AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Julia
Ever since Iwas a little girl, I’d been drawn to the ocean.
Maybe because I’d always felt a sense of freedom whenever I was near the water.
Maybe because it reminded me how vast this universe truly was.
Or maybe because of the mysterious power hidden within the sea’s depths. There was beauty in the ocean’s majesty.
But also danger.
A fact I was abruptly reminded of, thanks to the sharp pain shooting up my leg as I strolled along the Hawaiian shoreline around sunrise, the crashing waves the only sound. At least until my cry pierced the serenity. As an intense, burning sensation worked its way from my foot and up my calf, I fell to the sand, dropping my coffee mug.
When I looked down to pinpoint what could cause so much agony, I winced at the sight of a dozen or so jellyfish tentacles wrapped tightly around my foot and lower leg.
This was not how I imagined my first morning in Hawaii.
Considering my internal clock was still on Atlanta time, I’d woken up before the sun and decided to start the last day of my thirties with a walk along the beach.
Seemed innocent enough.
Until I took off my flip-flops to wade into the shallow water.
Something about the ocean had called to me this morning.
Or maybe it was the handful of attractive surfers who trickled toward the beach as night gradually gave way to day.
I may have been mere hours away from turning forty. That didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate the chiseled physique of a twenty-something-year-old surfer, the wetsuit perfectly molded to each ridge and valley of his sculpted abs and broad shoulders. It truly was a sight to behold. The rising sun casting a haunting glow over the dark ocean. Dolphins jumping in the distance. An incredibly fit man flexing his impressive leg muscles as he rode a wave toward shore.
Unfortunately, that beautiful sight was precisely what had distracted me from spotting the jellyfish currently attached to my skin.
If that wasn’t karma telling me I shouldn’t be checking out someone who was practically half my age, I didn’t know what was.
Desperate for the pain to stop, I tentatively reached for it, unsure of the best way to go about extracting myself from the web of tentacles. It wasn’t exactly something I had much experience with. It wasn’t something I had any experience with. How hard could it be, though? All I had to do was rip the damn thing off me, right?
Right.
Drawing in a deep breath, I timidly attempted to pry off one of the tentacles when a gruff voice boomed over the ocean waves.
“Stop!”
Startled, I snapped my head up as a tall, well-built man rushed toward me.
The same tall, well-built man I’d been checking out before stepping on the jellyfish.
Karma truly was a cruel bitch. And there was no doubt she was a woman. Only a female could be so conniving as to ensure I came face to face with the reason I was in this predicament in the first place. I typically didn’t spend much time ogling the opposite sex. You could line up the ten most gorgeous men on the planet, and I normally wouldn’t give them so much as a second glance, too focused on every other aspect of my life.
But there was something different in the air this morning.
Maybe because I still suffered the effects of jet lag.
Maybe because I was over five thousand miles away from home, a giant ocean protecting me from my problems.
Maybe because I was on the cusp of turning forty.
The reason was irrelevant. All that was relevant was the fact I had over a dozen jellyfish tentacles wrapped around my leg, causing indescribable pain. I needed them off me, and quickly.
“I got stung,” I insisted, jaw clenched. “I’m not keeping this thing on my leg.”
