“Are you going alone?” the man on the jet ski shouted, pointing toward the enormous inflatable tube attached to it by a long rope.

I had already opened my mouth to say yes when I heard a man’s voice behind me.

“If there is room, I would like to go too.”

Oh God. Anyone but him.

I turned around and saw the same tall, tanned man I had been shamelessly watching on the beach for the past several days.

We had not even met yet. We simply kept ending up somewhere near each other, and a couple of times our eyes had met. Every time that happened, I immediately pretended that I was suddenly extremely interested in the sea horizon.

And now I was apparently going to race across the waves with him, side by side, on one small inflatable tube.

What could possibly go wrong?

Before that day, my biggest summer adventure had been something completely different.

For a long time, I could not bring myself to undress in front of strangers. I imagined that the second I did it, everyone around me would immediately turn their heads in my direction.

When I finally found the courage, the first few minutes were terrible.

I had no idea what to do with my hands, where to look, or how people managed to walk calmly around the beach when it felt as though there was a gigantic flashing arrow above my head saying:

“LOOK! SHE TOOK HER CLOTHES OFF!”

And then something unexpected happened.

Nobody made a spectacle out of it.

People talked, read books, swam, and laughed.

Some people did look at me, and I noticed it.

But strangely enough, that stopped frightening me.

Quite the opposite.

People can argue with me about this as much as they want, but realizing that someone notices you and finds you attractive can give your confidence a very pleasant boost.

It felt as though a switch had suddenly flipped inside me.

Only a short time earlier, I had wanted to hide behind a towel. Now I could calmly walk toward the water and enjoy the feeling of the sun and wind against my skin.

From that moment on, the distant part of the coast became my favorite place.

And it was there, last summer, that a man suddenly appeared on a jet ski.

A large, brightly colored inflatable tube was bouncing across the waves behind him. He made money by offering vacationers short, high-speed rides.

For some reason, there were almost no volunteers.

I spent about ten minutes watching the tube leap over the waves before finally deciding:

“I will do it.”

I thought I would be riding alone.

And then He appeared.

Inside my head, I immediately told myself:

“Irini, behave normally.”

Two minutes later, I discovered that behaving normally on that thing was completely impossible.

We sat down beside each other and grabbed the handles.

The driver looked back at us.

“Ready?”

“Of course!” I answered with far too much confidence.

The man beside me laughed.

“We will see what you say in a minute.”

The jet ski accelerated.

At first, the tube followed smoothly behind it.

Then we hit the first serious wave.

“AAAAAA!”

I think people on the neighboring island probably heard me screaming.

We flew upward, crashed back down, were hit in the face by salt water, and immediately started laughing.

I was still attempting to preserve some dignity when the driver made his first sharp turn.

I was thrown directly toward my companion.

Instinctively, I grabbed onto him.

“Sorry!”

“It is fine!”

The next turn threw him toward me instead.

This time, he was the one apologizing.

Very convincingly.

After the third turn, we both finally stopped pretending that maintaining personal space was even remotely possible.

At that speed, the only thing that mattered was staying on the tube instead of flying into the sea.

We bumped shoulders, grabbed onto each other, were thrown apart again, and laughed uncontrollably.

The funniest part was that both of us continued pretending to be completely innocent.

“I am only trying to stay on!” he shouted after another collision.

“Of course! Me too! This is purely for safety!”

He looked at me.

I looked at him.

And both of us burst out laughing.

I felt incredibly embarrassed and unbelievably happy at the same time.

Only yesterday, we had been two strangers exchanging glances from twenty meters away.

Now there was practically no space between us, even if the waves, speed, and the craziest beach attraction I had ever tried were entirely responsible for it.

And I think the driver understood exactly what was happening.

Because that was when he started making even sharper turns.

“He is doing it deliberately!” I shouted.

“One hundred percent!”

Another wave.

The tube flew upward.

Once again, I grabbed onto my unexpected riding partner.

This time, I did not even bother apologizing.

When we finally returned to shore, my legs were trembling.

My hair was soaked, my cheeks were burning, and laughing had become physically painful.

For several seconds, we simply stood beside each other, trying to catch our breath.

And suddenly, everything became awkward.

On the water, everything could be blamed on speed.

Now I was standing directly in front of the same man I had been watching from a distance for several days.

He was the first to break the silence.

“Actually, my name is Markos.”

I laughed.

“Irini. Very timely introduction.”

“It feels like we skipped a few of the standard stages.”

That was when I finally turned completely red.

That evening, we had coffee together near the promenade.

The next day, we met again.

Then we met again after that.

And yes, eventually we really did get to know each other much better — without any assistance from a jet ski.

But the funniest consequence of that ride appeared several days later.

We saw the same driver again.

He noticed us together, raised his thumb enthusiastically, and shouted:

“So it worked!”

I nearly died laughing.

Since then, I have grown even more fond of the version of myself who does not run away from her own embarrassment.

I realized that I can enjoy my body, attention, the sea, and even awkward situations without giving anyone else control over my boundaries.

And now, whenever Markos suggests taking a jet ski ride, I always ask:

“With the inflatable tube?”

He smiles.

“Absolutely.”

So I will definitely return there next summer.

And if there are other adult, like-minded people who also love the sea, a little bit of madness, and know how to laugh at themselves, I think we will have plenty to talk about.