Thank you all for your support on the first chapter! I'm glad you're excited for this story, I am, too! :)

"Logie," Kendall said thoughtfully from beside me, where we were sitting on the shore of the beach early the next morning. "I think we need to talk about something."

I peered up at him, absent of sunglasses because it was sort of a cloudy day and I didn't need them.

"I wanna get some tail down here," he said frankly. "I'm a free man now, and all these girls seem so willing. And I know you don't want me going off to their places, cause that's dangerous, and-"

"If you bring a girl back to the room, I'll hang out in the lobby or something," I promised. "It's no big deal."

"Really?" he asked in relief. "I'm so glad you understand. And if you bring a guy back, I'll do the same."

"As if," I laughed, rolling my eyes.

Kendall drew with his finger in the sand between us absently. I knew he was pouting secretly- he wanted to go explore and meet new people, but he didn't want to be a "bad friend" and leave me again. I sighed and smirked.

"Go ahead," I said. "Keep your phone with you."

"I'll be back for lunch," he said excitedly, getting up, pausing, and smashing a quick kiss to my cheek. "Love you, buddy. Try to have fun."

"I'm having fun."

He went back to where my beach blanket was set up and slung his backpack over his shoulders before hurrying off.

I turned back to the ocean. It was about 9 AM and there weren't many people out yet. I was watching a man taking surf lessons, and doing pretty horribly at it I might add. But I wasn't watching him, I was watching his teacher.

The teacher was probably tall, considering there was a little girl near him and the water was up to her neck while his waist was inches above. Very tan, like most of the other people, muscles rippled over his torso, showing abs and rib muscles to kill, with great biceps. When he talked, I could see that his teeth were beautiful, and his hair was dark and short, pushed back and wet. Mirrored aviator sunglasses hid a lot of his face, but I could tell that he was gorgeous. Out of my league, too.

I got up and went back to sit on my blanket, getting my sketchpad out and deciding to start sketching the beach. I also took note that I wanted to sketch the surf shop, too, if there was time.

I put on some music through my headphones as I worked, glancing up often to look at the scenery and occasionally checking on my surf instructor over there.

Eventually the man that was getting surfing lessons was gone, and the instructor was left sitting on the board, bobbing up and down. He took off his sunglasses to rub his face, then run his fingers through his hair.

As soon as he opened his eyes and looked around without the sunglasses, my blood ran cold.

Not taking my eyes off of him, I flipped back to the sketch of the guy from my dream, holding it up to compare the two.

There were a few differences, from where my drawing was inaccurate, but I knew that he was the guy that I dreamt about. He was the one who told me he loved me and kissed me and held me and made my heart flutter even after I woke up.

I needed to meet him. I needed to see if his voice sounded the same as it had in the dream, if his arms felt the same, if his kiss was the same…

Wait. This is a complete stranger and I'm thinking about kissing him!

I tore my eyes away from the guy to start sketching again, deciding not to do anything about it. I would just watch him, that's it.

As promised, Kendall was back for lunch, which we ate at the same nearby restaurant as we ate dinner at the night before. He told me about a girl he met, and how she was amazing and reminded him of Jo. I had to reiterate what he said to me- that he was a free man and he was here to exercise that. He paused for a second before smiling and shrugging, telling me he forgot to get her number anyway.

"I found the guy from my dream," I said, swallowing a bite of my sandwich. "I mean it's him in the flesh."

"Really?" he asked excitedly. "Did you recognize him from anywhere?"

"Nope," I laughed, shaking my head.

"Just hope you didn't see him at a family reunion or something," he smirked. I wondered if eventually I would learn where I had seen the man before to make me dream of him. "Did you talk to him?"

"No way."

"Why not? Was he with another guy?"

"No. He's a surf instructor- he was busy anyway."

That was only partly a lie. Most of the day he was with a customer, but he left around the time that I did. I had plenty of chances to go up and talk to him.

"Damn. Was he hotter in your dream or real life?" he asked.

"Real life- definitely."

"You should take surf lessons," Kendall said brightly. "Then you could hang with him and have him be touchy-feely with you and see him mostly naked and sopping wet."

I laughed and rolled my eyes, the thought both terrifying me and exciting me.

"If you're not gonna flirt the whole time you're here, at least do this," Kendall said. "How often do you find the man of your dreams in a perfect opportunity to get to know him?"

"I'd just embarrass myself. I can't surf."

"I bet you can. You're awesome at skateboarding."

I looked at him, unconvinced, his words swirling in my head. He was right. How often does someone find literally the man of their dreams?

"What if he isn't gay?" I asked, trying my damnedest to talk myself out of it.

"Who cares? You can turn him gay with a flash of those damn dimples," Kendall smirked. "And if that doesn't work, at least you can say you did it."

"Maybe I will," I said, taking another bite.

"Yes!" Kendall cheered. "I'm so excited!"

I was scared, I have to admit. I had never done anything like this- pursued someone. Especially not a guy. I was intimidated by the guy's beauty and obvious confidence, but I had to do this. We were on vacation, after all. And if nothing else, I could go home and tell my mom about the time I met the man of my dreams and made a fool of myself trying to impress him.

Kendall made sure to give me no choice. We didn't even get to our blanket before he steered me to the surf shop, an arm over my shoulders.

"I don't need your help," I hissed.

"Yes you do," he reminded me. "And I'm gonna make for damn sure you get what you want."

We walked around the surf shop to a service window, where Carlos, my "buddy" from the previous day, leaned on the counter chowing down on some corndogs for lunch. As soon as he saw me he grinned, somehow still a perfect smile through the food in his mouth.

"Hey! It's my old buddy!" he said excitedly. I smiled sheepishly and waved as Kendall pulled me to the counter. "You guys here for a couples lesson?"

"We're not together," I reminded Carlos.

"Right," Carlos winked. "What's up?"

"He wants lessons," Kendall said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, MAN! We're gonna have so much fun," Carlos began excitedly to me. "But it's not my day on the water, you'll have to wait a few days."

"I want lessons today," I spoke up.

"Why? You don't want me to teach you?" Carlos asked sadly, but immediately smiled again. "Fine. I didn't wanna teach you anyway. If you want lessons today, it'll be forty bucks for an hour, or twenty for half an hour. You'll be with James- he's on the water out there with that chick in the itsy-bitsy bikini."

Kendall and I turned to see a woman on a surfboard, basking in my dream guy's touch as he fixed her posture.

"How is two o'clock for you, bro?" Carlos asked, checking over a clipboard.

"That's in an hour," I squeaked.

"That's perfect," Kendall answered for me. Carlos gave me the clipboard and I signed my name at the two-o'clock slot for half an hour. I was a nervous wreck, expecting to have more time to prepare myself for the one-on-one time.

"Logan Mitchell. I like that name," Carlos read and smiled. "Don't worry- James is easy to talk to and you'll come out of your shell really quick. He'll meet you here at two."

I was practically shaking as I walked up to the surf shop, finding my dream-guy leaning on the service counter talking to Carlos. Carlos spotted me and smiled, waving, and the guy turned to look at me. The clouds had set in harder by then, and his sunglasses were gone to show eyes that looked brown from here.

"That's him! That's my buddy!" Carlos beamed.

"Hey," the guy smiled, turning to me to shake my hand, pausing a second just looking at me, then taking my hand. "I'm James."

I was almost drooling by the time he had shaken and dropped my hand and I decided to say something.

"Logan," I said, looking up at him. He was REALLY tall. Probably more than six feet. His handshake was firm and friendly and he obviously had no reservations about his body, comfortably wearing nothing but turquoise trunks. Now that I was closer, I could see that he was older than me. Probably in his twenties.

"Let's get started! Looks like we might get rained on," James said, looking up at the grey sky.

I trailed behind him, my eyes meticulous on him. He was all man, with his muscles and stocky gate and deep voice. I liked that, and that was the moment I realized it. I liked manly men. Someone big and strong that can protect me and hold me.

Suddenly he turned, waiting on me to catch up.

"Where are you from, Logan?" he asked as we kept walking toward the water.

"Minnesota," I said. I was trying desperately to summon the confidence and charm that Kendall suggested I use, trying to get over my shyness and infatuation.

"Really? No shit?" he asked brightly, making my heart swell. "Me, too! Minneapolis?"

"Yeah!" I smiled. Okay, a smile was a start. After all, I did have the dimples that seemed to work every time.

"That's so crazy that we grew up close," James admitted. We splashed into the water, the surfboard still beneath my instructor's sculpted arm. We were silent until we got deeper into the water and he told me to sit on the board so he could tow me out.

"Tell me, Logan," James said thoughtfully, looking back at me as he pulled my board along. "What made you want to take lessons? You're obviously not the surfing type."

"What does that mean?"

"Well I mean you seem shy."

"My friend's making me do it," I explained.

"How come he's making you?"

"Well he thinks I need to step out of my comfort zone."

"That's always good. Sometimes you have to try new things," he said. "Are you scared?"

"Yeah."

"Don't be."

I looked down into his friendly hazel eyes and found trust. Like he wouldn't force me into anything, and he would make sure I was okay and having fun.

"How long are you here?" he asked, laying his arms on the nose of my board and resting his chin on them.

"A week."

"Are you enjoying it so far?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "The people are friendly and the food is good. And I like the beach, too."

"That's exactly why I moved here," he said. "The people, the food, and the beach. Oh, and my mom. But that's a different story for a different day."

"Are we… Gonna surf?" I asked timidly. I hated to remind him of our task at hand, since I really didn't want to surf, but didn't want him to get into any trouble.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head and looking back to the shore.

"Why?"

"You don't want to," he shrugged. "And I'd like a break. I won't charge you for this."

"Who says I don't want to?"

"Well, you're holding onto the board for dear life for one," he pointed out, my eyes dropping to my fingers gripping the sides of the board. "And you're not very loose. And you still have a shirt on."

"What's wrong with having a shirt on?" I asked defensively.

"Nothing! It just tells me you're self-conscious, and self-conscious people typically don't like publically being thrown off of a board and into the water," he said smartly. "I could be wrong. I mean, do you want to surf?"

I hesitated, twisting my lips.

"No," I grumbled.

"Okay. Me either," he said frankly. "I mean, I love surfing, but sometimes it gets tiring. It's a helluva lot better than what's waiting for me at home, though."

Deciding not to pry, I looked up at the shore, at the big hotels and the few people daring to be on the beach at the threat of rain.

"So this is what you do?" I asked, almost breathless.

"Yeah," he said, following my gaze. "Pretty rad, right?"

"Yeah."

"Me and Carlos take turns on the water- four days a week," he said. "There're surf shops all over the beach."

"What made you want to do this?"

"I dunno. I found out a few years ago that I love to surf. Then, you know, I figured why not make some money off of it, right?" he laughed. "And I like to meet new people, too."

I looked down at James, thinking about my dream. How was it possible that even his voice was the same as in the dream? He was sweet and friendly in reality, too, just as I fantasized, and his smile had the same effect on me. Now that I was closer, I could see that his eyes weren't brown, but hazel, reflecting the storm clouds above.

I had only been with him for a few minutes, but already his warm smile and casual conversation had me feeling comfortable with him, which was hard for me.

He gave me a lopsided smile.

"What're you staring at?" he asked.

"Sorry," I said, quickly looking away. He laughed and said nothing more, probably used to being stared at.

I felt a splatter of water on my shoulder, then another on my head, then suddenly it was pouring.

"Woah. That's weird," James laughed, looking up at the grey sky. "It hardly ever rains here."

"Typical," I mumbled miserably.

"We'll be okay as long as there's no-" his words were cut off with a crack of thunder and lightning splitting the sky. "Lightning."

I hopped off of the board to help him tow it back to shore quickly to avoid electrocution. By then it was raining so hard my hair was sopping wet and the sand was like quicksand.

James pulled me into the surf shop, where he put the board away and greeted Carlos happily. He always seemed so peppy- both of them. Forever in great moods and with everlasting smiles on their faces. It was contagious, and although I wasn't smiling hugely on the outside, I felt so happy on the inside. They made me feel like I belonged with them. Like I wasn't a stranger or a customer, I was a buddy that's always there with them. I felt welcome with them.

"It's really coming down out there," Carlos said, he and James leaning on the service counter to watch the rain. I came up to look beside James, and noticed that the beach was clear of people now. There were some things left on the beach that were getting wet- beach towels, umbrellas, beach toys, etc.

"Let's go!" James said excitedly, taking off out the door. Carlos laughed and ran after him, and I watched as the two ran in circles around the beach, their arms spread and faces turned up to the rain, goofy smiles on their faces.

"C'mon, Logan!" James called to me. I laughed and shook my head, but he and Carlos kept coaxing me. I finally sighed and exited the dry safety of the surf shop, the rain immediately soaking me, warm on my skin and through my clothes.

"It's not everyday it rains here!" Carlos said to me. I liked that they had gone out of their ways to include me and make sure I didn't feel awkward.

"It's so warm," I said, my hand upturned to welcome the warm droplets. Much warmer, at least, than the rain in Minnesota.

"Don't question it!" James grinned, shoving chestnut hair from his face.

It was an amazing feeling. The warm water on my skin, the taste and smell of salt on my tongue with the roaring sound of rain hitting the ocean waves filling my ears.

Carlos let out a battle cry and took off down the beach, James laughing and looking at me before shrugging and doing the same.

Okay, I guessed I was excluded now. That's okay- they're friends, they just wanted to hang out alone is all. I tried not to feel too pouty as I went back to stand beneath the safety of the surf shop awning, which only jutted out about a foot from the tiny shop, sitting in the wet sand.

So that's what my dream guy was like. Gorgeous, friendly, playful, and free. Even though he was gone now, I was glad that I got to meet him. At least now I could say I did it.

I was almost enjoying being alone, secluded in my thoughts, when someone came running toward me, skidding in the sand and plopping down roughly beside me.

"Sorry about that," James laughed, breathing hard. "Me and Carlos are kinda like five-year-olds in twenty-two-year-old bodies. Well, he's twenty-three."

I looked over at him, trying to mask my surprise and a bit of sadness at his age. Of course I could tell that he was older than me, but I didn't know the exact age. I was just glad he wasn't twenty-eight or something. I was only seventeen and being involved with even a twenty-two-year-old would be dangerous on his end. I should drop that fantasy. Although… I would be 18 in just a little while.

But of course I couldn't even consider "being with" James. I didn't know if he was gay or not, and if he was, of course he had to have a boyfriend. Still… Just one date would be heaven.

But gosh he was pretty, with the rainwater running in little streams down his sculpted torso and soaking into the little strip of hair below his bellow button. His dark hair was soaked and pushed back carelessly, his hazel eyes filled with childlike playfulness.

He opened his mouth to say something, and I knew he was going to ask how old I was and I didn't want him to, but suddenly his beautiful eyes averted to something down the beach and a smile cracked on his face.

"Check out that drunk joke," he giggled, pointing. I looked the other way to where a guy was stumbling down the shore in trunks that I knew, because they were mine borrowed by Kendall. The guy had familiar blonde hair and the same torso as… Okay, I knew exactly who it was from the point I saw him. Kendall. The fact that he was stumbling along, obviously drunk and alone, made me both angry and worried.

"Shit," I hissed, getting up. "That's MY drunk joke."

I took off into the rain and down the beach toward Kendall. It took a while for me to get to him.

"Kendall!" I growled, approaching him. He looked up at me with a pout on his face.

"Logie," he slurred, stumbling against me. "I threw up."

And suddenly he was crying into my bare shoulder, falling to the ground and taking me with him. He was sobbing, saying something I couldn't understand.

"And then I puked," he finished, clutching to me, his neck limp. I was just trying to keep his head tilted downward to keep him from drowning in the rain.

"Wow," came a laugh, and my head snapped up to James, who was falling to his knees beside Kendall. I shot him an accusing look, because no matter how pretty you are you can't be a jerk about someone's friend, and he smirked and shrugged. "Is this your boyfriend?"

"No," I said frankly, rolling my eyes. "This is Kendall. My best friend."

"He's drunk."

"Sure is."

"Is he legal?"

"Nope. Not even close."

"Damn," James said. I sighed and tried to get up.

"C'mon, Kendall. Let's get back to the room," I said loudly for my barely-conscious friend. But he wasn't budging. He just kept crying. I looked helplessly up to James and he got to his feet.

"I'll carry him," he offered.

"No, he can-" I began to tell James that Kendall could walk, but I looked down to my best friend to see that he was unconscious now. "Okay. But be careful."

James bent and effortlessly picked Kendall up bridal style, like he was a pillow or something. His muscles bulged beneath his wet skin, but his face showed utter relaxation, like the weight of the grown man in his arms was nothing.

"Keep his head tilted," I said, correcting Kendall's head. James shifted his arm to prop Kendall's head in place and I pointed out the hotel.

"I'm sorry," I groaned. "Thanks for doing this."

"It's cool," James smirked. "Drunks are kinda funny, you know? And I don't want you two getting caught and him getting in trouble for drinking. If anyone asks, he passed out on the beach, okay?"

"Not a lie."

"Not a lie at all."

I unlocked the hotel room door and held it open, James careful to enter without hitting Kendall's head on the doorframe.

"Just set him in the bathtub- he's wet and he'll end up puking anyway," I laughed a little.

I fought the thoughts of pulling James to the bed and spending the rest of the day there with his big hands clamped on my hips and my hands and knees aching from the weight put on them against the mattress and-

Okay, sorry, got a little carried away.

James shuffled into the bathroom and carefully lay Kendall in the tub, my friend's head lulling to the side like he was dead.

"Sorry about the whole… Half-naked thing," he laughed, running his hand through his wet hair. No problem, I wanted to say, secretly looking his body over, noting that it was only his trunks that kept him from being naked.

"Grab a towel and sit down until it stops raining," I suggested, surprised at my sudden bravery.

"I'd like to, Logan, but I'm sure Carlos is flipping his shit not knowing where I am," James grinned, turning to me. "Wanna come play in the rain some more? We can grab a beer afterward."

I opened my mouth to say that I couldn't legally drink, but stopped myself. He thought I was old enough for alcohol?

"Have you ever had a beer?" he asked.

"No."

"I could sneak you one," he winked, sending my heart thundering. "It's a little illegal, but you're on vacation, right? Your buddy here obviously took advantage."

I was a little let down yet relieved that James knew I wasn't legal. Let down because he probably wasn't interested in someone under 21 but relieved because he still winked at me and still offered to hang out with me some more.

But I had to remind myself that this was all a fantasy, that James and I wouldn't go anywhere and that I would probably be the cute little stranger friend that he and Carlos teased. I didn't want James to see me like that.

There I go again- assuming I had a chance with James and that he would possibly be interested in me.

"I think I'll get just dried off and try to wake up Sleeping Beauty over there," I said apologetically. "Thanks, though."

"Alright, dude," James said, lightly touching my arms to guide me out of his way, making my breath catch as he passed me and his touch disappeared. "I had a lot of fun with you. I'll see you around. And if you ever change your mind about me sneaking you your first beer, you know where to find me."

"Okay," I said a little too whimsically and he grinned before leaving. I sighed happily after the door was closed, feeling like my heart was flying.

A groan emitted from the tub and I sighed happily and wet a washcloth, sitting on the edge of the tub and patting Kendall's forehead with it.

"Logie, I threw up," Kendall said, voice so faint I didn't know if he said anything. He still looked dead- he had only groaned and shifted his head before then.

"I know, buddy."

"Are you mad at me? Don't be mad."

Under normal circumstances, I would be mad at him for drinking at 18 and mad at whoever gave him the alcohol. What if he hadn't made it back? But him showing up drunk had gotten me a little extra alone time with James, and that was worth it.

"No, Kendall, I'm not mad," I soothed.