Page 45 of Beyond The Break

“Tell me what happened between you two,” I say, nudging him in the shoulder and instantly regretting it when my board starts to teeter.

He reaches out and grabs on to the nose of the board, steadying it for me before finding my eyes again.

“I already told you?—”

“No, tell me the real version.” He studies me silently and I brace myself for his second rejection of the day, but instead he sighs and looks at me up and down.

“Your ankle strap isn’t on,” he points out.

He’s right, I make quick work of strapping it on, returning my attention to him.

After a long pause he finally breaks the silence. “I was dating this girl when my accident happened, her name was Meghan, and I thought she was the one,” he says, his voice small.

I can tell talking about Meghan still hurts him deeply, but I can't ignore the discomfort that I feel hearing him talk about another girl.

What is this feeling? Jealousy?

I force my face into a neutral expression as I continue listening while my heart beats a million miles per hour in my chest.

“Anyways,” he clears his throat, “six months ago I was competing in the season entry competition with the team. My heat was next, but I realized I hadn’t waxed my board and that I had left my wax in the car.”

He runs a hand through his hair and releases a deep sigh.

“Meghan had offered to grab the wax from my car for me, but it was minutes to the heat, and she still hadn’t returned.” He brings his legs up to his chest and rests his arms on them, staring off into the water.

“I went looking for her and found her and Colton making out against my car, wax in her hand,” he clears his throat and swallows again, “I couldn’t think straight after that, so I went back to the competition and started my heat without waxing my board. I didn’t even realize it until it was too late.”

I swallow. “What happened next?”

“I tried to ride a bigger wave than I’ve ever been on, and my foot slipped. The barrel swallowed me and dragged me all the way to the ocean floor. It felt like a truck had hit me –the pressure of the water was unbearable and all I remember is that seconds later I inhaled the water and passed out.”

“Griffin, I’m so sorry,” I say quietly.

My heart hurts for him. Not only is he carrying around the memories of his best friend and his girlfriend at the time betraying him, but he also has the memories of the accident and the trauma that comes with something so intense.

He doesn’t say anything, but I can see how tense he is as he sits quietly, eyes unfocused. I can’t imagine what it feels like to be betrayed by the two closest people to you. He doesn’t try to hide the emotions anymore, his brows pulling together as he stares down at the water angrily.

“Anyways,” he sighs after a minute or two, “I’m sure you heard the rest of what happened at the competition. Neither of them reached out to me after that. Colton left the team shortly after the accident is what I hear and Meghan…well she’s a journalist, she wrote articles likePro Surfer, Griffin Jones, Career Ending InjuryandPro Surfer, Griffin Jones, heartbroken and alone.”

“Gabriel had them removed, I think. I couldn’t find much information about your accident online.”

“You looked me up online?” He smirks, winking when my cheeks heat.

It's nice to see that he's still able to smile through the pain.

“I just wanted to know what I was up against. I researched everyone on the team.” I mumble.

“Mhm, I’m sure you did.” He chuckles.

I want to tell him that I know what it’s like, losing the two people closest to you in a single moment, to have horrible articles about you published for your hometown to see. But I don’t tell him, too afraid it will reveal my past, too afraid he’ll use it against me to force me to leave.

Even though he apologized and he's being nice right now, it doesn't change the fact that he wants me gone.

“You didn’t deserve that,” I whisper.

He nods in agreement. “I didn’t.”

“But you also can’t let that day hold you back, life is too short.”

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