They hauled up on the beach after, boards resting in the sand.The team spread out under a stand of palms, unpacking coolers and baskets.Aunty Leilani had packed them food—poke bowls, kalua pork sliders, taro chips, and haupia squares that Luca immediately hoarded.
Music drifted from Kael’s speaker—Maoli’sHeartstringsrolling out easy over the sound of the surf.Keanu had a ukulele balanced on his knee, plucking soft chords while Niko and Tane argued good-naturedly about who wiped out hardest.
“Pretty sure it was Drew,” Luca called out through a mouthful of chips.
Drew pointed his fork at him.“Pretty sure I can feed you to a shark, tech boy.”
Kael laughed, leaning back on his elbows beside him.“Don’t mind them.It’s how we show love.”
“By mockery and attempted drowning?”Drew teased.
“Exactly.”Kael’s grin was wide and boyish, sunlight catching the edges of his tattoos.
As the afternoon stretched, Drew leaned back against Kael’s shoulder, watching his new family.For the first time in years, he felt something like belonging settle deep in his chest.The rhythm of laughter, the music, the salt—it all felt real.
Then something shifted.A prickle crawled up his spine.
Kael noticed his sudden stillness.“What is it?”
Drew scanned the ridge near the parking lot.“Don’t know.Feels like eyes on us.”
Kael’s posture changed instantly—relaxed but alert.He followed Drew’s gaze and spotted movement near the cars.A man lingered there, watching them too long to be casual.Average build, neat dark hair, mirrored sunglasses that caught the sun just right.
“You see him?”Drew murmured.
Kael nodded once.“Yeah.Not local.Stance is wrong.Military, maybe.”
When they looked again, the man was gone.
Kael exhaled slowly.“He’s gone now.Probably nothing.”
“Probably,” Drew echoed, though the unease stayed.He recognized that kind of stillness—the kind of presence that didn’t belong.
Kael bumped his shoulder lightly.“Hey.Don’t see fire where there’s only smoke.”
Drew nodded, forcing a smile.“Yeah.I’m good.”
But as the sun dipped behind the horizon and the tide pulled the laughter away with it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that their peace had just been marked with a countdown.
They packed up, and as they headed toward the trucks, Kael’s hand brushed his.“You did good today,” he murmured.
“Didn’t drown.I’ll call that a win.”
Kael chuckled, leaning close enough that Drew caught the warmth of his breath.“You know what else is a win?”
Drew smirked.“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.”
“Getting you back to the camper before the sun’s completely gone.”
Drew laughed, letting Kael tug him along the sand.Behind them, the rest of Black Tide’s laughter followed—familiar, teasing, utterly unguarded.
The calm before the storm, Drew thought.
Turns out, he wasn’t wrong.
****
It was the early hoursof the morning when Kael woke.The rhythmic crash of waves reached the camper in long, lazy intervals, and the scent of salt still clung to the air.Drew was asleep, sprawled against him, the rise and fall of his chest slow and even.The man had been dead on his feet after the day of sun and surf, lulled by laughter, salt air, and exhaustion.
