Then why did it feel like the ground would fall out from under him if Adrian just... moved on?
The night itself seemed unwilling to let them part, weaving around their ankles, tugging at their sleeves, whispering,stay, stay, stay.
Logan swallowed hard against the tightness rising in his throat, so thick it almost choked him. He jammed his hands deep into his pockets, anchoring himself there, willing himself not to reach out, not to say something reckless, something stupid, likedon’t go yetorshow me around the areaordo you want to come in?Anything to keep that feeling alive, to keep Adrian there for a moment longer.
He wanted—needed—to say something, anything, to tether this moment to something real, to carve it into the world before it slipped away.
But the words stayed trapped behind his teeth, trembling and wild.
And so he stood there, silent and aching, hoping to God that Adrian would understand everything he couldn’t say.
“Yeah,” Adrian replied, his voice light, stepping back just a touch, careful, measured.
He could see it; the confusion flickering inside Logan, the way he started, almost imperceptibly, to raise his protective walls, as if bracing for something he didn’t even understand yet. Adrian had spent the whole evening doing nothing but watching him, studying him, letting himself be quietly, hopelessly drawn in. So even the smallest shift in Logan’s posture, the slightest flicker in his eyes, was obvious to him, was sharp and blinding and imperative.
There was nothing, absolutely nothing on this earth, that could have kept Adrian from showing up tomorrow if Logan only wanted him there. Did he not see? Did Logan not grasp that Adrian lingered, waiting for just a hint, a fleeting opportunity to gaze upon him again, to bask in his orbit for one more hour, one more breath? That every smile Logan had gracedhim with tonight, Adrian had consumed like a starving man, desperate, thankful, almost in awe, surprised by how much it mattered, how much it unnerved him? That Adrian, without fully understanding why, would have traversed any distance, faced any challenge, simply for the chance to stand before him once more?
Yet, he was unable to voice any of those thoughts. Instead, he chose to tease, yearning to elicit that smile once more. “Six a.m.? I’ll teach you to swim,” he teased, a glint in his eyes.
Logan’s mouth twisted into a mock scowl, though a smile quickly overtook it. “Go to hell!” he snorted, unable to keep from laughing.
Adrian started to walk backward, a teasing grin tugging at his mouth. “Don’t forget your floaties!” he called out goodheartedly, his whisky-colored eyes sparkling with mischief, his long hair flipping in the breeze as he moved. He stole one last glance—quick, almost coy—at the tall, beautiful man he’d been lucky enough to spend the evening with, imprinting the moment into his memory before he finally turned and let the night surround him.
Logan was smiling, and that was all Adrian had wanted—a small, quiet victory tucked safely into his chest.
The first thing Logan felt as he drifted awake was a peculiar, almost aching excitement. It settled in his chest like a weight, a pleasant pressure that spread outward, filling every corner of his body with an electric warmth, a strange rightness that he couldn’t quite name. He lay there for a moment,savoring the way it tingled down to his stomach, sending small sparks that made him want to laugh for no reason at all.
Blinking to clear the last shreds of sleep, he gazed up at the ceiling, his eyes resting upon a knot in the wooden beam. Gradually, he allowed the sleep to evaporate from his mind. With a yawn, he reached for his phone.
It was 5:40 a.m.—the early rays of the sun emerging, the world outside soft and untouched. With a jolt, he swung his legs over the side and got up, his steps quick as he padded to the bathroom. The cool water felt sharp and refreshing against his face, the mirror catching his reflection, a face that felt both new and deeply familiar, softer somehow, less guarded. He hardly recognized the relaxed man staring back.
Grabbing his board shorts from the day before, now dry and smelling faintly of salt, he slipped into them, then rummaged through his bag until his fingers found the sole black hoodie he’d packed. He tugged it over his head, sparing his unpacked bag a glance but feeling no urge to tend to it just yet.
He stepped to the small kitchen table where the brand-new leash lay waiting, the one Adrian had pressed into his hands the night before. Logan picked it up, turning it over slowly between his palms. Adrian was still a stranger… or he should have been. How could it be that after a single night he felt the pull of him so sharply? How could it be that Adrian, not even knowing him, had thought ahead, had bought this for him?
The leash was only gear, yet in Logan’s hands it carried more: a gesture, a promise, a reminder that someone had already chosen to care.
His fingers moved with unsteady urgency as he fastened it to his board. The rip of Velcro echoed in the quiet, clean and final, and something in him settled, as if the sound had tethered him not only to the board, butto Adrian too. He paused only to tuck a few bills into his pocket before grabbing his board and slipping out into the cool early morning air.
The coffee shop’s glow was a welcome sight against the dimness, and he ducked inside, the smell of coffee thick and rich in the air, warming him even before he placed his order, as he watched the staff still preparing the place for the busy day ahead. He ordered two large cups, figuring Adrian might prefer his coffee black. Wasn’t there some saying about military types taking it that way? Logan stuffed a few sugar packets into his pocket just in case, the rough paper crinkling softly. A tray of mini donuts on the counter glistened under the lights, so he grabbed a cardboard containing six and nodded gratefully when the clerk, noticing his juggling act, packed everything neatly: a paper bag for the donuts and a small cardboard carry-on for the cups so he could carry everything while still balancing his board under his arm.
As he reached the beach, he spotted Adrian already down by the water, lounging with the practiced ease of someone who lived close to the sand and sea. Wearing a pair of light blue board shorts, his sun-kissed hair flipped in the breeze, caressing his bronzed, broad shoulders. The morning light played across his skin, casting a warm glow against the pale dawn as waves broke rhythmically, their foam lapping at his toes. The scene sharpened every one of Logan’s senses, the last traces of sleep lifting like mist in the rising sun.
Logan drifted closer to Adrian, unsure whether the pull guiding him was the ocean’s eternal song or the quiet magnetism of the man stretched out on the cool, damp sand.
As he approached, Adrian’s whiskey-colored eyes lifted to meet his, lighting with a smile that broke slowly across his face. His gaze was sounguarded, so utterly intent, that Logan felt seen to his very core, as if, for Adrian, he was the essence of something vital. The feeling was as disorienting as it was familiar, as if drawn from a place older than memory. Could this truly be only their second meeting? It felt instead like an ancient recognition, two souls long entwined, meeting anew.
“Hey,” Adrian greeted kindly, just a simple word compared to what was going on in Logan’s head.
“Hey,” Logan replied, “morning,” he added, flustered.
“For a moment there, I thought that you might have overslept,” Adrian smirked timidly.
Logan sat down beside Adrian, the sand clammy and chilly beneath him, and he placed his board down carefully before handing Adrian one of the steaming cups. Adrian took it, and for a heartbeat, he gazed at Logan with a kind of surprised warmth. “No, just stopped for some coffee. You cannot start a morning without a coffee.”
“Th… thanks,” Adrian flustered, his voice quiet and genuine like it was a gift in itself. “I’m glad you came,” he added, almost reverently.
“Yes, of course.”I would not have missed it for the world. He found his mind uttering, almost sharing that too-intimate detail with the man beside him. Logan popped open the donut box and grabbed one for himself.
