𝐀𝐪𝐮𝐚 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 ✓

3

"Why do you insist on coming to the beach if you stay out of the sun the entire time?" Reece asks as he lays back on his towel. His tan skin is glistening in the sunlight with a layer of sunscreen to protect it.

"Because you look unhealthily pale," I say, applying another coat of sunscreen after half an hour of being here.

"Says Casper the ghost," He laughs, peeking one eye open to glance at me. I roll my eyes, staying firmly planted on my towel beneath my umbrella, where my fair skin is protected and I won't acquire any more goddamn freckles.

"Yeah, says me. I would know." I say, gesturing to my body. If I hadn't been covered in pigmented spots, I would have believed myself to be an albino. The minority of my skin with zero blemishes is milky white, almost transparent, I like to joke. You really can see my veins better though.

"You need some vitamin D. You won't burn as long as you keep putting on sunscreen Faye-bae," He tells me with his eyes closed once again. 'Faye-bae' is his brand new nickname for me, ever since I used the word 'bae' one time to talk about Ryan Reynolds. But who doesn't use the word 'bae' in regards to Ryan Reynolds? He's bae.

"It's not burning that I'm scared of," I grumble, making sure that my legs are still tucked under the umbrella. I usually bring a blanket with me to drape over my legs but with the heat, it was definitely overkill. I honestly insist on coming to the beach just so that Reece can be in the sun because I know how much he loves it. He looks like such a typical surfer with wavy brown hair that never lays flat, long enough to run your fingers through, tan skin, a ripped body from years of soccer and outdoor activities. He loves nature and the beach, and who am I to keep him from it?

I watch as his arms spread out and he runs his fingers through the warm sand. Collecting it and letting it slip through mindlessly. I'm not a big fan of the heat or sun. With my complexion, I blush far too easily, burn effortlessly, and sprout new freckles like it's a skill. Hanging out with Reece is the only bonus. I make him do far too many indoor activities; I can give him this.

Reece sits up onto his elbows and looks over me seriously. His eyes trace my body quickly as if looking for injuries. "If this is about your freckles again, I don't know how many times I need to tell you that you look so much better with them, and they're never going to go away. They're also fucking adorable." He says and lays back down with a pout. I smile and look down feeling flattered. I barely have to say a thing for him to know what I'm thinking at all times and we haven't even been friends for a year.

"I'm not adorable," I find the flaw in his sentence and I can practically hear his eyes rolling back into his skull.

"If you don't think you're adorable, you're absolutely wrong. Ask literally any person who has ever existed. Bring someone back from the dead and ask them. You're in the spot above babies and right below fluffy baby animals." He says with his eyes still closed, unmoving on his towel and I purse my lips.

I don't want to be adorable. I have always been adorable. I look like a fucking fairy. Maybe I need to get something besides my ears pierced too. I'm a tiger, not a kitten.

"Okay fine. I don't need to look to know you're pouting. Can we agree to disagree?" He waves the metaphorical white flag and I nod, then remember that he can't see me.

"Yes, fine. Stop calling me adorable though. Maybe I should get a tattoo," I grumble that last part under my breath and he chuckles loudly, obviously hearing me.

"I'm sure a tattoo would look great if that's what you really want. Would help with the whole badass image you're going for. And the resting bitch face, that helps a lot," He teases and I smack his chest, hopefully leaving a handprint. He hisses and sits up, knocking my umbrella away so that it comes out of the sand and starts to roll down the beach.

"Ass," I stick my tongue out at him as I march over to my umbrella and grab it. I situate it but sit so that my legs are now in the sun a bit. I see Reece smile from the corner of his eye but I don't turn to face him.

"Sandwich?" He asks and that effectively catches my attention.

"Ohmygodyesplease," I moan out, reaching my hands towards him and making grabbing motions with both hands impatiently, making him laugh before twisting his upper body to his left to rifle through the blue cooler he carried with us from the car. He hands me a Ziploc bag with a sandwich in it and I take it out and nearly inhale it in the first bite. Reece takes out his own and we're silent as we stuff our mouths.

"Wanna swim a bit?" He asks with the last mouthful of his sandwich. I look at him like he's crazy.

"We just ate!"

"So? That myth is just that. A myth," He says, standing up and brushing the sand off of his swim shorts. I look up at him shrugging.

"I'd rather not risk it," I tell him, instead, watching as he walks confidently towards the water. His back is wide and toned, tanned and smooth. Reece's torso and legs are both ridiculously long. He told me a while ago that he is six-foot-six and I had zero trouble believing him. Most people are tall to me but Reece is in a different league. He has the body of an Olympic swimmer.

My thoughts drift temporarily to Sky's brother Atlas, but the image of Reece in front of me has those thoughts disappearing quickly. My mouth waters so I fish for a snack in the cooler, settling on guzzling a water bottle to drown the heat rising in my body. It's just the sun, I tell myself.