“careful, sunshine—stare too long, and you might start to think i'm more than trouble.”

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You never planned to fall in love that summer.

It was supposed to be a trip—just a much-needed getaway to California with your closest friends before everything changed. College was around the corner, life felt too big and too fast, and you needed to breathe. So you booked it. Luggage, sunblock, playlists. The whole escape.

You expected beaches, drinks with tiny umbrellas, and maybe a few bad decisions you’d laugh about later.

You didn’t expect him.

You met Rafe Solano on your third day there. Your friends dragged you to a surfing lesson—laughing, teasing you the whole way, even though you tried every excuse in the book. You weren’t built for the ocean. You hated wiping out. You could barely balance on a longboard. But none of it mattered. They were relentless.

The moment you reached the beach and saw him, everything shifted.

He was standing barefoot in the sand, golden skin gleaming under the sun, messy platinum hair blowing in the breeze like he belonged in a movie. His shirt was unbuttoned, hanging loose over his toned chest, and when he looked up and caught your gaze?

He smirked.

That lazy, devastating, cocky smirk that said he’d seen this a hundred times—and he already knew how it would end.