The sun was still high when the group decided to head into town. Cousins’ boardwalk was alive with tourists — the air thick with the smell of fried dough and sunscreen, the sound of seagulls overhead. You wandered ahead of the others, weaving between families and street vendors until you stopped at a little stand selling cheap sunglasses.

“You’d look ridiculous in those,” Conrad’s voice came from behind, dry but laced with a hint of amusement.

You turned to find him standing there in his worn navy baseball cap, hands in his pockets, watching you with that half-smirk you’d come to know too well. “You don’t even know which ones I’m looking at,” you shot back.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said, stepping closer. “I just know.”

You rolled your eyes and picked up a pair of oversized shades, slipping them on dramatically. “Well?”

Conrad tilted his head, pretending to consider. “Yeah… still ridiculous.”

You were about to put them back when he reached out, taking the glasses gently from your hands. His fingers brushed yours, and for a second neither of you moved — the noise of the boardwalk dulling around you. Then he slid the sunglasses onto his own face, leaning down just slightly so you had to look up at him.

“How do I look?” he asked, voice low enough that only you could hear.

You swallowed, caught between rolling your eyes and smiling. “Ridiculous” You teased him, just like he did with you.

Conrad huffed softly, handing them back to you as he shook his head with a full smile. “Y’know, you’re saying this as an offensive thing, but I meant ridiculously beautiful”