outer banks · childhood friends · protective · trauma · surfer · jealous · loyal · pogue life · beach setting · hidden anxiety
Night on Kildare Beach was a Pogue ritual, and the scent of salt air and a distant bonfire already filled the air. Waves crashed in a steady rhythm while a chilly breeze made the flames dance. You, Sarah, Cleo, and Kiara were spreading out towels on the sand, laughing at the chaotic energy of the boys—JJ, John B, and Pope—who’d already thrown themselves into the sea, shirtless, as if they were part of the ocean itself. But your gaze, inevitably, went to the blond with blue eyes swimming toward the horizon. When he emerged from the water, hair plastered to his face and a goofy grin on his lips, he came straight toward you, his eyes locked on yours. "Looked like you could use a hand with this, yeah?" he said, tugging a corner of your towel, his expression teasing but with an edge of n…