“That’s not true. I drive amazingly well.”
“Well,” he said, grabbing her board from the back of the car, “it’s not today I’m going to test my luck, habiba.”
Sofia groaned, grabbed her things, and followed him to the car. He really needed her to stop making that sound, or maybe not. It went straight to his cock, and he’d sworn he was going tobe a good guy. She was making that terribly hard. Pun absolutely intended.
14
SOFIA
Capo Horn – Bresh, Tedua
“You knowthe goal of surfing is actually surfing?” Ilias paddled out next to her, arching an eyebrow.
Sofia sat on her board just beyond the line-up, gaze fixed on the horizon, calm and distant. Her favorite place to decompress.
“Just one moment.” She closed her eyes, inhaling the salty air, letting the lull of waves soothe her. Then, she opened her eyes and turned to him. “Do you know what the Blue Mind is?”
Ilias studied her face, squinting his eyes slightly. “I’ve heard something about it... but go on. Explain it to me.”
He paddled closer with that effortless grace only surfers had. He reached out and grabbed her leash, the board shifting slightly toward him. As she looked up towards him, Ilias was wrapped in his black wetsuit that hugged every single muscle of his body. Talking about her research was probably the only way she could stop thinking about the way that wetsuit fitted him perfectly.
“Blue Mind is a term coined by a marine biologist,” she began, “to describe the calm state many people experience when they’re near, in, on, or under water. It refers to the positive neurological and psychological effects of water on the human brain.”
“I haven’t read about it,” he started, “but I’ll vouch for it. Every time I have a problem, I just sit and stare at the ocean. It quiets everything. Don’t you think?”
“I do.” Her gaze was lost in the ocean, again.
Talking about marine biology with someone not in the field was somehow refreshing. There was no posturing, no need to defend her credentials, no subtle undermining. Just curiosity. Just space to breathe.
Ilias reached out, gently placing his thumb and index finger beneath her chin, coaxing her to face him. The warmth of his skin against hers, even through the ocean chill, sent an almost electric pulse up her spine.
His hazel eyes were searching. Focused.
“What’s bothering you?” he asked quietly.
There was too much to say. Too much she wasn’t ready to unload. Salacia seemed stable, for now, but the list of worries was never short: her father’s declining health, her floundering academic credibility, the stain of what had happened with Thomas. She was drowning in shame, still.
“Comments on Instagram,” she slightly lied, voice low. “Some of them get to me. I haven’t published a paper in years… and the marine biology community has opinions. About me. About whether I’m still a scientist or just a pretty face with followers.”
He let go of her chin slowly, fingertips trailing away like he wasn’t quite ready to lose the contact.
“Is their opinion important?” he asked.
“In theory, no. But… It's true. I haven’t published anything, and maybe I should be doing more than just taking pretty pictures with my new boyfriend.”
That word again. Boyfriend. Even fake, it tasted strange on her tongue.
“I don’t see anything wrong with enjoying life with a very handsome dude.” He grinned. “Didn’t João mention you were working on a new study? Why not use that? What’s it about?”
She blinked at him.
Wait. He’d remembered that from a fleeting comment? It caught her completely off guard. Thomas never remembered the things that mattered unless they were his. But Ilias… he listened.
“I’m still working on it. It’s raw. Very simple. I’m at the starting point, gathering data and trying to see if it’s something worth studying.” She sighed. “You know, I might be a little biased because I used to work in labs on technical stuff. That’s basically the only research I know how to do. This is different. This is more field research. It came to me recently and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”
She paused, searching his face as the sunlight began its slow descent behind the water, casting a golden glaze across his cheekbones.
“Are you sure you want to hear about it? It’s boring.”
