Page 15 of Beyond The Break

Gabriel blows his whistle and the abruptness of it causes me to jump.

“See you after practice.” Kairi says, throwing her thumb and pinky up and folding the other fingers down as she waves her hand side to side.

Maliah runs over, grabbing her board from the sand with an annoyed expression, before she joins the others as they all jog towards the water with their boards tucked under their arms. I quickly walk over to my cameras, aiming one at them and then using the second one to zoom in on Griffin.

When I don’t see him in the ocean, I pull away from the camera, glancing over the top of it to see him frozen near the shore of the water. His posture is rigid as he stares down at the water that surrounds his ankle. I glance towards Gabriel, who stands beside me, and notice him watching Griffin too with a pinched expression.

When I look back at Griffin, I’m reminded of the articles I read about him. His surf slip-up that tore his MCL forcing him to go through six months of physiotherapy. As annoying as he is, I can only imagine the emotions he’s going through after an accident like that.

Ever since the car accident with my parents, I’ve never felt comfortable in a car. I’ve never pursued getting a driver’s license, instead opting for walking or riding a bicycle. Whenever I have no choice but to get into a car, panic and anxiety return, so I usually force myself to sleep during the drive toavoid the fear. My doctors said it’s a PTSD response, so I guess this must be Griffin’s.

I re-position the camera on him, zooming out, and hit record before I make my way toward him. As I get closer, I notice how rapidly he’s breathing as his eyes remain focused on the water in front of him. I come to a stop next to him and stare out at the horizon too.

“Hey,” I say, bumping my shoulder against his.

He looks over at me with wide eyes, so I smile at him warmly, pretending not to notice that he’s minutes away from a panic attack.

“So, you were staring at my ass in the kitchen this morning,” I say, grasping at anything to take his mind away from his panic.

“What?” he asks, face turning a dark shade of red.

“I could see your reflection in the toaster oven,” I admit, my smile morphing into a grin as I glance at him from the corner of my eye.

He scoffs but doesn’t deny it and I can’t help the smirk from resting on my lips as a sense of satisfaction courses through me. He’s attracted to me, just as much as I’m attracted to him.

“What’s the issue here?” I ask, gesturing to his stance and the water.

“No issue,” he says grumpily, his eyes still focused on the large expanse of water.

“Okay then,” I say, turning to look at him. “How about you jump on your board and channel your inner surfer so that I can get some pictures and videos of you for the campaign.”

He frowns at me. “I’m not giving you content for the stupid campaign. I’m here to surf, not share my personal life with the world.”

I nod slowly, returning my eyes back to the ocean too. “Okay, I’m sure if we brainstorm together we can figure out something you’re comfortable with.”

“We?” he scoffs. “That’s your job, not mine, sunshine.”

I try to ignore the annoyance I feel at him calling me that stupid nickname. Focusing on my breathing before I answer him.

“If you’re here to surf, Griffin, then surf.” I say stiffly.

I turn around and begin stomping my way back to the camera, but he wraps his warm, calloused, hand around my wrist and tugs me to a stop. I turn and glare at him, causing an amused smile to tug at his lips.

“You’re a bit distracting,” he says, tugging me closer to him again until our chests are almost touching.

I open my mouth to ask him how I could possibly be distracting him from my spot on the beach, but the feeling of his fingers on my skin causes all the thoughts in my head to evaporate. His pupils dilate as his eyes find my lips and I watch as he licks the corner of his mouth, completely mesmerized. My cheeks flush and I find myself biting down on my lip again, warmth building between my legs.

I really need to get laid, and soon. I can’t be feeling this way about someone I’m supposed to be working with. It’s unprofessional. It must just be all the years of suppressed sexual tension rising to the surface.

He releases my wrist and cups my cheek in his palm, his thumb moving to my mouth and pressing down on my bottom lip, dragging it away from my teeth before he releases it with apop.

“Stop doing that,” he says in a low voice, returning his lust-filled eyes to mine as he drops his hand back to his side and turns away from me.

I watch as he forces himself to walk further into the water, jumping onto his board, and paddling as far out as the others. I turn around and spot Gabriel looking in my direction with an amused smirk.

“Gabriel,” I mumble, returning to the tripod that’s focusedon Griffin and readjusting it to where he is in the ocean. “Is there a reason you’re smiling like that?”

He lets out a boyish laugh. “I just think it’s nice to see how well you two are getting along. I was concerned about that, he’s a grumpy bastard.”

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