The golden afternoon sun cast a warm glow over the beach, the rhythmic crash of waves blending with the laughter of distant strangers. Adrian sat under a large umbrella, his feet buried in the sand, a book resting forgotten on his lap. Next to him, Lucie his girlfriend stretched on her lounge chair, scrolling through her phone.
And then he saw her.
She stood on the lifeguard platform, bathed in the honeyed light of the setting sun, her red swimsuit hugging every curve of her toned body. Long, sun-kissed brown hair tumbled down her back in effortless waves, catching in the breeze. But it was her posture that captivated him the most—the way she arched her back, tilting her face toward the sky, her throat exposed in a gesture of pure, careless freedom.
Something inside him stirred violently.
His pulse slammed against his ribs, his breath hitched in his throat. The world around him dulled into insignificance. The sounds of the beach faded, the feel of the sand under his fingers vanished, and even Lucie, sitting right beside him, became nothing more than a forgotten shadow in his periphery.
Adrian had never believed in love at first sight. It was a concept he associated with naïve romance novels and teenage daydreams. But as he looked at her—this stranger, this sunlit goddess—his body reacted before his mind could form a single rational thought. His mouth felt dry. Heat prickled along his spine, and a strange, electric pull tightened in his stomach, spreading through his limbs like wildfire.
He couldn’t look away.
She was laughing now, tossing her hair back as she exchanged words with another lifeguard, completely unaware of the way she had just shattered him. “Adrian,” Lucie’s voice pulled him roughly back to reality. He turned his head, blinking as if waking from a dream. She was looking at him, frowning. “Are you even listening?” But he wasn’t. He couldn’t. Because his heart was still racing. And for the first time in his life, he was afraid that something had just changed forever.