Chapter 1: Washed Ashore
PISSED! That’s how Jamie Robinson felt. He wanted to be anywhere in the world but there. His father had caved to the demands of Mr. McGill. He caved, and now he was stuck on a yacht in the middle of the South Pacific, celebrating the birthday of fucking Connor McGill. He was forced to celebrate the privilege-spoiled ass when he should have been out celebrating his own birthday.
He and Connor both shared a birthday. Both young men had just turned eighteen. They were from a small coastal town in Southern California. The McGill’s were extremely wealthy. Jamie’s family was no stranger to money. They had money, but it was nothing like the McGill family.
The dance floor on the top deck was packed with bodies of students from their senior class. “Break My Soul” by Beyoncé rocked out. All of them knew Connor was an ass, but none of them cared. Why should they when they were celebrating in style?
Jamie stood at the stern of the yacht. He peered into the darkness of the ocean. The only thing bright on the calm seas was the insanely white, expensive yacht. The warm air pressed against his smooth, cocoa-brown skin like warm lips. They had been drifting for a few hours. The ocean shimmered under the moonlight.
“Hey, you,” came Darrin’s voice. “Happy birthday.”
Jamie turned around and smiled at him. Darrin was his best friend of two years. He was tall, caramel with twists in his hair, and had striking green eyes for a black man. His lips were delicious to behold. He was sexy and could pull anyone he wanted in the world.
Jamie smiled. “Hey. Thanks, bro. It could be better if I weren’t part of the Connor McGill show.”
Darrin chuckled lightly. “Yeah, that legendary Jamie Robinson and Connor McGill beef. Arch rivals since the playground.”
“Yeah, well, he started it,” Jamie added nonchalantly.
Darrin pondered for a moment. “Did he?”
A breeze pushed against Jamie. It felt warm and playful. Darrin, however, felt the shift. He knew the ocean couldn’t be trusted. The wind blew slightly harder through his hair. The sound of the tide vanished from the air.
“I think we’ve worn our welcome out in this spot,” he said as he looked toward the hull. “Captain should get us out of here.”
“It might not be anything. They have radars on these things,” Jamie tried to reassure him.
Then it hit again…insistent. The cup on the table next to Jamie lifted in the gust and fell back. Jamie pulled out his cellphone and turned on the flashlight. Just barely, he could see the dark clouds. They had already stacked and swelled into a wall of vengeance.
“Holy shit,” he mumbled as he stepped back fearfully.
Jamie swallowed just as the wind snapped harder. It tugged at the sails and tempers. The waves began to grow. They grew fierce and dangerous. A towering wall of seawater rose and hit the hull broadside. The force of it sounds like a bomb in a warzone. The screams and shrills of the kids echoed across the ocean surface. Jamie stumbled and grabbed the rail as saltwater sprayed his face.
Darrin slid across the deck. His clothing was completely soaked by the seawater. His eyes found Jamie. Panic filled them. Jamie shook his head. It was like he tried to shake off what had just happened.
“You okay?” Darrin asked.
“Yeah,” Jamie answered.
The splash shocked his senses awake. He spat the water out and wiped his mouth. The yacht suddenly began to move. It cut through the waves, but not fast enough. They were already in the middle of the danger zone. Another wave punched the yacht. It was harder, almost personal, but totally furious.
“What the fuck?!” Darrin shouted.
The clouds cracked open and gave birth to the storm. Jamie froze as the storm made him feel fear, rage, awe, and smallness. It quickly pounced on them. The music cut, and the screams and sounds of feet running played like a horror soundtrack. The wind howled low like an animal. The force of Mother Nature ripped across the decks like claws. The yacht tilted under the weight of the storm. The metal groaned as the waves stressed it. The waves beat upon the yacht from every side. Jamie staggered as he tried to move for cover. He slammed his shoulder into the opposite rail. The rain felt like needles along his skin.
The ocean lifted the yacht upward. It suspended it in mid-air, then it dropped like a toy. A wave struck broadside. The impact detonated across the hull. It sounded like a nuclear missile. Glass exploded inward. The mast snapped with a scream. Carbon fiber collapsed like something out of the Titanic.
Jamie was launched into the air. He was lifted off his feet and thrown sideways like a rag doll. Darrin hit the deck as it flipped. He caught a glimpse of Jamie in mid-air. His fingers burned as he scratched the wet wood. Jamie’s eyes saw nothing but dark skies, and then lightning flashed and revealed what could only be described as the end of the world. A roar echoed. Then he went under. The sky became the sea, and the sea became a tomb.
They were submerged in a world of panic. Their bodies spun without direction. Jamie kicked instinctively toward a surface he found impossible to locate in the darkness. Darrin shoved off the wreckage. His lungs burned. His vision tunneled. The ocean pressed against every nerve in his body.
Jamie finally broke the surface. He gasped like a man who had just returned from the dead. Darrin surfaced seconds later. Breath slowly returned back into his body.
“Darrin,” Jamie called out as he swam toward him.
“I’m here,” he said.
The ocean refused to let them reunite. The waves crashed upon them and sent them back beneath the surface of the dark waters. Jamie surfaced again. He coughed and gasped for air. He looked around but saw no sign of Darrin. He realized he was miles away from the yacht. He could barely make it out in the distance as it disappeared upside down beneath the waves.
“DARRIN! DARRIN!” He screamed in agony, but he never got a response back.
The screams of his classmates flooded the vast sea. He couldn’t do anything to help them.
A door floated past him. It was clearly from the yacht. He found himself on his back staring up at stars like Rose from Titanic as tears rolled down his face and rain continued to pound against his flesh. He drifted off into the distance of the dark ocean. The screams died off the further he floated away.
***
Jamie gasped for breath like a man who had just returned to the land of the living. The sun blazed overhead. It was ruthless as it scorched his brown skin. The warmth felt like pain. He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again. Each blink brought the world a little bit more into focus. He could make out the blue skies. They were so blue that they taunted him. The sand beneath him felt hot. It felt gritty and real in his palms.
A voice disturbed his thoughts. It was distant and blurred at first. It sounded panicked.
“Jamie! Can you hear me? Jamie!”
It was Connor. Jamie groaned and lifted his head an inch. Above him was a trembling silhouette that hovered. The hand was outstretched. One finger pointed shakily as if it were conducting an experiment or maybe teaching a lesson.
Jamie’s haze cleared.
Golden curls, soaked and heavy, dripped seawater onto the sand like melting honey. The sunlight caught every drop. It turned the disaster into something that shimmered with hope. Connor stood over him as his chest rose and fell unevenly. Sea water clung to his pale skin as it gleamed like glass under fire.
Connor had always had sharp blue eyes. They seemed impossibly bright now. They were brilliant even in chaos. They were infuriating and fractured with fear. They locked onto each other. For a heartbeat that lasted longer than it should have.
Jamie finally rasped. His voice was raw from drowning and revival, “Is this hell?”
“I hope not,” Connor answered. “I don’t want to be trapped with your ugly mug from all eternity.”
Jamie twisted his face. “Fuck you, Connor McGill.”
Jamie sat up and looked out into the distance, and for miles and miles on end, there was nothing but the ocean. They were trapped. Trapped may not have been so bad if he had been trapped with Darrin, but Connor was pure torture.
“Where are we?” Jamie asked as he looked around.
“Well, let’s see…my first guess would have to be just maybe an undiscovered and uninhabited island in the South Pacific,” Connor answered with enough sarcasm to anger a god.
Jamie let the sarcasm slip by without a clapback. There were more pressing matters to address than Connor’s ignorance.
Jamie rubbed the back of his neck and asked, “Are we the only ones who made it to the island?”
Connor sighed. “Look around, Jamie. You see anyone else here? Jesus fucking Christ, dude.”
“No need to be a smart ass, you dick,” Jamie snapped at him. He had a low tolerance for Connor. They had a low tolerance for each other.
“Sorry,” Connor apologized. “I get a little irritable when I’m trapped on a deserted island. With you.”
“Yeah, well, I feel the same way whenever I have to see your ugly face…as does the rest of the world,” Jamie retorted.
“This is the thanks I get for saving your life?” His voice was slightly above the level of irritation and wrapped in hypocrisy.
“Saving my life? You think this is saving my life? Trapped on an island with you? This is the opposite of salvation! This is hell on earth.” Jamie shouted in frustration and partial rage.
“You know what?” Connor asked.
“No, Connor, I don’t know what.” Jamie sounded like a complete menace.
Connor’s face twisted. “Fuck you, Jamie Robinson. That’s what. I’m fucking out of here. You figure out how to survive on your own, and I’ll do the same.”
Connor backed away from him. He snatched his shirt off. The sun glowed against his pale, wet skin. The little red freckles in his chest sparkled almost. The saltwater ran down his swollen chest and across his tight abs.
Connor walked away. Just as he reached the shoreline, he dropped his shorts. He stood there in a pair of tight-fitted white briefs. They hugged his glutes and made them sit up considerably high. The two melons looked intoxicating. Connor dived into the water and began to swim away from the island.
Jamie stood up and moved slowly along the sand toward the shoreline. He watched Connor swim further and further away. A tall wave rose from the sea and crashed into the man. The current snatched him back and tossed him out of the water and back onto the sand.
“Fucker,” Connor mumbled to himself.
He dived back into the water and began to swim toward the open sea once again. The same thing happened again. A wave crashed into him, and the tide pulled him back to shore with a vengeance. Connor rolled onto the sand. He jumped back up to his feet and stared out into the ocean.
“AARGH!” He screamed into the nothingness of it all. Every part of him wanted off the island.
“Is that your new escape technique? Scream at the waves?” Jamie asked as he began to laugh.
Connor spun around toward him. Jamie’s eyes caught a glimpse of the dark hair that created a treasure trail that disappeared beneath the waistband of his underwear. A very prominent and thick bulge filled out the front of those tight briefs. They clung to Connor’s wet body and made his cock damn near visible. Jamie diverted his eyes back to Connor’s questionable mug.
“You think this is funny?” Connor asked.
Jamie answered, “I think you’re stupid. You can clearly look at the conditions and tell that there is a shoreward force at the reef line. It's not rocket science, so someone with your IQ should be able to understand that. Unless the rumors are true and you are dumber than ice water.”
Connor's brows furrowed. His face turned a dark shade of crimson. Jamie’s comment set him off inside. The 5’10’ beefy cornbread linebacker went into a rage.
“I’m gonna kick your fucking ass. You fucker,” he said as he pointed his finger aggressively at Jamie.
Jamie smirked. “Come on, golden boy. I’ve been waiting for this day.”
Connor charged toward Jamie. They both leaped at the other. Their bodies collided in the air. Connor used a bit more force and knocked Jamie’s 5’8’ toned, lean swimmer's body on his back. The muscled stud landed on top of him. Connor punched Jamie in the face.
Jamie flipped Connor onto his back and punched him back in the face. Jamie grabbed a handful of Connor’s golden curls and slammed the back of his head into the sand repeatedly.
“You. Stupid. Fuck.” Jamie shouted with each impact.
Connor grabbed a handful of sand and tossed it in Jamie’s eyes. Jamie cried out as he covered his eyes. Connor knocked him off and punched him twice in the face. Just as he drew his fist to strike him again, the sound of an airplane stopped them.
Connor released him. He jumped and ran. Jamie quickly got up and ran behind him. He tackled Conner from behind and knocked him face-first into the gritty sand. The sound of the airplane grew louder.
“Damnit, Jamie, we’re gonna miss the chance to get their attention,” Connor shouted.
Jamie followed the sound toward the shoreline. Connor ran behind him as a jetliner flew over them. Both men began to jump up and down and wave their arms as they screamed for help. Of course, no one could see or hear them, but they had to try.
The two men watched the plane fly by. It moved further and further away, and with it went their hope for escape. They stood there watching until the plane had long disappeared from their line of sight into the great beyond. They both dropped to their knees in the sand. Reality slowly began to set in. Tears filled both their eyes.
“We’re never going to leave this island, are we?” Connor asked, defeatedly.
For a moment, there was silence. A moment to come to terms with the reality of things.
Jamie answered, “Probably not, but if we want a fighting chance to try and live as long as possible, we may have to do something that we’re both going to hate.”
Connor looked at him. “Yeah? What’s that?”
Jamie looked at him. “Work together.” The words rolled off his tongue slowly. “Dreadful. I know.”
They both stared back out into the vast ocean. The sound of the waves serving as a constant reminder of their dire situation.
Connor nodded his head. “We’re gonna die here.” His voice was void of hope.
Jamie nodded his head in agreement. “As long as you die first,” Jamie said deadpan.
Connor growled and knocked Jamie on his back. The two struggled against one another again as they rolled around in the sand of the place they had washed ashore. Welcome to Tempest Island! Surviving is just the beginning.
TO BE CONTINUED
© Grayson Rose 2026. All rights reserved.
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