Nico
"I'll take my chances," Will says, his eyes locked on mine.
His gaze is intense. My breath gets stuck in my throat. For a second is like I can't breathe. It almost seems like Will is... No, forget it. I'm definitely imagining things.
I look away to escape his gaze and start walking. There's only a few people on the street. The breeze is cool against my warm face and even though I don't like the sand, I can't deny the beauty of the sea.
With no destination in mind, we cross the street and head to the beach.
There's a small stone like wall that skirts the perimeter of the beach.
I walk on the sand, but only because I'm in sneakers and I watch as Will climbs on the wall, walking on it as we walk along the perimeter of the beach, just like a child.
"So..." I start, breaking the silence. "What did you have in mind when you called me to hang out?" I ask, a little suspicious, but mostly curious.
Will has his eyes fixed on me as he walks over the little wall and at no point does he become unbalanced. His gaze makes me self-conscious of myself and I wonder what is going on in his mind:
"I just ... I wanted to talk to you. We start off on the wrong foot ..."
"No shit, Sherlock," I say sarcastically.
Will has the decency to appear guilty.
"You're right, and I take the blame for it. That's why I want to ... you know ... to get to know you better."
I really didn't know what to answer or how to interpret it, so I decide not to give a definitive answer.
"I don't know about that, but ... since I'm here anyway, what do you want to do?" I ask, changing the subject.
Will looks at me thoughtfully before answering.
"I'm not really sure, I guess I didn't think this trough," he laughs. "What do you like to do when you come to Hawaii?" he asks.
I snort. "There is nothing to do here besides going to the beach and I hate sand, so this is basically a tedious summer for me."
Will looks at me like I'm crazy. I've seen him use that expression at school when talking to his friends and the fact that he's looking at me like that, I don't know, it makes me feel good inside.
"You hate sand? Why?!"
"I don't like how it sneaks into every part of the human body."
Will shakes his head and then his eyes change as if I've just presented him with a challenge, which I don't really remember having done, and he's determined to win.
He jumps off the wall, landing in front of me. I stop so as not to bump into him. We are so close, but instead of taking a step back to distance myself, I stand in place as if something is holding me to the ground right where I am.
Will is four inches taller than me, so I find myself facing his chest for a moment. He really is defined in all the right places. That's so not fair.
I have to look up so I can look at his face, another unfair feature of him, he really has a beautiful face and his eyes ... are so fucking blue, I don't know why but blue has become my favorite color since I first looked into his eyes.
We are so close that I lose myself in his gaze, which affects me more than I want to admit.
"Take off your shoes," Will orders softly.
"Wh-what?" I ask as I register his words.
Will smiles and that, along with his gaze, affects me even more, making my brain refuse to function properly.
"Take off your shoes," he repeats in the same domineering voice.
I'm walking on the sand and the only reason for this is because I'm in sneakers and he wants me to take off my shoes?
"Didn't I just say I don't like sand?" I ask wryly.
"If you don't do it, I'll do it for you," he says.
My brain finally decides to work and I take a step back away from Will, but he grabs my arms with his hands to stop me from running away.
"I'm not taking my shoes off, Will. "
Will lets me go. "All right," he says, then opens an amused smile. "Then I'll do it for you."
He bends down and tries to take my shoes off and, for the first time, I see this as a joke and not a threat.
I can't help but laugh when I look at Will try to take my snickers off with no success. He tries to lift my foot so he can take the sneakers off, but I resist.
We are two idiots messing around and laughing a lot in the middle of a beach. We end up losing balance and falling on the sand, me on my ass and Will on his knees still trying to get my shoes off and instead of getting upset, I find it amusing how absurd this situation is.
He quickly takes off my sneakers and socks off my foot and I try keeping my feet up as to not touch the sand, but Will grabs my ankles, his touch bringing all kinds of sensations to my body, and pushes my feet down pressing them against the sand what makes me fall on my back because of the lack of balance.
I should be angry. I should be furious even, but I can't stop laughing. Will crawls through the sand and then his face is above mine, our bodies almost touching.
I finally stop laughing, but I cannot get the smile off my face, which is extremely rare.
Will just looks at me from above, his eyes on mine, and it's like he's seeing my soul. His smile mirrors mine.
"See? Sand is not that bad."
I resist the urge to raise my hand and caress his face so instead I just let myself look back at him, memorizing the details of his face:
"Why do you always try to do what I don't like?" I ask without a trace of irritation in my voice.
"You are having fun," he claims.
I can't stop smiling.
"I'm covered in sand," I say, trying to get the smile off my face with no success.
"It's still fun and sand eventually comes off. You need to let it go, Nico. Get out of the comfort zone."
I shake my head and roll my eyes.
"Take off your shoes, too," I whisper.
Will obeys, he sits down to take off his shoes and I take this as my chance to get up and shake the sand off of my hair.
The sand is soft against the soles of my feet as I look at the sea with the sun on the horizon.
"It's beautiful here," Will says, looking in the same direction as me.
"It is. It's beautiful."