He was standing off a few feet from me. His eyes taking me in behind his issued sunglasses. I could see his lips moving slightly, as if he was thinking unspoken words he wanted to share. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"Luca?" I asked. 

"You're going to get burned." He softly said, walking in front of me. 

Burned? I was tan, I didn't burn anymore. The sentence struck me as sweet though, just like Mrs. Mahaka had said. 

"I can't really burn...but thank you for caring." I said, giving him a small smile. 

He turned towards the men running by, god knows what lap they were on. 

"Aren't you supposed to be running with them?" I asked. 

Luca looked back towards me, shifting his weight in the sand, his forearms crossing now, the muscles gleaming in the sun. He was sweaty. The view sending a rush of sexual tension through my scantily clad body. 

"No. I'm the Gunnery Sergeant in charge today. I'll join 'em in a bit." He replied. 

There was another pause so I grabbed my tank top and slid it back on. I felt pretty exposed in just my bikini for some reason. He cleared his throat and turned back towards the ocean. Crap. I needed to say something. 

"So...do you guys train here often? I see marines here almost every day, except Sunday." 

I stood up and moved closer to him. He glanced over at me, his gaze boring holes into my frame. I felt even more self conscious now. It was a weird feeling. 

"We train 3 days a week on the beach, or in the woods." He said, gesturing behind him off to the left. "We're part of 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, the combat team." 

My grandpa was in the 3rd Marine unit, but I wasn't ready to share any of that with him. I didn't want to share anything personal with him yet. Men weren't trustworthy in my opinion...until they proved to you they could be. 

"Interesting. I don't want to keep you from your work.." I said. 

He cleared his throat again and nodded. I couldn't help but stare at his frame. The uniform fit him like glove. Like he was meant to be only a marine. Lord, what was happening to me? 

"See you later Mila." 

He strode off, his butt a tight spectacle to watch as well as his back and arms. 

What exactly just happened?

Why did he take the time to come and say hi to me, then say much of nothing? We both were sober too. Maybe my neighbors advice was wrong. He wasn't into me. So what did he want? The questions were too numerous and too confusing. I couldn't possibly lay back down now. No way. My mind and body needed something active, to distract. What the hell...I'd go for a swim. 

It was too weird to strip to my bikini in front of the running hoard of muscular men so I waded out in my tank also. The waves hit me hard, refreshing my senses. It was fair enough conditions for swimming.  The water was clear and not too choppy. 

I plunged in. 

💋💋

The ocean in Hawaii is home to a huge range of biodiversity...fish, coral and various other sea creatures inhabit its waters. My favorite was the tiny blue and yellow finned fishes that would frequent near the shoreline. They were playful. Thankfully, I could see through the water extremely well at the moment. I dove down, under a set of waves and looked around. Time seemed to stand still down here. Then suddenly, I spotted something large up ahead and to the right. It was darker. 

What is that? 

Before I could think, it turned quickly and disappeared. The waves were flat and more were forming to the side. Had I just seen dolphins? Or was that a shark? I bobbed in the water as I treaded effortlessly. Shouting began to travel to my ears. Jerking my head to the left I saw the marines bunched in a group waving their arms in the air. What the hell were they doing? 

Another wave crashed overhead so I quickly sucked in a breath and dunked under. I opened my eyes again and looked around. I thought I glimpsed a dark shadow off in the distance again but it disappeared too fast to see what it was. But I did  see a person swimming towards me. It was a marine. He had his eyes open and he was in full uniform. 

The man reached me and tugged me upwards. We broke through the surf and he held onto me. 

"There's a shark...we need to get out." He said, blue eyes staring into mine. 

It wasn't Luca, but possibly one of his men. I nodded and he let me go slightly. We began to swim back. It didn't take long to reach the shore. I walked out towards the group of marines. I didn't see Luca. 

"Shit! You see that monster by you?! It was so fucking close!" They shouted excitedly. 

A huge shark was in the water by me. That's what I'd just spotted under the waves. I was lucky. It saw me too, but it didn't attack. I knew a few locals who weren't so lucky, surfers included. The blonde marine had dove in. He tried to help. The realization was heavy...that's who these guys were. That's what they did. 

"I...thank you..you came in after me." I said, looking at the muscular blonde. 

He grinned. 

"No problem. I could tell you were a good swimmer but that shark was circling you. Did you see it when you went under the first time? We could see it pretty damn well from here." 

"I did. Well, kind of. It was hard to make it out where it was under the swell overhead." I replied. "I still can't believe you'd go in knowing it was there.."

A voice cut me off, Luca.

"Sergeant! Get the men lined back up!" He shouted angrily. 

Clearly he had no idea what just happened. 

"Oorah Gunny!" The blonde shouted back. 

He scrambled to get the men back into formation to resume their training, glancing at me with a chin nod. I smiled back as Luca came in front of me. 

"I'd rather you not distract my men, they are here to train, not flirt." He said, looking down at me, his voice laced with something I couldn't pinpoint.

"I wasn't flirting...they were shouting at me from the shore then the blonde sergeant jumped in and swam out..." 

"Mila.." He tried interrupting. 

"There was a shark in the water Luca." I said angrily. "Sorry for interrupting your training." 

I turned and began to walk away. I sure didn't need this after coming that close to being eaten. Why did he think I  would flirt with his men? Did he see me as just some tart looking for a lay? 

"Shit, a shark? Did you see it?" He called after me. 

I stopped and turned around. He had taken his sunglasses off and looked sorry for his jumping to conclusions. The hazel in his eyes matched the brown and green digital pattern on his fitted uniform. My stomach flipped. Why did he have to be so hot? 

"I saw something big and dark under the swells, but not a good look at it." 

I bit on my bottom lip as I waited for his reply. He looked at me with a softened expression. Then his eyes glanced down at my body. Oh hell...my tank was soaking wet and clinging to my bikini. I was on full display. 

"Be careful. Don't swim any more today, ok?" He said, more of a plead than an ask. 

I nodded and bit my lip again. His eyes dilated as he watched them. Realizing what it probably looked like, I quickly stopped. He met my eyes again. 

"I'll be at the club again tonight. Maybe I'll see you there." He said, turning to walk away. 

It was Friday after all. Most of the marines would be out. Maybe I would go. Maybe I wouldn't. As quickly as he'd stormed over, he was gone. I watched the men run off into the distance. Luca caught up to them, sprinting. 

I exhaled and walked back to my towel and belongings. What a non relaxing beach day this turned out to be. What were the odds I'd see Luca and then a shark? Was it a sign or an omen of sorts? I sat down and took out my water bottle. When I first got the news my parents had passed in the wreck, I thought back to everything leading up to it. My mind had wanted to find a connection, any connection, linking it. You could twist any situation into what you wanted it to be. It wasn't hard. 

What I desperately needed to do was to find a new normal here. Beyond just waking and going to the beach. I had plenty of money thanks to grandpa, so working would be for purpose. He was big on that, my grandpa. The marines was his life for almost 30 years. Then after that he became a government contractor. 'A man always should provide Mila' he'd say. 

That's it. 

I'd look for contractor jobs tomorrow online. Tonight I'd go back to the club and get a few drinks. I didn't feel like dancing anymore, but alcohol sounded nice after seeing a shark on my swim. The realization hit me again.

I can't believe I'd swam near a huge shark.

**This story is only found on Wattpad. If found on another site, it was stolen. Thank you for reading.💋**