The texts continue. Sometimes just meaningless updates of day to day life at the mansion, or grumbling about his latest opponent, whatever. Alberto doesn't mention Paige, to Ricardo's relief, and he keeps his responses quiet and brief. He had had to train himself twice in the last few years not to run to Alberto with every little thing after moving out, and now he has to re-convince himself that it's ok to talk, a little, to trust him to a certain degree with what minor things they talk about. It's clear Alberto is keeping up with what he can of Ricardo's life, asking now and again about Alicia's friendship with Noam, and sending him pictures of Sofia playing with the dog, who is growing so quickly that it makes Ricardo's heart hurt as much as he smiles every time he sees it.

He goes to the beach a lot when he's not in the ring, training people. Sits in the sand and stares out at the water and tries to find that peaceful calm that once resided in him, before everything started going poorly for him. Not that things are awful now, to be sure. He has Alicia, he has a great place to live, he has some really strong friendships with Mike and the rest of the crew in California, it's just that so much bad had snowballed, it outweighs the good too often and he wishes that meditation would work as well as it once did for him.

He runs his fingers through the sand and closes his eyes against the sun-kissed warmth, smiling a bit whenever he feels a little crab scuttle nearby. He's sleepy and it's warm, not that difficult to lay down and fall asleep, forget all of his problems for a little bit. When he wakes up, it's to find his phone ringing and Alicia on the other end, asking what he wants for supper. He feels fuzzy around the edges from sleeping so heavily for the first time in he's not sure how long, and when she realizes she'd woke him up, she giggles softly. "Where are you?"

"Beach," he yawns, not that surprised when she arrives about ten minutes later, snuggling up close to him and wrapping his arm around her waist as they watch the sunset. "Everything good?"

She'd won her match, Noam had won his. Their renewed alliance seems to be going well so she nods enthusiastically against his jaw. "Everything's great. Even better now that I'm home." His hand is lazily trailing up and down her side and she shivers, pressing a kiss to his mouth. "You never told me what you want for supper."

His eyes are hooded and sleepy when he looks at her, but she gets the meaning of the glance, shivering again. His touch lingers a little longer and she hums, turning to stare back at the last few moments of the sun as night prevails and he whispers into her hair, "If we wait long enough, a lot of people will leave."

It gets cool fast, especially by the water, and he's not wrong, parents soon pack children up and most everyone else leaves when the wind begins to pick up, the waves licking at the sand more emphatically. She giggles, watching him watch the beach empty out. "You're awful," she declares, words drifting away into nothing when his fingers ease under her shirt, slow and so subtle that she has to bite her lip to keep from reacting in the way she normally would to his teasing.

"You like it though," he says lowly and she closes her eyes as he kisses her shoulder. The shadows give them some sense of privacy as a few stragglers walk close to the water, ignoring them, and he smiles as she grips his jaw and brings him in for a slow, lazy kiss, both of them taking their time, the cold not bothering them as his fingers rub hypnotic circles against her smooth skin and she traces his lips with her tongue.

"I do," she admits after a few moments, and he pauses, clearly trying to remember what they were talking about and she giggles again, breaking the kiss and pulling away. "I don't know about you, but I'm not eager to deal with all of this sand for the next month." Standing up, she grips his hand and drags him up to join her before leading the way back to the car.

"What are you doing?" he asks, swallowing down a gasp as she pushes him into the backseat and settles in on top of him, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she beams at him.

"What does it look like?" she wonders before leaning in and kissing him again. He gets the picture quickly, his fingers tracing circles just above her knees as he braces her, keeps both of them from losing their rhythm in this somewhat cramped space. She rubs her nose against his and smiles, framing his face with her hands before parting his lips with her thumb and kissing him, exhaling into the warmth of his mouth.

He breathes out a sigh, staring up at her with a dark, needy gaze and shifts his touch, watching as she flushes a little, groaning against him. She's still kissing him, absorbing the sensation of it all, when he gently extracts himself, resting his hands on her shoulders. "I just wanted to let you know. I've had a lot of time to think lately." She tenses up, the relaxed arousal fading from her as quickly as it'd arrived and she starts to look doubtful, uncomfortable. He hates himself for this timing, but it needs to be said. "We both have bad relationship pasts," he tells her, cupping her face and making her look him in the eye as he says this. "Me with Paige, you with Wade and Alex. And I know it took a lot for you to come to me with your decision regarding Dar. I probably will never understand what you see in him. But every time I look at you, I definitely know what he sees in you... so for you to still choose me, over that,... I just wanted to let you know that I trust you. Wholeheartedly. I know you will never hurt me, and I promise to not make the same mistakes with you that I did with Paige."

There are tears in the corners of her eyes and she smiles brightly, her kiss this time feeling more intimate and full of gratitude than he's ever felt his entire life. She presses back into his fingers and exhales, this time being the one to sit up, stare down at him. Trails a hand down his chest and tilts her head, too beautiful in the faint moonlight drifting through the car windows for Ricardo- or anyone- to find the words awe-inspiring enough to properly describe her. "And I trust you, wholeheartedly, Ricardo. And no matter what happens to you with the business, or with Alberto, or if you decide to move to California or Alaska, I will be right there by your side. Through hell or high water. Any time you need me, I'll be right here." She rests her hand on his chest, above his rapidly beating heart, and he swallows, reaching out for her.

She meets him halfway and all discomforts, uncertainties and long held pains are forgotten, for at least these few moments.