Only wearing dark blue swim trunks hanging low on his hips, he looked straight out of a Ralph Lauren commercial. My eyes ran down his body of their own accord. His broad shoulders were strong and defined, followed by a muscular chest and washboard stomach. Even in the low light, I could see the water running down his sun-kissed skin and forced myself not to think about the parts of him I couldn’t see. He walked toward me confidently and ran his hand through his wet hair to get it out of his eyes.
“Hey there,” Finn grinned and sat down beside me, “enjoying the view?”
I could feel my face redden and I was thankful for the fading light. I just hoped reading minds wasn’t one of his abilities. I shrugged my shoulders, “Eh, It’s alright. I’ve seen a million sunsets.”
My lousy lie won me a chuckle and a crooked grin.
“I didn’t notice it; I was too busy watching something much more beautiful.” He met my gaze with a confidence that left me breathless. His blue eyes seemed darker than normal and I allowed myself to drown in them while everything around us faded away. I knew I was dangerously close to falling for him, and once I fell; there would be no getting back up. Even knowing the risk I was taking, I kept walking toward the proverbial edge with reckless abandon. He caught a stray piece of blonde hair blowing across my face, and tucked it behind my ear. I froze as the tips of his fingers brushed my neck and shoulder. The heat they evoked lingered like glowing embers across my skin.
His hand dropped, finding mine. He leaned closer and I saw something spark in his eyes as his lips curved upward. I held my breath.
“Time to see what you’ve got, Pasha.” he stood up, bringing me with him.
“What’d you call me?” I looked up at him with confusion.
“Pasha. It means ‘beautiful star’,” he translated for me as we walked hand in hand toward the ocean. He could call me anything and I’d probably answer to it. Well, almost anything.
The water resembled liquid silver as it lapped at the shore and that familiar longing to swim under the waves hit me again as I fought the urge to run to them. I let go of Finn’s hand when the water was up to my thighs and I felt the tingling sensation that always seemed to greet me. I stopped, closed my eyes, and held my palms right above the foaming water. A million tiny bubbles broke against my palm, tickling my skin. The water felt alive. I smiled and opened my eyes, but Finn had disappeared. After scanning the waves, I saw him a couple yards out and swam out to him.
“What should I try first?” I asked once I got there.
“See if you can calm the waves,” he suggested. Good one.
“No, seriously what should I try first?”
“I am serious. Try it.” He acted like I should be able to do it with both hands tied behind my back. Unfortunately, I didn’t have that same confidence in myself.
“But I don’t know how.” I frowned at him.
“Yes you do, just will it to be,” he explained cryptically. This was ridiculous. He really expected me to stop the waves crashing into the shore? Like I was any match for the tidal forces of the moon. At least he didn’t have high expectations. A laugh tinged with hysteria bubbled up inside of me and I faced the waves. Concentrating hard, I tried my best to picture them slowing down and becoming completely smooth. I pictured the water losing its foam as it flattened and stilled.
Unfortunately, back in reality, the waves continued rolling toward the beach like normal. After staring at them for what seemed like an hour, I turned to Finn in frustration.
“This is pointless. I can’t do it.” Carmen’s face popped in my mind, “Plus, don’t you have to be descended from someone who has that ability?”
“Not always. Try again. This time face me.” Like that would help my concentration. With zero faith in my abilities, I looked into Finn’s eyes. They matched the darkness of the ocean and the rest of the world faded away. Remembering the feeling of the breaking bubbles, I reached my arms out and placed my palms on top of the water. Completely engulfed in Finn’s eyes, I forgot all about what I was supposed to be doing. All I could think about was what it would feel like in his arms. Run my fingers through his hair. Then he smiled.
“Perfect,” he said. That was an understatement. Wait.
“What’s perfect?”
“What were you thinking about?” he cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow.
“Nothing,” I spit out a little too quickly. At least he couldn’t read minds. I filed that away in my ‘good-to-know’ folder.
“Obviously it’s a little more than nothing, look what you’re doing,” he pointed behind me.
I turned to see the boiling ocean had turned into a tranquil lake. Completely still and utterly quiet, an eerie silence had fallen over the night. I glanced to my left where waves were crashing farther down the beach and saw the same to my right. The ocean-turned-lake was only in our immediate vicinity.
“Holy shit,” was all I could manage. Finn laughed and it sounded louder amid the calm of the ocean. “But this can’t be me, I wasn’t even trying yet,” I tried to argue, shocked by what I was seeing.
“It’s all about harnessing the energy from your emotions, then transferring them to the water.
You must have been thinking about something pretty powerful.” His crooked grin was back. But my mind was on to a more frightening issue.
“How do I make it go back to normal?” It would be my luck to break the ocean.
“Lift your hands,” he instructed. My arms were still extended, so I took my palms off of the water. A concrete wall of sensations slammed into me. Adrenaline coursed through my veins and every emotion I’d ever felt assaulted me in an instant. Completely overwhelmed, my body went limp and I felt myself slip under the water. Finn’s arms slid under my knees and back, lifting me up. I looked into his eyes, mere inches from my own.
“You okay?” he beamed at me.
“I think so” I replied, unsure of myself, “what the heck was that?”
“Your energy returning to you,” I barely heard him as I became acutely aware of the amount of skin touching as he cradled me in his arms. Being held by him, I got the feeling nothing could ever hurt me.
“I knew you’d be amazing,” he said with admiration, which quickly turned to sadness. He released my legs so I could stand on my own again, but I held onto his arms to test my strength. He steadied my waist and I could feel the taught muscles in his arms as his skull and crossbones trace sparkled brightly just under the surface. My eyes moved over the rest of his torso, glistening in the moonlight. I wanted to wrap up in him and never let go. I met his eyes. He was watching me with something that resembled restraint. He cleared his throat, let go of my waist and ran his hands through his hair. With my heart beating out of my chest, I glanced back at the shore to see the waves had resumed crashing. It was as if time had stopped. The whole experience was exhilarating.