to end her seclusion period at the earliest.

Reuben nodded, agreeing that she needed to end this period and return to her normal life.

‘But if that happens then we won’t be able to spend time with each other like we do now.’ He sulked that his quality time with her would end soon.

Lina had just turned in his direction when she caught sight of his pouting lips.

“We can meet any time we want to see each other, Ruby.” She proposed to alleviate his wordless complaints about this matter.

Listening to her trying to comfort him, he smiled and nodded his head all over again.

“We can meet for dates, you can come over to my office if you want…” He began pointing out places where they could meet up.

“Wade’s office is free for us to borrow too!” She chirped, ignoring the fact that the other man was a busy VP who was bearing all the responsibilities of the company she owned.

Reuben chuckled at her words and shook his head, rejecting that idea.

“Your brother will surely tag along and become the third wheel.” He explained while making sure that he did not say anything mean about her brothers.

‘She is too protective of them.’ He remembered this detail and decided to be more cautious when she was around.

Lina pondered over his statement and realized that he was right.

‘Every time we meet at Wade’s office, he is always there and then he comes along with us for meals.’ She recalled previous instances when this had taken place.

Of course, he would be there since it was his office and he would surely tag along to keep an eye over his baby sister, to keep her safe from the vicious wolf named Reuben.

But Lina had forgotten about these details as she thought of why his office was no longer a good spot to meet up.

It would have been fine earlier as she and Reuben weren’t officially dating but now they were.

There could be times when it would be alright to dine with everyone but at times, they needed their privacy just like any other couple would.

Thus, Wade’s office was struck off from the list of date spots for the happy couple.

The man sitting with her smiled when he saw that she was contemplating what needed to be done now that she would end her seclusion period earlier than expected.

“I will think of more places where we can have our peace and quiet once we leave this hotel room.” Reuben promised when he observed that she was deep in her thoughts.

Looking up, Lina leaned closer and pecked his lips to seal the promise he had just made.

A gesture this couple would use each time someone made a promise to the other.

They then had a light meal while watching the news until they felt drowsy.

With this, their evening came to an end and they headed to the bed to get some sleep.

Lina blushed immensely when she recalled what they had done on this bed earlier but Reuben did not let her shy away from him.

Holding her hand, he led her to the bed and laid down with her snuggling close to his body.

“Good night, Kitten.” He whispered as the lights turned off, bringing about darkness in the room.