Harmony Sonora (Musician),Riff Hurley (Musician),Real Person Fiction,Sex on the Beach,Spicy Romance
After a surf lesson on a private beach, Riff Hurley and Harmony Sonora begin to warm up to each other in more ways than one. Stripping off their wetsuits, they huddle together under a blanket, only to realize that it won’t be sufficient to elevate their temperature in a timely manner. The only solution is remove every last scrap of clothing between them and go full body contact. Riff shimmies out of his board shorts.Harmony takes off her swimsuit. Now completely bare, things heat up fast.
I can’t express how much this blooming fantasy makes me hate myself. Riff clearly still has feelings for his ex, and every romantic moment he and I have had has been an illusion (including that kiss that not only lives rent free in my brain but has also completely redecorated the place). If I had been less of an idiot sooner, maybe there would have been a chance for us, but not anymore.
We don’t talk for a while, I think because we both need to direct all our energy into soaking up the fire’s warmth and using it to achieve homeostasis. Reluctantly, I nestle into Riff’s hold, grateful for the heat accumulating at the places where we touch.
Eventually, I can feel my blood flowing normally again, and my body tingles in response.
“Are you good?” Riff asks.
“I think so. You?”
“I think so.”
The sun is getting low, not quite ready to set but making a noticeable shift in light over the water. It’s good we finished surfing when we did, because the air is colder now.
“We only have three more things to do.” I slip one arm out of the blanket, snatch up my phone, and open the list. From where I hold it, Riff can see the screen too.
Listen to a song using the same pair of headphones
Have a drink together
Roast marshmallows
“I think we could realistically do all three at the same time,” he says.
Now he reaches out to drag the YETI closer to us, pops it open, and pulls out a few options. Mostly it’s San Pellegrino sparkling waters (the Ciao line) and cold-pressed juices—and they’ve been on ice. I never imagined I’d be longing for a warm beverage on a beach date.
Riff takes a pineapple juice and I take the first San Pellegrino (the lime flavor) because I don’t care what it is; I just need to have something in my hand for the photos and I’ll only be taking a few sips for show.
“Live, lime, love,” Riff says when he hands it to me.
Smh.
We spear some of the marshmallows on the provided skewers and Riff leans them up against the fire cylinder at an angle so we don’t have to hold them while they roast.
I dig my AirPods out of my bag and hand him one. “What song?”
“Anything’s fine. You pick.” He puts the AirPod in his right ear.
Nudging the other AirPod into my left ear, I take my phone and scroll down my Spotify home page and stop on the “Discover picks for you” section. Since this is what Spotify thinks I want to hear based on what I’ve been listening to, it suggests songs like, “Comes and Goes (In Waves)” by Greg Laswell, “Demons” by Imagine Dragons, “All I Want Is You” by the Decemberists, “Hey Sugar” by Daisy Malloy, “Bloom” by the Paper Kites, “Meet Me in the Woods” by Lord Huron, and, wouldn’t you know it, “Not in This Town” by Riff Hurley. Part of me wants to be cheeky and play Riff his own song, but my attention falls to “Bloom” and I remember his talent show performance.
I tap it and the guitar intro starts to play—individual strings plucking melancholy notes.
Almost immediately, Riff jerks his gaze toward me.
I pinch my lips together, trying not to smile. He doesn’t know I know about this. If I could keep a straight face, he might think it was some fateful coincidence, but I’m an open book.
“How did you—”
Sam Bentley, lead vocals. sings the first few lyrics, interrupting Riff mid-thought.
Gaping, Riff stares at me while we listen.
When I first heard the song, I thought it was beautiful but it didn’t mean anything to me in particular. Now every word seems to speak to me.Like, "You fill my head with pieces of a song I can’t get out," and "Can I be close to you?"
At the chorus, Riff whisper-sings along.
