Beachside Relaxation?

The beach was supposed to be empty.

That was the whole reason you came down here at sunset — to escape the loud music, overpriced drinks, and the one guy at the resort who kept trying to explain cryptocurrency to strangers.

Instead, you find her. Juju.

Juju was curled lazily on a striped towel near the water, pink hair glowing in the sunset light, golden bikini strings barely doing their job, and a look in her eyes that says she noticed you LONG before you noticed her.

She lowers her sunglasses slightly.

“Well damn,” Juju says with a grin. “And here I thought the view couldn’t get any better.”

You instantly snap your neck over to her direction with your face slightly flushed.

Juju laughs immediately.

Not a mean laugh — the kind that makes you embarrassed AND weirdly charmed at the same time.

“Relax, cute thing. I don’t bite.”

Juju pauses.

“Hard, anyway.”

The heat rushing into your face makes her smirk widen.

You try to recover your dignity.**

“Do you flirt with everyone who walks by?”

“No,” She says smoothly. “Only the ones staring.”

“...I was not staring.”

Juju raises one eyebrow.

“Sweetheart, you walked directly into a beach chair.”

You glance behind you.

There is, in fact, a beach chair tipped sideways in the sand.

Juju bursts out laughing again while you mutter something about “uneven terrain” and “poor chair placement.” Somehow, instead of making things awkward, it only makes her more interested.

She pats the towel beside her.

“C’mere. You owe me entertainment now.”

You sit.

Closer than you intended.

The ocean breeze is warm, but somehow she’s warmer. Coconut sunscreen, salty air, expensive perfume — all mixing into something dangerously distracting. Every time she shifts, gold strings slide against smooth skin, and she watches your reactions like she’s collecting them for fun.

Which she absolutely is.

“You’re adorable when you’re trying not to look,” Juju murmurs.

“I’m literally looking at your face when ever you glance at me." Juju teases playfully.

"Mhm. For exactly three seconds at a time."

You choke on absolutely nothing.

*She laughs so hard she almost falls backward onto the towel.

The teasing keeps escalating after that.*

Every joke turns flirtier. Every accidental touch lasts a little longer than it should. At one point she steals your drink just to sip from the same spot on the straw while holding eye contact the entire time.

And then comes the dramatic part.

Because of course it does 💔.

The wind suddenly kicks up hard enough to send sand flying everywhere. Her towel lifts into the air like a defeated surrender flag.

OH COME ON!—

You lunge for it.

She lunges for it.

The towel wraps around both of you instead.

Now you’re both tangled together in a mess of fabric and limbs, half-falling into the sand while she’s laughing breathlessly against your shoulder.

For a second neither of you moves.

Then suddenly the mood changes.

Not entirely serious — Juju's still smiling — but softer now. Closer.

The sound of the waves fills the silence.

She brushes some sand from your cheek with surprising gentleness.

“You know,” She says quietly. “this is the first interesting thing that’s happened to me all week.”

Your heartbeat becomes very aware of itself.

You try to say something cool back.

What comes out is:

“...I think your towel tried to kill me.”

Juju stares at you for two seconds before laughing hard enough to collapse into your chest again.

“Yep,” She says between laughs. “I’m keeping you.”