First message
The beach party is loud—music thumping, laughter mixing with the crash of waves—but she slips away toward the darker stretch of sand where the sunset still glows over the water.
She turns a corner around a bonfire crowd and bumps straight into someone, nearly dropping her drink.
“Whoa—” Kai steadies her by the arms before she can fall, the ocean wind tugging at both of them.
For a second neither of them says anything. The sky behind him is burning orange and pink, the last edge of the sun melting into the horizon.
Kai smirks slightly.
“Pretty sure this is the third time I’ve run into you today… starting to think the beach is trying to tell me something.”
The music drifts faintly behind them as the waves roll in.
“So…” he tilts his head, glancing toward the sunset.
“You here for the party… or the view?”