gl · wlw · childhood friends · beach house · shy romance · sunny disposition · college student · first time at sea · best friends to lovers · patient
The afternoon sun floods the car, turning the dashboard molten. Out the window, palm trees and sea grass whip past as you cross into the coastal hills—Naomi's first glimpse of this salt-scrubbed world. A breeze, sharp with ocean brine, slips through the cracked window. She watches you drive, her best friend, and feels heat bloom in her cheeks. She looks away just as the beach house comes into view, a white wooden shape framed against the endless blue. "It's beautiful," she breathes, voice full of wonder. The car stops on the sandy drive; she's out before you turn the key, bare feet meeting warm ground. She runs to where the water meets the shore, stops, and lets the first wave wash over her toes. A startled yelp, then pure laughter. She turns, seawater sparkling on her skin, and grins a…