The Beach Brat

Chapter 1 Finn rolled his eyes for the fifth time and wondered if it was possible to sprain them. They were concealed behind a pair of aviator sunglasses, and with a staggering amount of willpower, he managed to keep his expression neutral. He was supposed to be looking straight ahead at the sea, not side eyeing the conversation beside him. Brody, or as he was commonly known among the lifeguards, the beach brat, was retelling his dramatic battle with a shark. Apparently, he punched it in the face, and wrestled his surfboard from its jaws. Finn inwardly smirked at the gasps from Brody’s audience. Brody’s popularity exploded as soon as he stepped on the sand, and a group of fans cheered him on when he surfed. Not one of them had been on the beach that morning when the shark ‘attacked’, but Finn had. Shark attacks were really rare, but not unheard of off the coast of Cornwall. They were serious and traumatic when they occurred. Finn didn’t roll his eyes in mocking of such an incident, he rolled them because Brody was mistaken. The shark that Brody described in great detail, wasn’t a shark, but a kid’s float that had drifted out to sea. As the day went on Brody’s descriptions of the shark changed from it being a mere juvenile, to a megalodon, a shark that had been extinct for millions of years. Brody spread his hands as far as they would go, and Finn heard the word ‘teeth’. One of his fans, slapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head. Brody wrapped an arm around her and tugged her close, consoling the terror he had instilled in her. She immediately hugged him back tighter, and after a few minutes someone had to coax her away from Brody’s chest. Finn didn’t blame her for holding onto him as long as she could, but instead of being wrapped up in Brody’s arms, Finn wanted to hold the beach brat in his. Not once since Brody had started coming to the beach, did he wear anything on the upper half of his body. The sight was distracting, to say the least. Brody was hot. Twenty-three, with an athletic body, windswept hair that curled into ringlets when it got wet. His eyes were blue as far as Finn could tell, he never got close enough to see the exact shade, and his lips were plump. When he surfed he had an expression of pure concentration, eyes focused, body positioned, and lips slightly parted. Finn had trouble tearing his gaze away, and so did most people watching from the beach. Brody was undeniably hot. There was a slight chill to the wind, and Finn rolled his shoulders to hide his shiver. He wore a pair of board shorts, and his tight lifeguard T-shirt. He had a hoodie, thought about putting it on, but when he saw Brody bare-chested, and unbothered, he decided against it. Families began packing up their belongings and the beach slowly cleared. Brody’s adoring fans got fewer and fewer until his two closest friends, Reece and Emily, remained. Reece looked a few years older than Brody, his hair was amber, and he wore dark clothes even in the height of summer. Emily was fresh faced, with big brown eyes and thick black hair. Her joyous laugh could be heard from the opposite end of the beach, and it made Finn smile. If she was laughing, Brody probably was laughing, too. Brody got his beach brat nickname for being arrogant about surfing, but rightly so when he dazzled with his skills. He strutted the beach like the very sand was his to tread on, and he walked with his chin raised and his lips pouted. Arrogant, but adorable too. Finn saw glimpses of a different Brody that his friends and lifeguard colleagues didn’t see. Over weekends Brody arrived at the beach when most guys his age would still be in bed. Many times, Finn had seen him admiring the sunrise. He searched the sand for shells, and the ones he liked he hastily shoved in his shorts. If there were birds twirling in the sky, he sat on his board and watched them fly. He admired the bracelets around his wrists, and ran his fingertips gently over the stones, caressing them. In short, Brody was adorable, and Finn’s chest tightened each morning he saw him, but through the day he morphed into the confident brat, and by lunchtime his morning-cuteness was forgotten under pouts and smirks. Finn turned at the bump to his shoulder. Trent wore matching aviators, but unlike Finn’s static face, he grinned brightly. Finn stared into his glasses and saw his reflection. Trent’s red board shorts were damp, and he hid something under his T-shirt, stretching the word lifeguard until it was barely readable. “What you got there?” Finn asked, flicking Trent’s chest. Trent sunk his teeth into his bottom lip and laughed. Finn raised his eyebrow, but it was a pointless cue when most of it was hidden behind his glasses. He pushed them into his hair and widened his eyes. “Well?” “You listening to that?” Trent asked, jutting his chin out towards Brody and his adoring friends. Finn smirked, then wiped the expression away with his hand. “Most entertaining.” “Well I might just add to the entertainment.” Trent tugged the mystery item out of his T-shirt. Finn shook his head at the sight of the kids float. The fin that poked from the foam was small, and gray in color, not dazzling silver, and the size of a tractor wheel like Brody had described it. “Washed up by the rocks, the twenty-ton megalodon.” Trent shook the flimsy float and laughed. Finn raised his eyebrows. “But his story is so convincing, frozen in the ice and drifted down from the Artic. Only to revive itself on the coast of Cornwall, and pursue him on his surfboard…” “Should have heard him earlier, he said he climbed on its back and rode it.” Finn clutched his stomach and smirked. “He has a talent for storytelling.” “What surprises me is no one challenges him, no one says he’s talking out of his ars—” Finn raised his hand fast. “Watch it, kids about.” Trent snorted, and flashed a smile at the nearest family packing up their belongings. “I’m gunna go bust the brat’s story.” Trent stepped forward, but Finn pressed a palm to his chest to hold him back. He didn’t stare straight at Brody, but he looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Brody smiled brightly, his eyes were wide, and he puffed his chest out proudly as he told his tale of almost being swallowed by a shark the size of a blue whale. Despite his arrogance, he was adorable, and the thought of him being humiliated filled Finn with unease. “Let him have this one.” Trent pushed his glasses into his dreadlocks and frowned. “Let him have this one? He’s going to terrify the whole town with this story.” Finn shrugged. “If people are worried, they will ask us, and we’ll tell the truth. You can’t go embarrassing him in front of his friends.” Trent shoved the float back under his T-shirt. “You are far too soft on that one, and we all know why…” Finn looked down at the sand and clenched his toes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” “Since he started coming here, you’ve been drooling all over the sand.” Finn scrunched his face. “Bit of an exaggeration.” Trent held his thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart. “Yeah, but only a bit, that’s the messed-up thing. You’ve got the hots for the beach brat. I know it, you know it, and so does he.” “Is it not alright to think someone’s hot? Your eyes follow every bikini wearing woman that walks by.” “Yeah, I look, and sometimes I go talk, sometimes it leads to more, sometimes it doesn’t. The difference is, you started lusting after him last summer— “The summer before that,” Finn interrupted, “and if you condense all the days I see him, it’s probably like six months I’ve fancied him…” The surfing season lasted from April to October. Brody was at the beach nearly every weekend, and he often appeared for a quick surf in the afternoon during week days. Finn eagerly waited for him to appear and sagged in disappointment on the days he didn’t. Trent slammed his palm to his forehead. “Two summers ago and you still haven’t so much as talked to him.” “Sometimes it’s nice to appreciate from afar.” “Now that’s just cowardly.” Trent mumbled. Finn folded his arms and huffed. “He’s some sought after surfer, is pretty much a celebrity on this sand. His friends follow him around, he turns up with a different guy each week. I’m not gunna put my heart out there for him to stamp on, no matter how hot he looks.” Trent raised his eyebrow. “‘M not saying put your heart out there, I’m saying put something else out there. He’s not a relationship kind of guy, he enjoys s*x with no strings. That could be fun.” “I’m not into that.” Trent growled. “Two years, Finn, you’ve lusted after that guy for two years. Maybe if you sleep with the guy, you’ll finally be able to move on, and find someone who wants a relationship.” Finn pressed his heel into the sand and c****d his jaw. “If I sleep with him, and that’s it. It’s like admitting it couldn’t be anything more. Not to mention it would be awkward seeing him here.” “It’s already awkward, last week he sat licking an ice cream and your face practically caught fire.” Finn wagged his finger. “I told you, I didn’t feel well.” “Yeah, and you rushed away to your truck, then returned twenty minutes later, blushing and unable to look anyone in the eye. We all know what medicine you used on the backseat…” Finn quickly rubbed at his reddening cheeks. “I told you, something I ate didn’t agree with me. I took an Imodium to settle by stomach.” Trent bunched his lips and hummed. Finn shoved him. “Whatever, believe what you like.” “The thing you don’t realize is Brody did it on purpose. He sat right in front of you and teased that goddamn ice cream with his tongue. He watched you scarper up the beach with a big smile on his face.” Finn groaned, and flashed a look at Brody. Brody looked back, and Finn couldn’t pull his gaze away. Brody’s skin glistened in the sun, his hair stuck up in different directions, and his lips lifted in a coy smile. His shorts were low, showing off his hip bones and the firm skin under his bellybutton. He was gorgeous, and Finn most definitely wanted to taste his skin, taste more than his skin. Trent cleared his throat. “Your aviators aren’t down, they can see you staring.” “Shit.” Finn hissed, then flipped them down on his face. He hit them too hard and they dropped to the sand. “Smooth, so smooth you’re slipping over…” Trent murmured. Finn groaned, and leaned down to get his glasses. “He’s younger than me, yet I feel like he’s in control.” “Don’t make yourself sound ancient, you’re only older by a couple of years, but you’re right, he is in control, but tonight we’re gunna fix that.” “How?” Finn said, standing and brushing the sand off his glasses best he could. “I heard he’s going to town later, and we’re going too.” Finn opened his mouth to protest, but Trent quickly pressed his palm to his lips. “No arguing, no excuses. You’re going to speak to him tonight. Take the bull by the horns, or better than that, take the brat by his ball—” “Kids.” Finn hissed, widening his eyes. Trent raised his hands and retreated. “Tonight.” Finn didn’t reply, he stared out to sea and did his best not to shoot looks in Brody’s direction.