RYAN
Maybe all this cliche dating stuff isn't actually as bad as I thought they would be.
The beach is practically glowing. Sunlight bouncing off the water, sand so bright it almost hurts to look at for more than a second. We walk a little farther down the shore, shoes in hand, the ocean stretching out endlessly in front of us. The breeze does absolutely nothing to cool the heat.
I was actually already planning to go for a little swim, because otherwise I would’ve died out in this heatwave.
But when I got out my car, there was this girl telling me how she just recently moved here and is now living with her aunt.
But that quickly turned into a very flirtatious conversation and her using the pickup line, “You owe me your number for stealing my attention.” But when I told her I have a girlfriend, she just laughed and said, “That hasn’t held me back before.
” Which is a really shitty thing to say by the way, but at that exact moment, Maddy walked across the parking lot.
And even though she looked almost startled, she had great timing.
“I’m going in,” Maddy suddenly announces.
I glance over at her. “Already?”
“I’m actually sweating my ass off.”
I huff a quiet laugh, because judging by the way she’s fanning her shirt away from her neck, I completely believe her. She drops her bag onto the sand and starts digging through it for her emergency bikini. She always carries one with her. Then she pauses.
“…Shit,” she mutters, glancing around the beach.
I raise an eyebrow. “What?”
She straightens slowly, looking back at me. “There’s literally nowhere to change.”
I glance around once myself, and she’s not wrong. The beach is packed. So I reach into my bag and pull out a towel. “I’ll hold this up.”
She stares at me. “What.”
“I’ll hold this up,” I repeat, already unfolding it.
Her eyes narrow. “You’re serious?”
“Completely,” I say. “I won’t look. Promise.”
There’s a brief pause as she looks around, hesitating. And I lean down a little, keeping my voice low, “Unless you want me to.”
Her eyes widen immediately and she just stares at me. “You’re impossible.”
I grin, can't helping it because seeing her looking so shocked is really amusing. “I’m joking.”
I lift the towel, holding one end up like a curtain, turning my head.
“No peeking,” she says—or commands more like.
“I wouldn’t dare.”
I hear her unzip her shorts by the rattling sound. “Not that there’s anything exciting to see anyway,” she mumbles to herself, but I still hear it.
I scuff a laugh, shaking my head while still looking towards the ocean.
“…What?”
“Come on Mads,” I add. “That’s not true. You know you look good.”
I almost hear her freezing, like I said something really weird.
“Oh, don't give me that look.”
“How do you know what look I’m giving if you are looking the other way?”
“Because I just know you are.”
She snorts softly and after a couple seconds she calls out: “Done.”
And I turn around and drop the towel. And—holy shit—my brain forgets how to function for a second. I should take back my words. Because she looks even better than good.
I mean, I’ve seen her in a bikini a thousand times, but for some reason, it just became a hundred degrees hotter here.
Was that even possible? Her light-coloured bikini shapes her body, her hips, her waist—and there’s something about the contrast of her bare skin and her blonde hair falling over her shoulders that makes it impossible to look away.
She puts her shorts and T-shirt in her bag and comes back up, placing her hands on her hips.
I lean down slightly. “Told you it was not true.”
She freezes, her cheeks immediately turning a little red. Then she clears her throat.
“Are you, uh,” she says, turning even more red and then pointing to me. “Also going in?”
“If you want me to take off my clothes, you can just ask, you know?” I tease.
She hits my chest lightly and rolls her eyes.
I laugh as I turn away, pulling my cap off and running a hand quickly through my hair before tossing it onto my bag.
I hook my fingers into the collar of my shirt and lift it over my head.
When I turn back around, I catch Maddy mid-stare.
Her eyes snap away so fast she nearly gives herself whiplash. Was she checking me out?
The corner of my mouth lifts. I step a little closer, and suddenly notice the height difference in a way I never really have before. She has to tilt her head slightly to look up at me.
“You ready?” I ask.
“Yup, let’s cool our asses off.”
We place our bags in the sand and start walking. A few people jog past us along the shoreline, earbuds in, clearly having the time of their lives.
Maddy looks at me and grins. “Still think I’m faster.”
I raise an eyebrow, feeling amused by her teasing voice. “Is that so?”
“You know it.”
“Wanna bet?” I ask.
“Sure.”
I smirk, leaning closer to her ear. “And if I win—what’ll you give me?”
She blinks. “A round of applause?”
“Try again.”
She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Loser buys ice cream.”
“Now we’re talking.”
We walk down toward the edge of the water, cool foam washing over our feet. She points down the beach. “First one to the lifeguard tower.”
I nod. “Deal.”
We line up, side by side, sand warm under my feet.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Ready.”
“Three,” I say.
“Two.”
“One.”
“Go.”
We take off.
My feet pound over the sand, wind loud in my ears. Each step sinks just enough to fight me, muscles already burning from the sprint.
But she’s fast. Like, actually fast.
Jesus.
Maddy’s a few steps ahead, laughing as she runs, hair flying behind her, already turning her head just enough to call back, “Hope you’re ready to lose, Drayton!”
I can’t help but smile. And somehow the song “Someone To You” from BANNERS starts playing in my mind.
The tower’s right there and she’s almost got it. And something in my brain goes, absolutely not. So I sprint. Two long strides and I’m on her. My hands catch her at the waist before she can react, momentum carrying us both forward as I lift her clean off the ground.
Her laugh breaks straight into a shout. “Hey—! Ryan!”
I toss her over my shoulder before she can fight me off, one arm locked around the back of her legs, the skin to skin contact making the hairs on my arm stand up.
“Ryan!” she yells, laughing and kicking uselessly. “That is cheating!”
“Desperate times,” I say, already running for the water.
We both crash into the ocean in a mess of cold water, bubbles, and tangled limbs.
“That was not fair,” she says, surfacing beside me. “I was winning.”
“Exactly,” I grin.
She’s smiling. Bright. Dimples fully out.
And it feels like my heart just started racing like crazy.
And a weird thought hits me out of nowhere: Has my body always reacted like this while looking at her?
I mean, she has always been beautiful, but somehow I step a little closer without really thinking. Very close.
Her hair’s stuck across her cheek, so I reach up and brush it back, tucking the strand behind her ear. The second I touch her, something in my chest goes tight. She looks up at me and doesn’t move. I suddenly have the urge to lean closer and—
Splash. Water smacks me straight in the face.
I jerk back, sputtering. “Hey!”
“Oops,” she says, way too innocent and I wipe my eyes, shaking my head. “You’re gonna regret that.”
She’s laughing before I even move, turning to run through the shallows. So obviously, I chase her. Water flying, sand shifting under our feet, both of us laughing like idiots.
We swing by Salt & Scoop for ice cream, both still half covered in sand.
Maddy’s hair is still wet from the ocean, dark strands clinging to her shoulders while droplets slowly soak into the fabric of her shirt. The saltwater is already starting to turn the ends into loose waves.
“I’ll get it,” Maddy says, opening the door and looking over her shoulder. “What flavour do you want?”
I give her a look. “I believe I already told you that.”
“Oh, right,” she says, tipping her head back dramatically. “You are a boring-vanilla-type of guy.”
“You gotta live with it.”
She rolls her eyes, but I catch a tiny smirk as she fully steps in and lets the door close behind her.
Two minutes later the door opens again and she walks out holding two cups, the ice cream bowls inside already melting.
“I cannot wait for these,” she says, almost groaning. “I am melting just as fast as the ice cream.”
I laugh under my breath and take the cup she holds out to me—which has three scoops, and none of them have that white vanilla colour. One is a dark brown, one is a light green, and one a light brown with dark brown swirls.
“I believe this is not vanilla,” I say.
She shrugs her shoulders as she takes a scoop of her own. “I refuse to believe you don’t like any of these better than vanilla.”
I shake my head, smiling. “You are unbelievable.”
“Thank you.”
We start walking toward the parking lot, the afternoon air finally starting to cool down the heat that’s been hanging over the beach all day.
I glance down at the cup in my hand. “What even are these flavours?”
“The brown one is chocolate, the green one is pistachio,” she explains. “And the swirly one is cookie dough. My absolute favourite.”
I let out a quiet laugh. “Well, let’s test them.”
I scoop up a bite of the chocolate first. The cold hits my tongue instantly, a welcome shock after the heat of the day. Then I try the pistachio. And finally the cookie dough. I pause for a second, considering. They are not better than vanilla.
Okay. Fuck. They actually are. She was right.
“And…?” She asks me, with her big green eyes. And I can see she is waiting for me to tell her she was right.
“Vanilla is still better.”
She turns her head to me, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Ugh, I can never change you.”
A grin pulls at my mouth at the way she acts so offended by it. I’ve always liked getting that reaction out of her.
After a while of walking in silence, Maddy takes another little scoop, then lowers her voice. “You ever think about what would happen if the others found out?”
I glance over at her. “About us?”
She nods slightly. “About this not being real.”
The word makes me pause. I had so much fun today, I completely forgot this whole thing is just an act.
We toss around a few quiet, half-amused what-if scenarios as we walk, but the humour fades quicker than usual. Maddy takes another bite of ice cream, her expression shifting a little.
“Bailey would be disappointed,” she says.
“Yeah,” I admit. “She would.”
A quiet beat settles between us while we keep walking across the warm pavement. Then Maddy sighs. “Noah would kill me.”
“No. Noah would kill me,” I correct. “You’d be fine. I’d be six feet under.”
That pulls a small laugh out of her, though it doesn’t fully stick. “I do feel bad,” she says. “Lying to them.”
“Yeah,” I agree quietly. “Me too.”
I slow my steps a little as we reach the cars, the heat of the day still hanging in the air around us.
“I’m sure they’ll understand,” I add.
She gives me a small, hopeful smile. “I hope so.”
We stop beside her car. She shifts her ice cream to her other hand while digging her keys out of her bag.
“Can I tell you something?” I ask.
“Yeah, of course.”
“But you have to promise not to tell anyone.”
Her brows knit slightly. “Okay… I promise.”
I lean down a little, lowering my voice like it’s some big secret. “I actually liked your flavours better than vanilla.”
Her eyes go wide and she gasps. “I told you!”
I laugh quietly. “Alright, alright. You were right.”
She tilts her head at me. “What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“I’m pretty sure,” she says slowly, a teasing look spreading across her face, “that you just admitted I was right.”
I shake my head, laughing under my breath. “You’re really gonna make me repeat it?”
“A thousand percent.”
“Fine.” I sigh dramatically. “You were right.”
She lifts her hands like she just won something. “I’m a Gracelyn. What can I say?”
“Unbelievable.”
She smiles at me before opening her car door. “See you later, boyfriend.”
“See you later, girlfriend.”
Her door shuts, the engine turning over a second later as she pulls out of the lot.
I stay there for a moment longer than necessary, watching the taillights disappear down the road.
And it suddenly hits me that all this stupid, cliche dating shit isn't actually as bad as I thought they would be. Going to the movies, buying her flowers, going to dinner, getting ice cream—they are actually really fun. Or is that just because I’m doing them with Maddy?