“Not really, maybe ten minutes.” Logan returned to his seat, observing Adrian do the same.
Just then, the smiling waitress approached to take their orders, but Logan’s eyes kept returning to the man across from him. Adrian’s long, elegantly flowing hair, a blend of straight and wavy strands, fell gracefully over one shoulder, secured with a thin rubber band. Sun-kissed and bleached blonde, it revealed an undertone of faint brown roots that whispered of its darker origins, transitioning from deep hues at the base to shimmering highlights under the sun’s loving embrace. His skin radiated a warm, sun-kissed glow, bronzed by the sun’s rays. Dark stubble adorned his cheeks and chin, contributing to his distinctive allure and enhancing his charm.
A small smile began to unfurl on Logan’s lips as he observed the man before him.
“Something funny?” Adrian asked softly, his voice as gentle as the ocean at dusk, as the waitress slipped away with their order, and Logan knew that he just mumbled faintly, “a beer” and went back to glance at Adrian as he talked to the waitress.
“No, sorry,” Logan said, quickly averting his gaze. “This place is… really nice.”
And it was. A small, inviting space, cozy with music loud enough to muffle the surrounding chatter but quiet enough to allow conversation.
“I know, right?” Adrian said, settling in, his hands resting casually on the table. His sleeves were rolled up just past the elbow, the soft fabric of his button-down framing forearms shaped by quiet strength. The collar was open just enough to reveal the suggestion of muscle beneath.
Logan tried not to notice. But he did.
Something flickered—uninvited, visceral. A split-second memory from earlier that day surfaced: Adrian standing next to him on the edge of the water in nothing but board shorts, water gliding down his torso, every line of his chest and abs catching the light like a sculpture breathed into life. The easy way his biceps flexed as he carried his board, the way his skin held the sun. Logan blinked, hard, shaking the thought from his mind as if it hadn’t happened. It meant nothing. Just a flicker. Just heat. It wasn’t anything.
“Have you been here long?” Adrian asked, unaware—or pretending to be—of Logan’s gaze on him.
Logan shifted, his eyes dropping to the table as he cleared his throat. “No, not really. I actually got in this morning.”
Adrian’s eyes widened, brows arched. “No way!” he exclaimed, his accent roaring as he pronounced the words. “First day here and you’re already making a scene in the ocean?” The line could’ve landed sharp, but it didn’t. There was warmth beneath it, humor tempered by something gentler, like concern wrapped in sunlight.
“Yup…” Logan replied, laughing nervously. “What can I say? I like to make an entrance.”
Just then, the waitress returned with their drinks and a plate of nachos, a perfectly timed rescue.
“So, I’ve got to ask,” Logan ventured after a sip of his beer, setting the glass down with a soft clink. “And don’t take this the wrong way…”
“Go ahead,” Adrian leaned back slightly, lifting his drink. “I can take it.”
Logan hesitated, then smiled, half-embarrassed, half-curious. “I can’t quite place your accent,” he said, realizing a beat too late how blunt it sounded. “I mean, sorry, I meant, where are you from?”
“An accent, really? Do I have an accent?” Adrian’s eyes widened, and he feigned a look of deep offense, raising a hand to his heart. “How could you suggest that?” he added, thickening his accent deliberately, his smirk breaking into a low laugh. “It’s fine! I’m from Israel.”
Logan raised his brows, pausing with a nacho halfway to his mouth. “No way.”
Adrian tilted his head, a slow smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Why not?”
Logan hesitated, trying to find words that felt true. “I mean… I’ve just never met anyone from Israel. You hear about it on the news, but…”
Adrian’s expression shifted, the humor still in his eyes, but something steadier settled in behind it. “They love to spin stories, stir up fears. At that point, it’s more antisemitism than actual news. The truth is, it’s a beautiful country.” He paused, eyes glinting with curiosity. “But you, no mistake where you’re from. American, right?”
Logan tried to feign surprise, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth. “What gave me away?” he teased. “Seattle, Washington.”
“Seattle? Never been there. Always wanted to see a big city like that,” he said, leaning in just a little, as if drawn closer by Logan’s words.
“It’s not all skyscrapers and glamour,” Logan replied, sipping his beer thoughtfully, “but I could show you around. We have beaches, too, ones you wouldn’t expect.”
A subtle pause hung between them, stretching like the tide pulling back before the next wave.
Adrian had imagined this meeting in a hundred different ways. If he was being honest, he’d spent most of the day circling it in his mind—picturing how it might unfold, fearing how it might fall apart. He had feared it would be stiff, filled with obligatory gratitude and a beer that neither of them really wanted. He had overthought it, running through every possible scenario, trying to temper the excitement that had sparked in him the moment Logan had opened his eyes on the shore. That spark had caught him off guard. He’d told himself it was adrenaline. Relief. Nothing more. But here, now, in the soft noise of a bar that smelled of sea air and Logan’s cologne that drove him crazy, it didn’t feel like nothing.
It was nothing like he’d expected.
The conversation flowed like an easy current, carrying them forward without effort. Adrian hadn’t anticipated how natural it would feel, how every sentence seemed to unravel something deeper, pulling him in like an undertow he didn’t want to escape. Logan wasn’t just a man he had pulled from the sea—he was a quiet storm of his own, a contradiction of sharp wit and soft laughter, of eyes that held both gratitude and something else, something Adrian wasn’t ready to name.
For a moment, their conversation fell into a tender silence, like the hush between waves. They leaned in, words lingering on their lips, tasting the promise of all that might follow. At last, Adrian broke the quiet, his voice soft, colored by curiosity.
