Page 52 of Beyond The Break

I move myself in front of Griffin so that he’s looking straight at me.

“The sky is blue, the clouds are white, the water is warm,” I start, Koa and Griffin frowning in confusion as they watch me, “and there’s fish tickling our toes, and seagulls flying above us.”

Griffin’s breathing starts to return to normal as his eyes focus on me completely. He looks around, blinking three times.

“I think it’s working,” Koa whispers as he studies Griffin.

“You’re safe, this is temporary, and it’s passing,” I say, my throat becoming tight as the fear in his eyes fades as well, “we’re here to help you.”

After a few minutes, he clears his throat and looks at us both before his gaze becomes downcast.

“Thank you,” he says, pulling out of grips.

Griffin begins to swim back to the shore, leaving Koa and I to watch him as he gets out of the water, stumbling slightly before he grabs his towel from the sand and walks back to the house without a word to anyone else.

“How often do you think that happens to him?” Koa asks, frowning in the direction of where Griffin disappeared to.

“Based on how quickly he just brushed it off, more than he lets us see.”

We swim back to the shore together and we’re instantly bombarded by the rest of the team and Gabriel as they question us about what happened. When Koa remains vague, I decide to follow suit, packing up my belongings and making my way into the house while the others continue their practice with Gabriel.

I walk into the air-conditioned house, putting my cameras and tripods on the counter before heading upstairs to change. Griffin’s door is open, but I don’t see him inside, so I turn around to make my way to my room and walk straight into his hard body, his cologne engulfing me as he wraps his arms around my wet waist.

“Come to the gym with me,” he mutters.

How he has the energy for the gym after a panic attack is beyond me. Every time I’ve ever had one, it’s made me crash hard.

“I’m soaking wet,” I say, pulling away from him so that I can see his face.

“Fuck,” he groans, a half-smile dancing on his lips, “don’t talk dirty to me right now.”

I gasp and swat his chest. “Griffin!”

He laughs and releases me, taking a step back. “I usually go to the gym in town but we have a smaller gym downstairs, come workout with me and maybe we can give that outdoor shower another try.”

A tight, needy feeling forms in my core at the thought. “I need to change first.”

“I’ll wait for your downstairs.”

I watch as he fights a smirk before he makes his way down the stairs. Once he’s out of sight I run to my room, searching through my drawers for my black workout set until I find it. I grab a red thong from my underwear drawer and quickly change, tying my hair up into a damp bun.

As I make my way downstairs, Griffin sits at the last step on his phone. I peak over his shoulder and see my face. He’s watching the stories I posted on the team’s Instagram account.

He watches those?

“I didn’t know you were on social media,” I say.

He quickly locks his phone and turns around to look at me, his eyes glazing over slightly as he stares at my figure in the tight clothes.

“I rarely go on but when I do it's from a private account,” he replies.

“Have you read the comments on the last post?”

He shrugs. “I try not to read comments. The last time I did I was obsessing over all the negative ones.”

“You should read the most recent ones I haven't seen any trolls in the comments yet.”

He nods before tilting his head towards the hallway. “Let’s go.”

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