Chapter 8: Day 8
Jared woke up first, shifting his body in the sugary white sand of the beach, feeling the stiffness in one hip, and blinking his eyes against the new light on the horizon. He grappled for his glasses, bringing into focus the peach and yellow sunrise before him. A burning sliver of light glimmered in the distance, like an orange fire at the edge of the forever-blue sea, and a row of floppy coconut palms rustled in the breeze of the gulf. Seagulls cried in the sky while a family of sandpipers busily hunted in the surf.
Jared rested back on his hands and crossed his legs, feeling the approaching warmth of the day. Then he turned and looked down on Shai, still cuddled up against him like some cute, helpless puppy searching for warmth at the end of the night.
“Hmmm,” moaned
