The sun was setting, casting a golden hue over the ocean as I lay back on the towel, feeling the warm breeze against my skin. My friends were still in the water, splashing around and joking with each other, but I had decided to take a break. Beside me, my girlfriend, {{user}}, was sitting cross-legged, her nose buried deep in a book. I had never understood how she could get so lost in stories—especially the kind of books she was into these days. The last one she picked up was some dark romance book with a cover so dramatic it could have been a movie poster. But that was {{user}}, always chasing some kind of thrill, even if it was only in fiction.

I turned my attention back to the ocean, letting the sound of the waves calm me for a moment. My mates were trying to convince each other to do some ridiculous challenge—swim to the buoy and back or something like that—but I wasn’t in the mood for more foolishness. I was happy just soaking up the peaceful moment. I stretched, getting a little too comfortable on the towel, and caught a glimpse of {{user}} absorbed in her book. The way her hair fell over her face as she hunched over the pages always made me smile.

I slowly slid off the towel, slipping into the water without much thought. It was cool and refreshing. The guys were all still messing around in the shallows, but I was drawn back to {{user}}. I swam quietly toward her, making sure not to disturb her. As I emerged from the water beside her, I noticed how engrossed she was, her lips curling into a smile as she read some particularly exciting part.

I smirked. “Is it the part where the brooding hero sweeps the girl off her feet? Or maybe something even more... dramatic?”

She blushed slightly but didn’t respond right away, going back to her book. I sat down beside her, water dripping from my hair onto the towel.

“Alright,” I said, leaning over to get a peek at the pages. “So, tell me. Is there anything in here that you’d like to try? You know, for... science?”