They were at the beach enjoying the last few moments they could get when they could actually go out in the water without freezing to death. Well, JJ was the one who was going out into the water, surfing on his board while Collins watched safely from the sand. Pope had work for his dad to finish up before he could come out and join them and Kie was helping her parents at the restaurant, but she was going to come by as soon as the lunch rush passed. They never wanted to miss out on a wave. 
Collins was laid out on a towel, the top half of her body propped up by her elbows as she watched JJ take on a huge swell. She should've told him on their way there but it just seemed like such a weird moment to bring something like that up. Time was running out. Kie and Pope were eventually going to get there and Collins really wanted to tell JJ when it was just the two of them so to not rub it on Pope's face. She was going to have no choice but to push the news back further if she didn't just come out with it the next time JJ came back from the water. 
Her thoughts seemed to have worked some kind of magic that made them become a reality, because JJ was suddenly retreating from the water with his board tucked under his arm. For a moment, Collins had lost any and all ability to think as she admired JJ Maybank. He was dripping wet, but the water made his skin sparkle in the sunlight, drawing her attention to all of the outlines of some well-formed, tightly toned abs. He shook his hair to keep the saltwater out of his eyes, leaving his blond hair in a charmingly messy state that Collins secretly loved to death and just wanted to run her fingers through. God, she was obsessed. She thought she had it bad watching him maneuver his board on the water, but it was really when he was coming out of it that had her head spinning. 
"Did you see me?" He asked her, dropping his board once he was only a few feet away, before coming over to her with a rush of excitement. Collins felt droplets hit her skin as he fell next to her, out of breath. "I hit that swell so hard. For a second there, I thought it was going to knock me out but I stayed on my feet."
Looking at him with a smile on her face, Collins nodded. "How could I miss it?"
JJ took a couple of seconds to catch his breath, facing the water again and basking in the beauty of the earth around him. For a moment, when all he can see is sand and water and the big spread of the sky in front of him, he forgets that he's in the OBX. He imagines that he's somewhere else instead, somewhere further south of the equator, or in a place where he's overlooking the Pacific and not the Atlantic. It's a nice thought that he has, dreaming up all of the possible places that he could be looking at the ocean from. And what makes it even better, is the fact that in most instances when he finds himself doing that, Collins is almost always sitting beside him. 
That's when he realizes that it's not the earth that's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, it's the girl he has spent the whole summer infatuated with. 
As he turns over to look at her, Collins briefly shifts her gaze down between them, completely unaware of the fact that he was so under her spell. "JJ, I have to tell you something."
Those words put together are enough to make anyone lose their head. A million thoughts start racing through JJ's mind at a mile a minute. The smile slowly starts to fade from his lips and concern replaces it while he begins to fear the worst. He runs through all of the possible events prior to that moment that could've been reason for why Collins would want to end things with him that could explain where such a decision could've come from. Perhaps he'd been too much for her lately. All of the days and nights spent together, she was probably sick of him. Or maybe they hadn't spent enough time doing the things that she liked to do. He'd been out on the water practically every day that week while she sat at the shore and watched him. He hoped she didn't think he was neglecting her.