Under the Same Sky [BOYXBOY]

Chapter 76

'The beach?'

Jayden's incredulous tone forced Samuel to tear his eyes away from the scenic view of the waves rolling playfully over each other as they crashed onto the shore.

'What's wrong with the beach?'

'It's the beach,' Jayden replied simply as if that explained everything.

He scrunched up his face as a seagull squawked loudly at them as it flew by overhead. Answering squalls soon came from the birds that stood perched on the cliff face.

'See,' Jayden pointed out as if that proved his point.

Before Samuel could answer an excited yell came from behind them as Leo whizzed past them to throw himself into the sand.

'What are you guys standing around for?' he yelled behind him. 'Come on!'

Paul walked up to them as Leo sprung into a series of lively cartwheels on the sun-kissed sand.

'Where does he get all that energy from?' he asked in wonderment as Leo executed one impressive flip after another, finishing off with an elaborately twisted move that left even Jayden stunned.

'I don't know but I need him to hook me onto some of that,' Cam grumbled as he came up to stand beside them, his arms full of bags.

Noel soon appeared behind him and smiled as Leo took off his shoes and jumped happily into the water.

'That looks fun, come on let's join him!'

Cam glanced at the waves and let out an involuntary shudder. 'That looks cold and wet so very hard pass.'

Noel rolled his eyes and dragged Cam to the edge of the shoreline before letting go to take off his shoes to wade into the clear water.

'Come on,' he called back to Cam. 'It's fun.'

Cam's feet remained stubbornly planted on the soft sand. 'I think we have very different definitions of fun.'

Before he could protest further, Leo suddenly popped up behind him and lunged forward to seize his arm in a firm grip. With a surprising amount of strength and a jubilant cackle, Leo picked him up and dropped him up into the sea.

'See, it's not so bad, is it?'

Cam shot him a deadly glare and opened his mouth to yell at him, but an incoming wave choked the words out of his mouth, causing Leo and Noel to burst into laughter.

Cam's glare deepened and he resorted to splashing them with the salty water to shut them up.

The others watched from the beach as this soon turned into a water fight. A fond smile came on Paul's lips as Noel leaped playfully on Cam's back, causing both of them to tumble into the waves.

'Looks like they are having fun,' Samuel observed wistfully.

'Yeah, I guess they are.'

Samuel looked up and caught the expression on his best friend's face. 'Why don't you join them?' he offered gently. 'Jayden and I can take care of the bags by ourselves.'

'No, we can't,' Jayden muttered, earning him a sharp kick from Samuel.

'It's fine,' Paul sighed. 'I don't think I'll be much fun anyway.'

Samuel and Jayden watched as he turned to leave. 'What was that about?' Jayden asked curiously.

'He and Noel are still avoiding each other.' Samuel sighed tiredly. 'I don't know why they won't just talk to each other. Do you think we should-'

'No,' Jayden cut him off firmly. 'Absolutely not.'

'But...'

'Have you forgotten what happened the last time we got involved?'