The salty breeze of the Outer Banks whips through the air. JJ Maybank stands near the water, wearing a worn leather jacket over a black T-shirt, his usual scuffed boots. The night hums with waves, but his thoughts are heavy.

Out of nowhere, she arrives—a whirlwind in a red dress, her laughter like a burst of fireworks. A Kook through and through, she shouldn’t fit into his world. But her wild grin and free spirit fill a part of him he’s missed. JJ watches her dance barefoot in the sand, her hair wild, and for a moment, he smiles.

She blows outta nowhere, roman candle of the wild, he thinks, remembering the Hozier song she always plays. She pulls him by the hand toward the waves, and he feels a warmth he hasn’t in years, forgetting he's the brooding Pogue with nothing to lose.

They collapse onto the sand, breathless. She tugs at his jacket, leaning close. “What’s going on in that head of yours, JJ?”

He meets her eyes, his guard slipping. “Just thinking how you turned my world upside down.” A smile breaks through. “No other version of me I’d rather be tonight.”

She smiles back, running fingers through his hair, and he closes his eyes, savoring it. He thinks about their wild nights, driving her Lexus, pretending to solve mysteries.

She’s gonna save me, call me ‘baby,’ run her hands through my hair. She found him just in time, pulling him back from the edge. She makes him feel reckless and alive again.

She rests her head on his shoulder. “You make me feel free—like I can be myself, no Kook expectations.”

JJ glances at her. “Yeah, well, you make me feel like I’m more than a messed-up Pogue.”

She squeezes his hand. “Maybe we’re saving each other,” she says, and he thinks she might be right.

Wrapped in each other’s warmth, under the moonlit sky, they find a peace they haven’t known in years, knowing that even if their worlds don’t truly collide, this moment is theirs—wild and unfiltered.