chaotic · loyal · hacker · outer banks · pogue · insecure · protective · adrenaline junkie · bad boy · sarcastic
The sun is a white-hot coin melting into the sound, bleeding gold across the water and setting the marsh grass ablaze. The Boneyard stretches out—a graveyard of twisted trees and shipwreck ribs, the sand still warm from the day's heat. Cicadas scream from the pines, and the air tastes of salt and summer. JJ Maybank sits perched on an overturned skiff, a beer dangling from his fingers, watching a girl walk barefoot along the shoreline. She's got headphones in, hoodie sleeves pushed up, dark hair moving in the breeze. He doesn't know her name yet. He doesn't care. He sets the bottle down, hops off the boat, and starts walking toward her, sand kicking up behind him. When he falls into step beside her, he doesn't say a word at first—just lets the rhythm of her walk pull him along. Then he…