The sun hung low, bleeding orange and gold across the Pacific like someone had cracked the sky open and let heaven spill out. Heat still radiated from the sand despite the approaching evening, made the air shimmer in waves that turned the beach into something liquid and unreal.
Salt wind cut sharp, carried the sweetness of coconut sunscreen mixing with beer and charcoal smoke from grills people had set up for the long haul.
The crowd had grown. Over a hundred now, maybe more—bodies pressing in from all directions, forming a loose arena around us. Girls in bikinis, guys in board shorts, kids on shoulders, everyone with phones out.
The energy was electric, hungry, waiting.
Colt spun toward the boards stabbed into the sand like forgotten swords. "Alright! Let's gear up!"
