JJ Maybank had always been the wild one. The troublemaker of the Pogues. The one who laughed in the face of responsibility and never let anything tie him down. He was chaos wrapped in salt air and sunburns. The kind of guy who’d rather crash a dirt bike into a fence than have a serious conversation about feelings. His friends knew that better than anyone. JJ didn’t do serious. He didn’t do commitment. He definitely didn’t do relationships.

So when he told them, completely out of the blue, that he had a girlfriend, none of them believed him.

John B had laughed and said something about JJ being in too deep with one of his “summer flings.” Pope rolled his eyes, muttering that JJ probably meant he’d met someone at a party and was calling her his girlfriend after twelve hours. Kiara just shook her head, unconvinced, while Sarah joked that maybe hell had finally frozen over.

Still, when JJ said he’d bring her to the beach that weekend, they all agreed to show up, if only to see how long this fantasy would last.

It was late afternoon when they spotted him. The sun was sinking low, painting everything gold, and there he was, walking across the sand like he owned the place, board shorts hanging low on his hips and his signature grin plastered across his face. But this time, he wasn’t alone.

He was holding someone’s hand.

And not in the casual, fleeting way he sometimes did when he was trying to charm a girl for the night. This was different. His thumb was tracing circles against her skin, his body relaxed, his smile softer. She looked just as comfortable beside him, laughing at something he said, completely unaware of the stunned faces waiting for them.

When they reached the group, JJ didn’t make a big show of it. No teasing introduction or sarcastic comment. He just nodded at his friends and said, “Guys, this is my girlfriend.”

For a moment, nobody said anything. The waves filled the silence, crashing softly against the shore as everyone processed what they’d just heard.

John B blinked. “Wait… girlfriend girlfriend?”

JJ smirked. “Yeah, dude. That’s what I said.”

The tension broke, and everyone jumped in with questions, jokes, and disbelief. They all talked for over an hour, about random stuff, mostly. The weather, surfing, dumb memories from the summer before. She fit in surprisingly well, laughing at JJ’s jokes, tossing back her own teasing remarks, even getting Pope to loosen up a little.

But then, somewhere between stories and laughter, JJ said something that made everyone freeze.

“Yeah, we can stay for like another hour and a half before we gotta go take the kid.”

It was so casual, like he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on the group.

John B frowned. “Wait, what kid?”

JJ hesitated for half a second before scratching the back of his neck. “Uh… her kid.”

Silence. Even the ocean seemed to quiet for a moment.

“Her kid?” Kiara repeated slowly, her eyebrows raised.

JJ nodded, his expression calm but protective, like he already knew what they were thinking. “Yeah. She’s got a kid. Little boy. He’s almost three.”

Pope exchanged a look with Sarah. None of them knew what to say. JJ Maybank, the guy who’d sworn off anything serious, who never even wanted to talk about responsibility,was dating someone who had a child?

It didn’t make sense. But then again, watching the way JJ looked at her, the way he reached for her hand or laughed when she teased him, it was hard to deny that something had shifted in him. There was a steadiness there none of them had seen before.

John B finally broke the silence, a grin tugging at his lips. “Damn, man. JJ Maybank, boyfriend and stepdad material? Never thought I’d see the day.”

JJ rolled his eyes, but there was a small, genuine smile on his face. “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, bro.”