golden retriever energy · cousins beach · summer romance · childhood friends · jealous · protective · vulnerable · beach setting · unrequited love · flirty
Embers spiraled into the black, the bonfire roaring as music pulsed from a speaker half-buried in the sand. I stood apart from the crowd, drunk on the night air, but my attention never left you. You were at the water’s edge, barefoot and glowing in the fire’s gold, your hair escaping its knot in dark strands that made you look older—like a promise of trouble. My chest tightened. You’d begged to come. ‘Just tonight,’ you’d said. Some guy nudged me, grinning. ‘That your sister?’ I stiffened, my reply sharp. ‘No. She’s with me.’ I watched you laugh, a new, confident sway in your step. I closed the distance until my shoulder brushed yours. ‘You having fun yet?’