Page 17 of Beyond The Break

“I don’t think anyone else was having a horrible practice, Griffin.” His eyes round slightly and I swear I see hurt reflect in his expression before he pastes his cold mask back into place.

“Delete it.”

I raise both of my eyebrows this time, shocked at his demand – especially in front of Gabriel who is standing back silently and watching the interaction play out. I remove the camera that I was using to film Griffin from the tripod and take out the SD card, holding it out for Griffin to take.

“I’m not going to delete it,” I say, waving it in front of him. “You can. Or you can watch it and see where you’re going wrong.”

When he doesn’t reach out to take the SD card, I reach forward and grab his hand. A bolt of electricity vibrates through my whole body, starting from where our hands touch. I drop his hand almost as quickly as I grab it.

He looks down at his hand in confusion, his frown deepening, and I take the opportunity to drop the SD card into his open palm before stuffing my hands into my pockets, not wanting to risk touching him again.

His hands close around the SD card and he returns those pools of gray back to my green eyes before brushing past me and disappearing into the house.

“What the hell was that about?” I mumble, watching his back disappear as he moves further into the house.

“After his accident, someone very close to him started to write personal and hurtful articles in the local paper,” Gabriel says behind me. “I can appreciate that it won’t be easy to get him to trust you, but I think out of everyone here you are most likely to gain his trust since you can understand the feelings he must be feeling.”

He smiles reassuringly at me before returning his blue eyes back to the rest of the team.

“I’m not so sure,” I say quietly to myself, my eyes trailing over his bedroom window which is covered by black curtains.

“Coach,”Maliah calls, running up to us at the end of practice with a towel wrapped around her blonde hair. “The team wants to go out for dinner tonight to celebrate Fin’s return and welcome Eliana to the team.” She winks in my direction as she readjusts her second towel around her shoulders.

“That’s a great idea,” Gabriel says, pulling out his wallet and handing me a black credit card. “Use my card to pay for everyone, but make sure they don’t come back wasted. Practice is still at sunrise, hangover or no hangover.”

She blows him a kiss before running into the house as I take the card from him. I watch as the rest of the team follows behind her moments later, thanking Gabriel for the good practice.

“You make sure to have fun tonight, you deserve to let loose.” Gabriel says.

“You’re not coming to dinner?”

“Oh, no, not this time. I have a conference call with the World Surf Association tonight,” he says, as we make our wayinside. “We’re planning something exciting for the World Championship Tour.”

The house is abuzz as everyone fights to get their turn in the shower while the water is still warm. I make my way up the stairs to my bedroom, noticing Griffin’s room door is closed. Pulling my hoodie off, I stare at my reflection in the mirror. My eyes drift to the scar that runs across my chest, the only physical reminder of what I’ve been through.

Grief starts to overwhelm me, so I decide to take a long shower. Standing under the hot water always helps me clear my thoughts and reset my emotions. I grab a towel and head into the hallway, passing by Griffin’s closed room door before entering the bathroom. I close the door behind me and nearly pass out at what I see when I turn around.

Griffin stands in front of me with only a towel wrapped around his waist, covering his manly bits. His muscular and toned body glistens as beads of water make their way down his long expanse towards his deep V line, a light trail of dark hair disappearing beneath the towel.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” I gasp out, covering my eyes with my towel. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t think anyone was in here,” I mumble into my towel, my cheeks scorching hot.

When Griffin doesn’t answer, I slowly lower the towel and my eyes connect with his. His black hair is dripping water at the ends as it falls over his forehead. No man should look this gorgeous.

“I’ll leave,” I say quickly, realizing I’ve been staring.

I turn to run out, but a gust of wind blows past my face as his palm lands on the hard wood, pushing the door closed again.

My heart races as I turn to look at him, and my breath catches in my throat when I realize how much closer he stands now, his arm still pressed against the door beside my face. Heleans forward, bringing himself to my height, and gazes into my eyes with his grey ones.

His eyes trail down from my face toward my chest. He reaches forwards and brushes my long wavy hair behind my shoulder, revealing my scar. I feel exposed, as if under a microscope, as he trails his index and middle finger over it, causing me to shiver from the contact. I see the questions sitting at the tip of his tongue, but he doesn’t ask, instead returning his eyes to mine as he places his hand on the other side of the door, trapping me in place.

I lift my towel up to cover the scar. It’s something I try to hide, a reminder of a scary time in my life I don’t want to relive. I keep it hidden most of the time to avoid the questions that come with seeing it. Everyone always wants to know how I got it, but I rarely feel up to telling the story. Today is no exception.

“No,” he says in a low voice. “I’ll leave.”

He stands up straight, his arms falling to his side, as he waits for me to move. I peel my back from the door and shuffle to the side so he can leave, his muscles rippling under his skin with every move.

When he shuts the door behind himself, I lean against it. That wasn’t his over-the-top flirting or extremely annoying self that I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of seeing so far. No, this was a different quieter version. I wonder if this is the Griffin that Gabriel was telling me about.

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