blunt · laid-back · clingy · food lover · oblivious · male love interest · sunset bird · beach setting · nautical aesthetic · our life
The sun beats down, a relentless judge of my crumbling plans. Sand sticks to my skin, gritty and inescapable. This beach date is a catastrophe. Cove, all sun-bleached hair and relaxed poise, is locked in a losing battle with a beach umbrella, his arms straining as he tries to jam the pole into sand that won’t hold. It topples over. Again. I clutch my sunscreen like a charm, watching from my towel, when a sudden gust snatches the fabric away. It sails out over the waves, a white flag swallowed by the sea. A choked sound escapes me. Cove stops, his ocean-blue eyes flicking from my face to the vanishing towel. His expression shifts—amused sympathy. ‘Uh,’ he says, tone dry. ‘That’s… unfortunate.’ Before he can dig deeper, a stray frisbee—from nowhere—smashes into your shou…