Page 19 of Beyond The Break

A smirk plays on her lips as she pushes her long curly hair over her shoulder and looks back at them. I follow her gaze and notice Koa glancing over at Maliah every few seconds, his sad eyes watching as she twirls her blonde hair around her finger while talking to one of the lifeguards. Before I look away, I notice her glance in Koa’s direction after he’s looked away.

“They were madly in love. The surf couple of the century,” she says, a pitiful smile on her lips. “But as you know about a year ago, they broke up. No one knows what happened or who made the decision, but with the way Koa looks at her I have a sneaking suspicion that she made the decision. They haven’t spoken since.”

“There seem to be a lot of secrets on this team,” I half-joke. “It’s sad that they haven’t spoken though. It looks like they both want to.”

She shrugs, bringing her eyes back to mine as she picks up the tray of shots.

“I’m a firm believer that if they’re meant to be, they’ll find their way back to each other.” She turns towards the booth where Maliah sits. “Join us later, if you’re up for it,” she says over her shoulder as she walks away.

I nod before looking over at Griffin just as he hits a pool ball. He glances up at me while he’s still bent over and the dark look in his eyes causes a tightness to form in my core. That man is going to drive me crazy in more ways than one.

SIX

GRIFFIN

I’ve been playingeye-tag with Eliana all night. She’s wearing a tight black dress that shows off her curves and sexy legs, attracting the attention of every man in this bar. I can’t keep my eyes off her and I’m having trouble keeping my horny daydreams under control. I think about wrapping my hand in her long brown hair as I take her from behind, only stopping after she’s shaking. For the third time tonight I readjust my jeans, my dick getting hard at the sight of her.

I think back to our moment in the bathroom earlier today, the way she softly inhaled when I touched her skin. She was so reactive to everything I did, her face and neck flushing when I ran my fingers over her scar. I wanted to ask her what it was from, but when I saw the discomfort in her eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to do it, so I left instead. I know what it’s like to not want to answer questions about an injury.

Plus, it was the right thing to do. The smart thing to do. I need to keep my distance and focus on getting my team to first place and getting back to my former skill level. Having her there on the beach, laughing with Gabriel and watching me struggle to get up on my board during practice was distractingand humiliating. The only thing I seem to be able to focus on, since seeing her picture, is her.

“Stare any harder and you might burn a hole right through her dress,” Koa mumbles as he brushes past me, positioning himself to take a shot on the pool table. A game I’m currently losing.

“I’m surprised Maliah’s still fully clothed, with the way you’ve been staring at her.” I retort.

“Shut up,” Koa says, striking the ball with so much force that it jumps up into the air before landing back down on the table with a loud thud that causes Maliah to whip her head over in our direction.

All three of us give her an innocent smile before she rolls her eyes and returns her attention to the lifeguard beside her.

“Anyway, I’m not staring,” I say defensively, leaning on the edge of the pool table as I cross my arms and watch Zale get in position. “I haven’t been here in months, it’s only natural that I would be looking around to see what’s changed.”

“You are most definitely staring,” Zale teases, before striking the ball. “But so is she.”

I look over my shoulder and see that she is, in fact, staring at me. My mouth dries up under her gaze, along with any sort of rebuttal I was planning to give Zale. I watch as the bartender approaches her and says something with apologetic expression, pulling her attention away from me.

“She’s annoying,” I say, as Zale sinks his last ball, winning the game.

Koa groans in defeat as he pulls out the rack and starts to place the balls from the pockets inside of it.

“No, you’re the annoying one. She’s beautiful.” Zale says, breathlessly.

A pang of jealousy reverberates through my chest. “Yeah? What about Kairi?” I ask.

He scoffs. “What about her?”

“I thought you two had a thing going on?”

“Kairi and I are just friends. I’ve known her since we were in diapers.” he says, eyes still focused on Eliana’s butt.

“Right,” I place my cue stick on top of the table. “I didn’t know you fuck all of your friends.”

His cheeks turn pink as he finally looks away from Eliana and pins me with a warning glare.

“We’re just friends,” he repeats, firmly this time. “I haven’t had sex with her in months.”

“Good, because we can’t afford any distractions for the rest of the season,” I say, the words coming out sharper than I intend for them to sound.

Koa studies me, but he doesn’t say anything. As our table grows quiet, Koa continuing to retrieve the balls, I overhear the group of guys standing by the dart board next to us. There’s three of them; a short one with greasy blonde curls, an even shorter bald guy with square glasses, and a large round guy who looks completely wasted.

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