Page 13 of Beyond The Break

“Nice to see you with a shirt on.” Eliana says, pointing at my shirt with the spoon.

I don’t trust myself to speak right now, what with my cock trying to make its grand entrance, so I press my lips together instead and watch as a smirk forms on her beautiful face as she lowers the spoon back to the bowl.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and I have to be honest here,” she says, before taking another bite. “It’s going to take more than eating my food, blasting porn and horrible flirting to get rid of me, Griffin.”

This woman is straight out of my nightmares, the embodiment of karma. Goosebumps raise the hair on my arms and the back of my neck at the realization that she caught on to what I was really trying to do last night. I swallow and silently watch her finish my breakfast the way I finished her salad the night before.

Eliana stands up and makes her way to the dishwasher with the empty bowl. Pulling the appliance door open, she bends over, and my eyes go straight to her round ass, like magnets. A woman like her could only have been sent here to punish me by God himself.

The round curve of her ass and the way the bicycle shorts cling to them like a second skin causes my cock to violently twitch. I scoot forward in my seat, trying to hide the bulge in my pants. There’s absolutely no way I’ll be able to focus on surfing, let alone anything, with her around looking as good as she does today.

She straightens up, closing the dishwasher door and picking up an apple out of the fruit bowl. She tosses it to me, and I catch it with one hand.

“Good catch.” She winks and makes her way to the stairs, her ass swishing side to side the whole way up, purposefully. I’m so fucked.

“Good morning, team.”Gabriel says as the team, including myself, surround him on the beach.

He’s wearing a white baseball cap that matches his white shorts, a navy-blue sweater, and a watch worth more than the Shredder House. Gabriel exudes wealth and respect. He’s one of the best surfers the world has ever seen, retired now, and he was majorly successful in his career, with the experience of being on the Championship Tour six times. It’s impossible not to aspire to be like him.

Because it’s still so early, the coolness from the night still lingers in the air, forcing us to wear our full-body wet suits today. I’d forgotten how uncomfortable they can be after six months of not wearing one. Saltwater Springs’ weather can give you whiplash. The mornings can be unbelievably cold, but by mid-afternoon you risk heat stroke with how high the temperature can get out here.

The sound of waves crashing around me causes my heart to begin beating erratically in my chest. Images of a wave crashing over me and shoving me to the ocean floor play in my head, causing my breathing to become labored. Someone bumps my shoulder and I look over to see Kairi staring up at me with her brows pinched together in concern.

“Are you okay?” she whispers.

I nod my head, forcing a fake smile on my face. Kairi has always been the caretaker in the group and is always the first person to know when something isn’t right with one of us. If I can convince her, I’m fine then I know I can convince everyone else. Though right now I’m not off to a good start, her eyes are still lingering on me as I return my attention back to Gabriel.

“Today’s practice is going to be a bit different than the others,” Gabriel starts. “I took some time to review some recent competition footage of The Rip Raiders, and we look evenly matched up on everything except aerials.”

A movement behind him catches my attention. Eliana stands behind Gabriel setting up two large cameras on tripods. I’m grateful for the morning chill after seeing she had putbaggy sweatpants over her bicycle shorts, hiding her distracting curves.

Gabriel must take notice of me watching her because he turns to see what I’m looking at before turning back to look at us with a smile.

“You all may have noticed a familiar face behind me.” He turns and waves her over. “Team, meet Eliana, our social media manager.”

She smiles shyly, waving at everyone before her eyes land on mine and narrow. I scoff and roll my eyes. Gabriel turns curious eyes towards me, but I pretend to be obliviously preoccupied with fixing the sleeve of my wet suit so that I don’t have to make eye contact with him until he looks away.

“Aerials,” Gabriel finally says, turning back toward Eliana, “is when a surfer uses the right amount of speed and technique to gain enough momentum to essentially jump out of the lip of the wave before landing back in.”

Eliana nods. “I did a ton of research before I flew out to photograph Zalea. She is amazing at aerials.”

“You met my sister?” Zale asks, eyebrows raised.

Eliana nods. “Gabriel flew me to Hawaii two weeks ago to photograph her at a competition.”

I frown, returning my eyes to her. She met Zalea? As I look at Gabriel, I notice a grin fixed on his face, causing my frown to deepen. I’ve never seen him smile at anyone other than Zalea. My eyes bounce between them as they smile at each other before I clear my throat, jealousy bubbling to the surface.

I don’t know whether I’m jealous that this new girl, who hasn’t done anything to prove herself yet, has managed to get a smile out of Gabriel before I have or if I’m jealous at how she smiles at him like they share some sort of secret.

“So, you want us to practice aerials?” I ask out loud, my eyes lingering on her for a beat longer before turning my attention back to Gabriel.

“I wantthemto practice aerials,” he corrects, gesturing to my teammates. “I wantyouto show me that you’re still able to do the basics.”

I’m taken aback by what he just said. Gabriel knows I’m good at what I do. He knows I’m the best on the team. I shouldn’t have to prove myself at this point because I’ve already proven myself enough through the years with this team.

“What?” I scoff in disbelief, hoping I misheard him.

“You’ve been gone for six months, Fin, I need to know that you’re still able to do basic maneuvers before I allow you to try the bigger stuff. I don’t want to risk injuring you again.” Coach explains, dismissing the others as he places a hand on my shoulder.

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