Disclaimer: The writer doesn't personally know J. Gyllenhaal and the story is pure fiction and isn't meant to portray real relationships.
*
I lay down on a sun bed near a pool, letting the gentle afternoon sun brush my skin. It was my first time visiting the Hawaiian Islands, and so far the visit had been more than pleasurable. I had been working madly throughout the beginning of the year, and the trip to Oahu was my special treat for myself to relieve the stress. I sipped my glass of piña colada and closed my eyes, remembering few of the good-looking men I had witnessed that day -- the nice side of travelling alone.
Especially one man had caught my eye earlier that day. I'd been on my morning walk, and had passed a wedding site on one beach. I had stopped to watch for a moment, the ceremony seemed to be quite simple but beautiful, and at first I had thought the man in question was the groom. Soon, however I realised that he was probably the best man or something. He was well built and he had dark, almost black waving hair. I thought he looked familiar, but couldn't attach his face with any name. For a moment, his blue eyes met mine, and I felt that something passed between us. Soon after that, I continued my walk, not wishing to be too curious over such a private party.
I rolled over in the sun bed, to catch some of the day's last sunrays on my back too. I must've fallen into a light sleep about the man walking on a beach with me. But then I woke abruptly when I heard a soft cough from somewhere near me, and cracked other of my eyes slightly open, to see the source of the sound. I couldn't have been more surprised to see the same man sitting on the next sun bed, looking at me inquisitively. In a flash, I opened both of my eyes and jumped to sit up. The man smiled at me, saying:
"Didn't mean to startle you, but I thought I'd ask if I could use your sunscreen."
I was still slightly unfocused, from meeting the man I had just been day dreaming about, so I just nodded at him. He took the bottle from under my bed and started applying the white cream all over his chest and shoulders. Stunned, I just kept watching at him. He seemed to be sun-tanned, and I wondered why he even needed the screen. But, soon enough, my thoughts started on a very different route. The man had a broad, muscular chest with dark hairs sprinkled all over. My eyes seemed to have a mind of their own, as my gaze travelled southwards on his body. I was most fascinated about the trail of hairs that disappeared under the waist of his beach shorts.
I was startled once again by the voice of the man, and feeling slightly guilty of my peeking lifted my gaze back to his face, when he asked:
"You don't talk a lot, do you?"
This time, I finally got my mouth opened, and answered him:
"Sorry, I must've fallen asleep for a moment there, so I was a bit dislocated."
"You've had a hard day?"
I saw the bantering twinkle in his eyes, who really would have a hard day in a lovely beach resort like this. So I smiled at him answering his question:
"Naah, I bet you've had it rougher, weddings can be exhausting."
"Well, this one wasn't that exhausting, just few dozen of us and a relaxed feeling to all of it. You're the girl, who stopped to see us, aren't you?"
Before I knew it, I slipped:
"Yeah, I was so happy when I realised you wasn't the groom."
That provoked a big, hearty laugh out of the man, who still laughing continued the talk:
"You talk directly, don't you. Could I ask you another favour?" I nodded to him, and he continued with a small smile that reached his eyes too:
"Could you put some of the screen to my back, can't reach there myself."
If I didn't totally misinterpret the situation, the handsome stranger was flirting with me. It felt actually very nice, and I saw no problem in continuing it. So I accepted and rose from my seat to grab the bottle from him. Our fingers met gently for a blink of an eye, and I felt other kind of burn raising from behind the heat that sun had left on my skin. Quietly, I started spreading the ointment, marvelling the smoothness of the man's skin at the same time. He had silenced too, but through my fingers I could feel the small movements he was making. When I gently approached his lower back, I felt surely how a small shudder ran through him. Finally, and at the same time all too soon, I was done with the sunscreen and returned to my own seat, sipping my drink slightly nervously.
I was happy, that the man didn't turn to face me the same moment, so that I had a while to collect myself and even my quickened breathing. Soon enough, he turned and I saw some traces of similar excitement that I had been feeling on his face. Relaxed he smiled at me again, and pushed his hand forward in to the space between the two sun beds, saying:
"By the way, my name's Jake"
I took the hand he offered and shook it, telling Jake my name too, and that it was nice to meet him, all polite and normal, but a tickling undercurrent running through our joined hands. At the same time my brain was running at hundred miles a minute, the name had reminded me of the familiarity of his face that I had been wondering earlier. Could he really be that Jake?
Then I got no more to think, as Jake moved his thumb over the back of my hand and neither of us wanted to be the first one to let go of the handshake. The moment was broken however, when a loud family occupied the other side of the deserted pool. Simultaneously, we let go and to get to do something with my hands, I took the piña colada glass, only to find it to be empty. Jake rose from his sun bed, and motioning towards the empty glass in my hand, he asked:
"Can I get you another one? For like, compensation of the sunscreen."
"Sure, but please bring something else, I've had quite a few of those coladas." I looked back at him and added:
"If that's ok for you, that is."
"Of course, what'd you like to have?"
A few other things of what I'd like to have passed my mind, and I let a brief smirk rise on my face, bit my lover lip, pretending to think. Then I just said:
"Surprise me."
"Yeah, I will", Jake muttered as he headed towards the pool bar.
I watched his walk, admiring the movement of his well-toned muscles, as there was nothing but white beach shorts to hinder the view. I still couldn't believe what had happened so far, really, how possible was that the guy I had been drooling over would come flirting to me. But on the other hand, I wondered how far this play would take. I decided to hang along, and see. Jake was already approaching me again, with two drinks in his hands. He passed other of those to me, and I asked:
"What is it?"
"A mojito."
I sipped carefully, not really knowing how strong the drink would be. Fortunately, it seemed to be rather mild, so I dared to take a larger gulp to quench my thirst. Jake was sipping his drink too, looking at me, apparently waiting for some kind of judgement from me.