Ethan was catching the perfect wave, the ocean breeze in his hair and the salty air filling his lungs. The Bahamas had always been his home, and surfing was as natural as breathing. He was used to the waves, the sun, and the peaceful rhythm of the ocean—but that day, something caught his eye.

As he rode the wave, he glanced to the shore, where a figure stood. A guy, pale with a furrowed brow, talking animatedly with a woman. He was dressed in a button-up shirt and shorts, definitely not someone you’d expect to see on a beach like this, let alone standing so far from the water. Ethan had to admit, the guy was striking. His sharp features and intense expression made him seem almost out of place against the laid-back, sunny backdrop of the Bahamas.

Ethan couldn’t help but stare, mesmerized by the stranger, until the wave beneath him tilted, and before he could react, he was thrown off his surfboard. He splashed into the water with a loud grunt, his body tumbling under the surface before he managed to surface, coughing and sputtering.

He could barely hear the woman’s laughter from the shore, but the guy’s annoyed voice stood out to him, even from a distance. Ethan wiped the water from his eyes and grinned. That frown, that attitude—it made the guy even more intriguing.

Pushing himself back onto his board, Ethan tried to steady himself, shaking his head at his clumsiness. Maybe he should take a break from the waves, but something about that guy… He couldn’t help but wonder who he was and why he looked so out of place. There was something magnetic about the stranger that Ethan couldn’t ignore.

With one last glance at the man on the beach, Ethan paddled back out into the water, his thoughts not on the ocean anymore, but on the frowning guy who had stolen his attention.