“I can’t remember the last time I slowed down like this,” I said, turning my face to the sky.
Noah’s voice was light, teasing. “Work keeps you that busy, huh?”
“I think the problem is that when I’m not working, I’m too busy feeling anxious about the next time I have to work, so I don’t get to enjoy my free time.”
“Sounds stressful,” he said. “Is that really what you want to be doing?”
A question I had asked myself a million times over again. “Not forever,” I answered.
Noah shoved his hands into his pockets. “I was thinking: maybe you should start a small travel blog, then leave the magazine once you build a following. You’re certainly talented enough for it.”
That wasn’t the worst idea. I’d have to be careful about not letting Victoria see it, considering it could be considered a conflict of interest. Which wouldn’t be that difficult. New blogs popped up every day, but only a few grew a successful following.
Up ahead, a sandcastle sat near the tide, its towers misshapen and slumped as the ocean crept closer. I veered toward it and crouched down to trace a finger along one of the crumbling walls.
“What about you?” I asked.
Noah sank onto the sand, stretching his legs out in front of him. “I don’t think I’d have much success starting a blog of my own.”
I rolled my eyes. “I meantwhat are you planning to do next?”
“Oh.” He dragged a hand through his hair, his fingers ruffling through the waves like he was stalling for time. “I’m planning to take a break from social media. Daphne and I want to do a big cross country summer road trip, and I’ve been saving to have enough cash to afford the social break.”
Noah Hansley, with his one million followers and endless brand deals, wanted to quit social media? I thought he was joking, but he stared at me with a serious expression.
“A road trip? Now I’m the jealous one.” I dropped down beside him, the sand cool beneath my palms. “And after that?”
“I have no idea.” His voice was quieter now, almost lost beneath the sound of the waves. He stared straight ahead, where the ocean stretched into forever.
This uncertainty in him caught me off guard. Noah always seemed so sure of himself, so at ease with his place in the world. But here, stripped of filters and curated captions, he wasn’t theguy I’d built up in my head. He wasn’t untouchable. He didn’t even seem all that happy.
And the strangest part? I wanted to change that. I wanted to be the reason he felt a little more certain, a little more steady. Maybe even a little morehimself.
I nudged his knee with mine. “Well, maybe that’s the best part.”
He turned to me, brow furrowed. “What is?”
“Not knowing.” I drew lazy circles in the sand with my finger. “You get to figure it out. No deadlines, no pressure—just seeing where life takes you.”
Noah huffed out a laugh, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “That’s one way to spin ‘aimless drifter.’”
I frowned. “You’re not aimless. You’re just…recalibrating.”
He let out a breath, tipping his head back to look at the sky. The sunset had deepened, the pinks and oranges giving way to dusky blues. The first few stars had started to flicker in the distance. “I’ve spent so long chasing after the next thing—next brand deal, next trip, next post—and now that I’m recognizing I hate it, I don’t really know how to change my patterns.”
I studied him, the way the flickering light from the water cast soft shadows across his face. The way his fingers sifted absently through the sand, like he needed something to hold on to.
“Well,” I said after a beat, “I happen to be very good at helping other people figure their lives out.”
His lips quirked, and this time, it felt real. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. It’s a great distraction from how I also don’t know what I’m doing.”
“That’s not true,” he said. “You’ve got ideas, plans. You just haven’t taken the leap yet.”
I shrugged. “That’s one way to look at it.”
His gaze met mine, something flickering behind his eyes. “We can help each other, then.”
